Linked contacts (iCloud and Google) do not stay linked on macOS Contacts app

Question

Linked contacts (iCloud and Google) do not stay linked on macOS Contacts app

I have my macOS Contacts setup to include contacts from both Google and iCloud. My iCloud contacts are also synced with my iPhone. I have many duplicates and I have used the "Link Selected Cards" function to link the same contact between iCloud and Google. The problem is the cards will soon automatically unlink. I am not sure what triggers this but it happens very frequently. At a minimum, this happens when I edit the card. Is this supposed to happen? I believe it also happens spontaneously, maybe during a sync?

It seems like I am not the only one with this issue as I have seen other posts here that have not been resolved. Is this a known problem?

Contacts keep spontaneously unlinking - Apple Community

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iMac 21.5″, macOS 10.13

Posted on Oct 29, 2022 09:37 AM

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Answer 1

bruno75

Community Specialist

Oct 31, 2022 05:50 PM in response to Matthew Kramer

Hey there Matthew,

While we're unable to say what may occur from the Google side of things, we'd like to help rule out what we can from your Mac end of things:

We see you have macOS 10.13, but the latest version would be macOS 10.13.6. While you don't necessarily need to have the very latest macOS 13.0, we still recommend making sure you have the latest version for what is currently installed. You can verify if macOS 10.13.6 is installed by clicking on the Apple logo at the top left corner of the screen, then on ‘About This Mac’. This link will show how to first back up, then Update macOS on Mac.
Sometimes unexpected behavior can be resolved with a restart. Check out the section 'Restart' here: Log out, sleep, wake, restart, or shut down your Mac
Has this feature worked in the past for longer periods of time, and if yes, when did this first start to occur?
Any issues when you check the contacts in your accounts individually on their respective websites(iCloud and Google)?

Cheers!

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Answer 2

Oct 31, 2022 06:57 PM in response to bruno75

Thanks for the reply.

This problem has been present for many months maybe even years, across many resets and updates. I am actually running macOS 12.6 now. I will have to update my signature.

If I go to contacts.google.com or icloud.com, I don't see any duplicates and everything looks normal.

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Answer 3

ShannonM1

Community Specialist

Nov 1, 2022 07:48 AM in response to Matthew Kramer

Thanks for the details Matthew Kramer,

With this behavior having gone on for so long, we'd recommend that you contact Apple Support so that they can look into this directly with you.

Thanks for using Apple Support Communities!

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Linked contacts (iCloud and Google) do not stay linked on macOS Contacts app

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