updated to macOs Sequoia now contacts gone

Think I have this figured out.

I had multiple folders called "Contacts" in ~/Library/Containers/. At least the Finder was calling them "Contacts".

If you copy them to the Desktop you see they are actually named "com.apple.AddressBook", "com.apple.PeopleViewService", "com.apple.PeopleViewService.PeopleWidget-macOS".

Assuming you have all your contacts safe and sound in icloud, try the following:

1. Turn off contacts syncing in your icloud settings.
2. Close the Contacts.app.
3. In the Finder, click the Go menu then Go to Folder and paste in: ~/Library/Containers
4. In there, look to see if you have multiple folders called "Contacts". Drag all of them to the Desktop.
5. Now turn contact syncing back on in icloud settings and open the Contacts.app.

Hopefully everything is groovy after that. If it is, I think you can safely delete those folders dragged to the desktop.

Same here.

Contacts app on MacOs is non-functional after upgrading to Sequoia 15.0 on MacBook Pro M1 Max:

• Zero contacts remaining on MacOs Contacts app
• MacOS Contacts app crashes every time I try to add a new contact to On My Mac (via app)
• MacOS Contacts app crashes every time I try to add a new contact to iCloud (via app)

Other devices all Ok (no issues).

• All contacts are still on iCloud, and still syncing
• All contacts are still on iPhone, and still syncing

Standard fixes failed:

• Confirmed all devices signed into same iCloud account
• Turned Contacts syncing on and off in System preferences (didn't work)
  • Note: both with and without restarting in between turning back on
• Signed out of iCloud, restarted and resigned into iCloud account (didn't work)
• Removed (temporarily) AddressBook folder in Library/Application Support, restarted, had it auto-recreate (didn't work)
  • NOTE: In the Sources folder within that AddressBook folder, I can still see ALL my old contact card files (the app just doesn't want to load them).
• Removed all com.apple.AddressBook files various Library folders (didn't work)
• Even experimented with TimeMachine to recover all the above mentioned Library files from before MacOs 15.0 Sequoia install (no effect)

I have not yet tried to reinstall 15.0.

The point is, it didn’t wipe all contacts from the Mac. The Contacts app seems unable to display them, regardless of the provider (e.g., iCloud or Google). However, using the Shortcuts app to display contacts showed that all contacts are still on the Mac. The same applies to the Alfred app and Mail. I contacted German Apple Support via phone, and after a few days of investigation, they informed me that this problem is known and should be fixed with version 15.1.

UPDATE:

Like others here have posted, I also successfully tested the new user scenario:

1. Create a brand new user on the exact same Mac (no MacOs changes)
2. Log into exact same iCloud account.
3. Open Contacts app. (In my case, address book was fully intact.)

Side note: There also happened to already be a second family user with another iCloud account on this same Mac. There was never any corruption/syncing issues with that account, only on my account, and only for Contacts. It is definitely a user-based issue, and not for all users.

The data for some particular users must have been corrupted during MacOs Sequoia 15.0 install... and despite removing the associated Library files (AddressBook support folder and any com.apple.AddressBook files, etc.), the corrupted data remains somewhere on system.

Hopefully a future update may provide a fix (??), otherwise, the only solution I've found is recreating the corrupted user, then migrate any non-iCloud-synced files over the duplicated user. Fortunately for me, I moved everything non-iCloud to an external drive years ago.

It seems we must remain patient. Apple put out 15.0.1 sometime yesterday (?) and after performing the update (15.0.1 (24A348) on my M2 Pro 2023 Mini) my contacts from both iCloud-synced address books are still gone.

I hope someone's experience might be different, and if so, that they post their success. But maybe we must wait for the 15.1 update as noted by Leif Jensen-Pistorius

I have had this issue since the beta versions of macOS 15 Sequoia). I have gone back and forth from Sonoma and Sequoia every time a new version of Sequoia was released. This issue still persists today, October 18th, 2024 with my M1 MacBook Pro Max. I have gone through everything that is listed in this thread unsuccessfully. I have provided feedback to Apple and also discussed the issue with Apple Support. Thus far, I have nothing positive to report.

Should someone find a solution, then please remember to share. Thanks.

Axel F.

Just installed the new Sequoia 15.1 RC that came out today, Contacts App still not updating, I fear no one is listening/helping/caring. Very discouraging. Looking now for third party Contact Apps. Any good free ones that work with iCloud?

Yes, since these guys didn't read the stuff here. I can only repeat it again and again, it's not about syncing, it's about a strange behavior of the contacts app on macOS (15.0, 15.01 and 15.1) for some people.

I think the only way that helps is to contact support, repeatedly pointing out that this isn’t a syncing issue and that you’re not alone or an isolated case anymore. The big question is why Apple publications, which usually report on every little bug, aren’t writing about this very strange bug. BTW, one option my contact at Apple Support also considered was moving my user account on the Mac to a newly created one. However, they wanted to avoid that. Keep pushing support! This works even without AppleCare. And stop posting fixes for syncing issues here—that’s not what this bug is about. Anyone who reads through this threat from the beginning will see that we’ve already tried all of that **** and much more.

I spent 1 hr with Apple support. Nothing worked, btw they were not aware of this issue. Don't know if it might help, but when we tried creating another user (with admin privilege) on the same Mac and connected it to my iCloud account the contacts synced 🤯

As an alternative to 3-rd party apps, you can always open a web page to iCloud.com and log into your contacts with the same Apple Account as you use for your Mac. You'll see the web version of the Contact app as a choice and any work you do there will be reflected on your other devices. It's not a perfect substitute, but maybe enough to fill in until the fix is in...

Thanks so much, Nick, your method fixed the issue!!!!

Here is again from Nick's post:

Assuming you have all your contacts safe and sound in icloud, try the following:

1. Turn off contacts syncing in your icloud settings.

2. Close the Contacts.app.

3. In the Finder, click the Go menu then Go to Folder and paste in: ~/Library/Containers

4. In there, look to see if you have multiple folders called "Contacts". Drag all of them to the Desktop.

5. Now turn contact syncing back on in icloud settings and open the Contacts.app.

Hopefully everything is groovy after that. If it is, I think you can safely delete those folders dragged to the desktop.

Same for me today on Sequoia 15.1 (24B83) on my 2023 Mac Mini (M2 Pro). I will also try AppleCare and see what they say now.

Well done Nick! This worked like a charm. Not only did it resolve my iCloud contacts, but your fix also restored my work Gmail account contacts (that I sync within the Apple Contacts app as well).