Restoring Contacts from an old back up on time machine

My son wiped my contacts by backing up his iPhone using the same apple id. Now all my devices and iCloud backups seem to have his contacts list and mine has disappeared.
I should have older version on my time machine but can't seem to access it. any advice?

Welcome to the Apple Support Communities
You can't access to backups. If you want to access to their data, you have to restore that backup on a device

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How to restore iphone from an old back up not listed?

Hello,
I've read all through this forumn but still can't quite work out my problem - which is probably simple for peeps with apple smarts...
i backed up my iphone last week on my laptop in anticipation of updating to iSO5.0.1.
so today I updated to 5.0.1 on my home desktop, and could have sworn i backed up correctly, but it didn't so it restored to a year ago, it had -50 error now that i think about it.
i thought its still okay as i knew i had a recent backup on my laptop. When i connected my iphone, it synced and apparently backed it up. now cant seem to work out how to restore to an older back up - it only list the one today.
can someone tell me how i can restore to a back up that is not listed (only todays is) as i really want my contacts and calendar back?
any help would be greatly appreciate,
jackie

i need to restore it from an earlier back up... is this possible???
It isn't an issue if you still have the backup, either on your computer or in the iCloud. You cannot restore to a backup that you have deleted.

How do I restore my iPhoto library from my old macbook (stored in time machine) to my new iMac?

I have my old macbook backed up on my time machine. The problem is, when i enter time machine on my new iMac, I can only restore files from the current iMac's backups. I can go to finder, and find my files under the "shared>airport time capsule" menu, but I don't know how to safely and accurately restore the iPhoto library to the current iMac's iPhoto.
Most of the searches I did on this topic kept advising to enter time machine, find your file and hit restore, but I can not select files from my macbook's backup in time machine on the current iMac.

Linc Davis wrote:
While in Time Machine, press the key combination shift-command-C. The front window will show all mounted volumes. All snapshots should now be accessible. Select the one you want and navigate to the files you want to restore.
If you need to restore from a backup of the hidden user Library folder, first select a snapshot, then press shift-command-G. A Go to Folder dialog will open. In it, you'll enter the path to the folder. The dialog will help you by automatically completing the parts of the path when you start to type them.
The path begins with slash character ("/"). Enter that. The rest of the parts will be separated by slashes.
The next part is the date and time of the current snapshot. Enter a "2", and the rest of the date should be filled in automatically. Press the right-arrow key to jump to the end of the path. Enter a slash to start the next part.
Next is the name of the volume (usually "Macintosh HD" unless you gave it a different name.) Start to type that, then jump to the end and enter a slash.
The next part is "Users", followed by a slash.
Next is your (short) user name, which is also the name of your home folder.
Finally, enter "Library", then press return. You should now be in the Library folder. From there you can get around as in the Finder.
This seemed to do the trick. I found the iPhoto library file and chose restore. The question now is where to put the iPhoto library file.

Restore library from network user's home on Time Machine backup

Anyone know how to restore ONLY an individual user home Library or items inside a specific user's Library from a Time Machine backup?
Our 10.10.1 Server 4.0.3 server has its data including Network Userhomes backed up to Time Machine. Due to the keychain and preference issues that still plague us, we periodically need to restore a single user's Library or parts of the Library such as Preference folder. With Apple hiding the Library in general, you cannot see the Library for the users in the back up. As a result we are forced to restore the entire User home for the user in question to fix a single or several files that have become corrupted. With email etc. some user homes are pretty large and that process, as a result, can take quite some time when compared to replacing a single corrupt file with the one that worked yesterday.
Thanks

Thanks Linc. I was trying to navigate to it in Time Machine which has it hidden as usual.
Using Finder > Go > Go to folder > /Volumes/Drive/Userhomeslocation/User/Library I was able to get the folder and then went to Time Machine as Linc suggested.
Linc do you know of a way to show all Network User Libraries on the server without showing all invisible files?

How can I restore stickies which were not backed up on Time Machine?

I accidently deleted some text on a stickie note. That note was not backed up in Time Machine. That text is also gone from the Stickies Database. Everything that I read online leads me to believe that I can find this deleted text in this file... com.apple.Stickies.plist. Is that correct?
If so how do I retrieve this text? Is there a tutorial somewhere?
The notes online say that I can open the file in Omni Outliner and then use NVU to convert it to text. How does that work?
When I open the file in Omni Outliner, I get this...
Now what do I do? Any help, or suggestions on how to recover this data, either using the method described above or otherwise, would be helpful.
Thank You.

Take a look at Pondini's excellent Time Machine data ...
Time Machine - Frequently Asked Question #28 ... which suggests where the file should be ... <home folder>/Library/Stickies database.
<Acknowledgement to Pondini>
<home folder>/L

How can I restore contacts from a previous back up?

I accidentally erased my contacts from my iPhone. I can see previous backups on my iTunes preferences. But the only option is to delete them. Does anyone know how to restore one of those backups?

The iphone is designed to be synced to your computer regularly. have you failed to sync your contacts to your computer?

How to restore/retrieve my files from external HD backed up by Time Machine

I'm recently a victim of car theft and my MacBook Pro, iPad 2 and external hard drive was stolen from the car. A friend of mine is lending me his MacBook Air to temporary use until I get a new MBP. I use Time Machine and Time Capsule to do frequent back up of all my files. I am attempting to restore my files on this MacBook Air, but I need assistance in trying to retrieve files/information from the external hard drive that I have attached to my MacBook Pro. My previous research on Time Machine/Time Capsule is that it will also back up external hard drive as long as they are attached/mounted to my MacBook Pro during back-ups.
How do I restore/retrieve the files or folders from my external hard drive using Migration Assistant. Do I need to get another external hard drive? Should I get the same exact brand and type of external hard drive?
I hope that someone can help me with this? Like most of us, my entire life's work in on my computer and hard drive. I need to be able to retrieve this valuable information.
Thank you everyone for taking the time to help m

Sorry you had such an experience.. not the first I have heard..
Having your entire life on the laptop is a concern!!
The pondini knowledgebase will give you an excellent starting point. as recovery is not necessarily simple in this scenario.. as the external drive might or might not have been backed up depending on the settings..
http://pondini.org/TM/FAQ.html
Look at Q14-20
Particularly 16 to restore to alternative location.
You will probably need another disk, just because the disk in the air is small. It does not have to be the same size or model.. just get one big enough to restore everything.

Installed my SSD from my Windows 8 PC onto it getting the bootmgr is missing. I formatted the SSD but when I try and plug in my external harddrive to restore my mac settings I backed up using time machine, the computer doesn't show it as an option.

I recently bought a MacBook Pro. I had a windows 8 pc that had hardware issues that didn't deal with the harddrive. When I got the mbp, I installed the SSD from my windows 8 pc into the macbook. Before doing this, I made a time machine backup on my external hard drive. When I booted up the macbook pro with the windows 8 SSD in it, windows 8 started up. I tried formating the harddrive from within windows but it wouldn't work. From there, I put a spare windows 7 ultimate disk into the macbook and formatted the hard drive using that. Now, bootmgr is missing error keeps coming up and I can't put my time maching backup onto the macbook. Quick replies are appreciated, thanks!

You need to boot from an OS X installer disc compatible with this model's hardware or you must connect it by Target Disk Mode - Target Disk Mode - so you can re-partition and reformat the hard drive before you can install Mountain Lion on it or any other version of OS X. Here's the process:
Drive Partition and Format
1. Boot from your OS X Installer Disc. After the installer loads select your language and click on the Continue button. When the menu bar appears select Disk Utility from the Utilities menu.
If you are preparing an external or a non-startup drive, then open Disk Utility in your Utilities folder.
2. After DU loads select your hard drive (this is the entry with the mfgr.'s ID and size) from the left side list. Note the SMART status of the drive in DU's status area. If it does not say "Verified" then the drive is failing or has failed and will need replacing. SMART info will not be reported on external drives. Otherwise, click on the Partition tab in the DU main window.
3. Under the Volume Scheme heading set the number of partitions from the drop down menu to one. Click on the Options button, set the partition scheme to GUID then click on the OK button. Set the format type to Mac OS Extended (Journaled.) Click on the Partition button and wait until the process has completed.
4. Select the volume you just created (this is the sub-entry under the drive entry) from the left side list. Click on the Erase tab in the DU main window.
5. Set the format type to Mac OS Extended (Journaled.) Click on the Security button, check the button for Zero Data and click on OK to return to the Erase window.
6. Click on the Erase button. The format process can take up to several hours depending upon the drive size.

HT1338 cannot access old back ups on time machine

I cannot access my old backups on time machine, using Gdrive as a back up

Hi.
Are you using the time Machine app to attempt this... or are you simply opening the backup drive in the Finder? This you cannot do.
To access the data that is backed up to your external drive via Time Machine, do this...
• First, navigate in the Finder to the folder that should contain the data you wish to retrieve.
• Now, starting in the Menu bar at the top of the screen... click the Time Machine icon > Enter Time Machine.
The Time Machine will appear, with its display of copies of your Finder window leading back into the distant past.
• Using the timeline along the right edge of the screen, select a date or point in time as far back as you need to go until Time Machine dislplays the file version that you wish to retrieve. At the bottom of the screen, TM will show the backup date of the current window contents.
• Select your file in the display window and click Restore in the bottom right corner.
Time Machine will now move a copy of the backed up file back into place in your Finder window as it closes the Time Machine app.
See more here... Mac 101: Time Machine
I hope this is helpful.

How to restore particular pictures in iphoto backed up via time machine

cant we open an app like iphoto via time machine for a particular date ??
like i want a pic that i deleted from iphoto , how can i do that without restoring full iphoto library???

As AnaMusic said, iPhoto library can't be opened via Time Machine to restore photos separately, so you will have to restore the whole iPhoto library.
1. If you don't want to lose changes made after your last backup, copy the iPhoto library, that it's on Pictures folder, to another folder.
2. Open Finder, select Pictures in the sidebar and open Time Machine.
3. Navigate through the backups, select the iPhoto library you want to restore and press Restore.
4. Double-click the iPhoto library to open it on iPhoto.
5. Drag the photos you want to transfer to your "existing" iPhoto library to the Desktop. You can select more than one pressing Command key.
6. Delete the "restored" iPhoto library on Pictures folder and copy the "existing" iPhoto library to Pictures folder again.
7. Open iPhoto and drag the photos on the Desktop to iPhoto, so the photos will be on the iPhoto library.
If you have any problem restoring the iPhoto library, see > http://pondini.org/TM/E9.html

I'm deleting old back ups in time machine but it's not freeing up any space

Time machine cannot back up because it is full and is not deleting old backups.
So I delete back ups myself and it doesn't fire up any space!

The problem is that the backups of the old computer are still on the volume, and Time Machine won't delete them to make room for more backups of the new one.
At the top level of the folder Backups.backupdb, there should be a subfolder with the name of each computer that has ever been backed up to that volume. Delete the one with the name of the old computer by dragging it to the Trash and emptying. I warn you, though, that sometimes the Trash will fail to empty, and then you'll probably have to erase the volume and start over. Do this only if you have at least one other complete backup of all current data (which you should have anyway.)

How to delete .inProgress from my failed back-up in Time Machine?

So I deleted it my failed back-up and it doesn't want to be emptied in trash.. So because of that I can't back up now because my external hard drive is full because of that failed back up! Help please!!
Thanks in advance!

You shouldn't have to delete it -- Time Machine will "recover" it on the next backup.
Depending on just when and how the backup failed, deleting the inProgress file can corrupt your backups. Usually, they can be repaired. See #A5 in Time Machine - Troubleshooting (or use the link in *User Tips* at the top of this forum).
Have you fixed the problem that caused it to fail? If not, start with Time Machine - Troubleshooting (or use the link in *User Tips* at the top of this forum).
It will show you how to locate the message(s) that describe the problem, then help you fix it.
If that doesn't help, post back with details, including all the messages, your setup (especially the destination for the backups), what you've done, and the results.

How do I delete old back ups in Time Machine?

Is there a way to selectively delete back ups on TM?

start Time machine, go to the backup you want, click on the "gear" action button in finder toolbar and select "delete backup".

HT201250 can i restore my outlook from my time machine ? ive lost e mails and contacts from outlook that are on my time machine back up but don't know how to restore them

please can anyone help me to restore my outlook e mails and contacts which are backed up on my time capsule?

See Pondini's TM FAQs, for details.

I received my new Iphone 6 last week, backed my iphone 5 and then restored my new handset. It has been working fine until today when I deletec all my contacts from my old handset. Contacts have gone from my new handset too, how do I get them back?

I received my new iphone 6 last week, backed my iphone 5 and then restored my new handset. It has been working fine until today when I deleted all my contacts from my old handset. Contacts have gone from my new handset too, how do I get them back? I don't think the back up was done using icloud as I keep getting the message "not enough memory"

The point is not whether you used iTunes or iCloud to restore your new iPhone. It's whether you have Contacts turned on in Settings > ICloud. If you do on both your old iPhone and new iPhone then those devices are connected through iCloud. Deletions on one device are also made on the other.
You may be able to restore your Contacts be using your old device backup to restore your new iPhone again. Make sure that you turn Off ICloud functionality on your old iPhone before you delete anything else from it.

Restoring Contacts from an old back up on time machine

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