Missing Contacts on MacBook Air

I recently bought a new MacBook Air M2 a few months ago. I hadn’t been using a Mac since I retired my 2008 MacBook Pro around 2017.

Since 2017, I have been relying exclusively on my iPhone and iPad and iCloud for all my computing needs.


When I set up the new MacBook Air with my Apple ID, it seemed like everything in iCloud synced just fine. But the first time I used Contacts, I noticed huge numbers are missing. I am presuming (but not sure) that these are mostly contacts that have been added in the last few years.


Looking around on the web for others having the same problem, it doesn’t seem to he a common problem. I have tried some of the solutions, such a turning syncing off and turning it back on, but this doesn’t not help. I saw one solution that suggested I move the plist file and have it create a new one, but was scared away because I don’t have a backup drive to make a backup and don’t have much on my Mac anyway that needs backing up. (I’m retired)


Anyone have any ideas? To repeat, my contacts are just fine on my iPhone and 2 iPads.


thanks in advance,

John Dean

Beverly, MA

MacBook Air, macOS 13.1

Posted on Dec 26, 2022 01:20 PM

Reply

Similar questions

3 replies

Dec 28, 2022 07:24 AM in response to jcdbasho2

Greetings jcdbasho2,


Ensuring your contacts are syncing to your Mac from your other devices is important and you've come to a great place for help. To confirm, have you verified the contacts are synced to iCloud via the iCloud website? If the missing contacts appear via the iCloud website, you'll want to begin with the steps listed below as they're a great starting point for solving sync related issues with iCloud Contacts. If you continue to have issues after those steps, you'll want to complete the remaining steps outlined in the following article.


  1. "Check the system status of iCloud Contacts, Calendars, or Reminders for services outages or connection issues.
  2. If a reminder isn't showing up on some of your devices, make sure that your iPhone and iPad have the latest version of iOS or iPadOS, or that your Mac has the latest version of macOS.
  3. Make sure that you're signed in to iCloud with the same Apple ID on all of your devices. Then, check that you turned on Contacts, Calendars, and Reminders in your iCloud settings.
  4. Check that the date and time settings on your device are correct for your current location."


If your iCloud Contacts, Calendars, or Reminders won’t sync


If the contacts are not synced to iCloud, it's possible the contacts may be synced to a different email account. You can locate these contacts by signing in to the email providers websites, and see if the missing contacts appear there. If you're able to locate the missing contacts, you can find the steps for syncing contacts from third-party email accounts outlined in the article below. This will allow those contacts to appear on your Mac just as they do your iOS and iPadOS devices.


Add contacts from iCloud, Google, and more to Contacts on Mac


Have a great day!

Jan 9, 2023 12:54 PM in response to jcdbasho2

Thanks for getting back to us jcdbasho2, it’s appreciated.


Since it seems the Contacts from your iPhone and iPad aren’t showing in iCloud either, they may have been added to your email account(s) instead: Use other contact accounts on iPhone - Apple Support


If you have, you can add that/those email account(s) to your Mac and sync your Contacts with the account(s): Add contacts from iCloud, Google, and more to Contacts on Mac - Apple Support


Import or export a vCard in Contacts on iCloud.com - Apple Support -- If you’d rather have your Contacts stored in iCloud instead, you’ll need to import a vCard for each contact included in your email account(s).


All the best.

Jan 9, 2023 08:18 AM in response to Todd0213

Sorry it's taken me so long to get back to this and respond. I just checked my iCloud account from Safari and it indeed also is missing the contacts that don't show up on my new MacBook. I am logged into each of my devices (iPhone, 2 iPads) with my same iCloud ID. I am reading in your note that some of the contacts might be associated with a different email address. How does this happen? I'm still at a loss on how to get all my contacts properly on my Mac. All other iCloud services sync correctly -- mail, calendar, photos, reminders, notes, etc.

This thread has been closed by the system or the community team. You may vote for any posts you find helpful, or search the Community for additional answers.

Missing Contacts on MacBook Air

Welcome to Apple Support Community
A forum where Apple customers help each other with their products. Get started with your Apple Account.