Iphone contacts - macbook address book

Let's assume I know nothing about groups in either contacts on the iphone or groups in address book. All I know is none of my contacts for either place are backing up to the cloud. What do I need to do to get everything entered in both places to back up so everything is in both locations. Again, I know nothing so play like you are talking to a kindergartner in your detail. Wait, my granddaughter could probably do it so just speak to an old person who is trying to learn.

status update -- I tried a lot of other things but finally solved the problem after I removed all the groups from mac address book. (thank-you to my son Ben)
FYI -- along the way I tried doing the reset sync history, which deleted all contacts from the iphone. I initially thought that was a good thing, until I discovered that nothing I tried after that would put the contacts back on the iphone. Next I restored factory settings on the iphone and set up as a new user, but that didn't work either. Or maybe it did; maybe deleting the groups wouldn't have solved the problem if I hadn't deleted all contacts and reset the iphone first.

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Synching iphone/contacts & macbook/address book no longer works

I've had an iphone 3G and macbook pro for about 2 years and until now they've synched just fine. Today I cleaned up my address book on the mac (eliminated some duplicates, added, renamed, and deleted groups, updated individuals' information) and then synched my iphone with my mac using itunes. (I don't have a mobileme account.)
A few of the changes I made to address book (e.g., new contacts) were updated in contacts on the iphone, but most were not. It didn't update changes to existing contacts and the groups were not changed. Updates to ical and safari bookmarks were synched just fine.
Here are the things I've tried without success:
1. In itunes info tab, under address book I selected "all contacts," deselected all other updates (ical, etc.) except address book, and then synched.
2. Same as above, PLUS in the advanced section, under "replace information on this phone" I selected contacts. then I synched.
3. Same as #1 above, except instead of "all contacts" I selected "selected groups" and checked all the groups listed, and then synched.
4. I rebooted the macbook and repeated the steps above.
5. I opened isync and selected "reset sync history." then I repeated steps 1 and 2 above.
I also tested making a change to a contact on the iphone to see if the change was made on the mac. It was not.
About 2 months ago I upgraded to snow leopard. It's possible this problem has been going on since then, and I just didn't notice until today when I made all the changes to address book.
I don't know what to try next. Please help.

status update -- I tried a lot of other things but finally solved the problem after I removed all the groups from mac address book. (thank-you to my son Ben)
FYI -- along the way I tried doing the reset sync history, which deleted all contacts from the iphone. I initially thought that was a good thing, until I discovered that nothing I tried after that would put the contacts back on the iphone. Next I restored factory settings on the iphone and set up as a new user, but that didn't work either. Or maybe it did; maybe deleting the groups wouldn't have solved the problem if I hadn't deleted all contacts and reset the iphone first.

How do i import and sync my icloud / iphone contacts into address book on my macbook pro, how do i import and sync my icloud / iphone contacts into address book on my macbook pro

HELP
how do i import and sync my icloud / iphone contacts into address book on my macbook pro, how do i import and sync my icloud / iphone contacts into address book on my macbook pro
Runnig 10.6.8 on a MacBook PRO.....

The easiest fix if you're running Snow Leopard is to export all your contacts, then import them into something like google (I already had a gmail account), and then just use google to sync your contacts instead of icloud (via the sync with Google button in the address book settings).
Its a bit sluggish to update, but it works well. You can then point your iphone, and other iOS devices to use google for contacts too.
If Apple don't want to look after their customers, other companies will gladly do so....

How to import contacts from iPhone to Macbook Address Book...?

Whenever I go under
iTunes > Info > Sync Contacts
It tries to import my empty contact list ON my mac to my iPhone, rather than import my iPhone contacts onto my Mac. How do I import my contacts into my address book?
Please be specific, because from my previous research on how to do it.... it was a very vague explanation.
Thank you!

Without a unique contact in the macbook address book, it will delete all the contacts from the phone. You must have a unique contact in the macbook to trigger the merge response from iTunes when you go to sync. Also, make sure you take the time in iTunes preferences to put the checkmark where it says Prevent iPods, iPhones and iPads from syncing automatically. That way you have complete control over the sync process.

Group sync from iphone contacts to Address Book

I have read numerous entries regarding this but I have not been able to solve the problem. My Palm was never this difficult to synch. Has anyone been able to come up with a universal solution for new groups in Address Book not synching with groups in Contacts in the iPhone? After I first synched the phone, the existing groups in Address Book showed up, but all new groups since then do not transfer to the phone. I have reset the synch software, and rebooted the mac to no avail. Many thanks.

tnarg nosegref,
When you say you reset the sync software, did you follow all the steps in article http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1865 ? If not, it's the most thorough method of doing so.
In addition to this, have you tried backing up your Address Book as an archive, and then reimporting it, overwriting the existing contents?
Archiving your address book
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?path=AddressBook/4.1/en/9158.html
Importing contacts into Address Book
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?path=AddressBook/4.0/en/ad808.html
Hope this helps,
Raleigh

Fail to synchronized iPhone Contacts to Address Book

First of all sorry for re-emerging a classic question to the discussion, but I have this problem after re-install my Mac OS X. I did checked the "Sync to Address Book" on the Info tab, and I have a contact data on my Address Book. After the sync process, I did get any message whether to merge the info or replace the info. The result was that it did add the contact from my address book to my iPhone but it didn't add the contact from my iPhone to my Address Book. Thus, I tried to sync it again for the second time, and the result was that the contacts on my iPhone were completely erased and replace by the contact from my Address Book.
FYI, I'm using Lion and iOS 4.3.5.
Kindly help me with this problem. Thanks.
~Satrio

In iTunes, when your phone is connected, click on the phone (in the menu on the left) then select the Info tab.
Scroll down to Advanced and there you will find the check box to do as you ask.
Make sure you also cancel your iPhone's sync when you plug it in.

Sync iPhone Contacts to Address Book on iMac

Is it possible to sync or to export iPhone (G3) "Contacts" to "Address Book" on an iMac?
...or will the sync process in iTunes move information form the iMac to the iPhone?

Overview of syncing iPhone, iPad or iPod touch with your computer: http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1386
Contacts, calendars, notes, and bookmarks are synced from (or to) your computer, so if you add, change, or delete them on the device, they are changed on your computer, and vice versa.
Before you sync, be sure your Mac's Address Book has at least one contact so you will get a merge prompt.

Synchronizing iCloud, iPhone and MacBook Address Book

I have a MacBook running running 10.7.2 and an iPhone 4. I've activated iCloud on both devices, but they don't seem to actually synchronize. Contacts I moved over from my old phone to the new iPhone are now showing up in my Address Book. However, changes I made to the Address Book did not seem to make it to the iPhone. Now, the old data on the iPhone has overridden the changes I made to the Address Book, and I'm back where I started. Is there some sort of setting that I'm missing that makes the sync work correctly, or is this just a timing issue that will always create issues?

Welcome to the Apple Community.
You might also take a look at this User Tip, to ensure you understand the differences between the different accounts in Address Book

TS1627 Cannot sync iphone contacts to address book.

My iphone 4 contacts are not syncing with my address book. I have followed the instructios about checking the sync box on the info pane. I am not syncing my contacts to icloud. Last time i did that, it wiped out all my contacts. Any suggestions?

Is your Address Book on your Mac empty? Try the following, add a new test contact on your iPhone. Next try to sync again. If nothing happens, make sure you have set up the Default Contact Sync account on your iPhone to point to Address Book.
To do so, go to Settings>Mail, Contacts, Calendars and under "Contacts" look at what you have set up as "Default"

Sync iPhone contacts to Address Book

Can anyone tell me how to take the contacts from my iPhone and store them in my address book. I never typed my contacts in my address book, and instead of syncing Address Book to iPhone.....I want to do the reverse!
Also, is my contacts already stored on my computer under the backup of my iPhone? If I was to purchase another iPhone, would I just load my contacts that way.....from the backup??
Thanks!

The Revert to Address Book Backup feature opens a backup file created by the Address Book backup feature only.
I'm not sure if any of these files can be used to restore the data but I've got something for you to try.
Why do the the contacts get erased from the iPhone if the computer's address book is empty? Is this a feature or a bug? Seems like a bug.
I don't believe this is a bug - kind of like which was last changed prior to the sync process - in this case if was your Address Book database on your Mac. If there had been at least one contact available on the Address Book on your Mac, I don't believe this would have occurred but since it was empty and the last changed all contacts were lost on the iPhone.
With the Address Book application quit on your Mac, move the recovered AddressBook.data.previous file from the backup drive to the Desktop. Change the name of this file to AddressBook.data or remove .previous from the file name.
Using the Finder, go to Home > Library > Application Support > AddressBook. Move the AddressBook.data file from the Desktop within the AddressBook folder. This will replace the existing AddressBook.data file which is empty.
Cross your finger and then launch the Address Book application to see if most or all of your Address Book contacts were restored.

How to delete ALL contacts in Address Book 10.6.3.(1091) in Macbook?

I made no effort ever to add the contents of my iPhone to my Macbook. Ever. Right now in my Skype app that I have only Just downloaded have I just found ALL of my iPhone contacts in it's contact list. NOT GOOD. I am looking for a way to remove my iPhone phone book from the Address Book on my Mac and then remove ALL those same contacts from the Skype contact list.
I am now removing my iPhone contacts from Address Book on my Macbook one by one manually. Is there a shorter way of doing this?

Are you using iCloud?
What is the file format you intend to use to import contacts? If it an Address Book Backup (.abbu) then perhaps you can import it. That would delete your entire Address Book and replace it with the backup.
I might suggest simply moving your entire ~/Library/Application Support/Address Book folder to the Desktop. That seems rather drastic though, and if your contacts are stored in iCloud it might not make a difference.

How can i transfer the contacts on my macbook address book to my iphone?

Hi, i have all my contacts on the address book of my macbook. I just bought an iphone and i would like to know if there is a way to sync the macbook address book with the iphone address book. If not, do i have to manually input my contacts one by one into the iphone?
thanks
Lara

Overview of syncing iPhone, iPad or iPod touch with your computer: http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1386

How can I sync my contacts from my macbook address book to my iphone

i have my contacts in my macbook (address book) and now i need that on my IPhone. can any one help

on your Mac, go to System Preferences > iCloud
Check you have the "contacts" box activated
on your iPhone, go to Settings > iCloud
Check if you have the same Apple ID you use on Mac (if not, please enter the same ID)
After that, activate the "contacts" on your iPhone too.
it is supposed to work

Cannot sync iphone 4 contacts to macbook address book

HI,
I'm using iphone 4 and I would like to sync all the contacts in my iphone to my macbook address book. The macbook address book is empty and is running on OS X Lion. iTunes is version 10. I tried syncing once and all my contact in my phone is wiped out as the contacts in the address book is empty. Lucky me there is a backup a few months back. How do i copy my iphone contacts to my macbook?

If you put at least one contact, even a fake one, into your Mac's Address Book first, then when you sync you'll be given the prompt whether or not to merge the contacts.

Transfering new contacts to address book in my Macbook Pro

Previously, I synced my mom's iphone contacts into my macbook pro. So the contacts in my address book are hers. Recently, i got my own iphone and i would like to transfer my contacts into my macbook. So how do i transfer the new contacts?
Thanks, i will appreciate any help or feedback.

sorry where do I find the sync history to reset in itunes?
so if i understand you if i have only 100 contacts on my laptop and 500 on my itouch and i sync the two those 500 will go over to the laptop from the touch with no special resetting or instructions other than hitting the sync button.
why i am cautious is because after updating my OS some how some way i lost most of contact in address book on my laptop and am hoping just syncing the laptop with the itouch in i tunes will restore them. is that whatz going to happen i hope?

Iphone contacts - macbook address book

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