Transfer contacts from iPhone to Mac

[whipporwill]

This worked for me.

After much turmoil, the answer is so simple.

Go to Settings, Mail, and then scan through all your accounts and make sure that the contacts switch is turned OFF for each mail account.

I believe this setting overrides the address book sync with instructions to sync with mail. So once you switch it off, the address book on your mac should automatically start syncing with your iphone.

hopefully this works for all of you like it just worked for me!

This worked for me!! Thanks, ecece.

 

[md1979]

After much turmoil, the answer is so simple.

Go to Settings, Mail, and then scan through all your accounts and make sure that the contacts switch is turned OFF for each mail account.

I believe this setting overrides the address book sync with instructions to sync with mail. So once you switch it off, the address book on your mac should automatically start syncing with your iphone.

hopefully this works for all of you like it just worked for me!

After a lot of messing around and reading about how to do this online, this worked a charm for me too!

 

[corey1251]

Okay I have done a lot of searching and I am looking for some help. I have an iPhone 4 and a macbook pro running snow leopard. I want to back up my contacts on my computer so that if I ever lose my phone or it breaks or whatever, I will not be screwed and not have any numbers. How can I do this? I had the first iPhone back in 08 and I clicked the sync contacts in iTunes and I lost everything and I was so pissed. I am just trying to have my contacts stored somewhere in the event that I ever lose or break my iPhone. Thanks for your help.

 

[souperjen24]

After much turmoil, the answer is so simple.

Go to Settings, Mail, and then scan through all your accounts and make sure that the contacts switch is turned OFF for each mail account.

I believe this setting overrides the address book sync with instructions to sync with mail. So once you switch it off, the address book on your mac should automatically start syncing with your iphone.

hopefully this works for all of you like it just worked for me!

When I go to Settings > Mail > scan through my accounts, the only three options I have are: Mail, Calendars, and Notes. I can switch these on or off. I don't have any option of a contact switch.

Am I missing something?

 

[alo4q]

A quick solution is install idrive lite from app store is free and back ur contact there if u ever lose your phone or get droid or black berry u could restor from that backup cause the app work on those plaform

When I go to Settings > Mail > scan through my accounts, the only three options I have are: Mail, Calendars, and Notes. I can switch these on or off. I don't have any option of a contact switch.

Am I missing something?

 

[BrianBaughn]

It might be a good idea to sync your contacts with a Gmail account, even if you don't use it for email. That way, you've got a free backup in the cloud.

 

[vmbuxton]

Sync contacts FROM iPhone TO computer (Mac)

I am trying to merge iPhone contact list to my MAC. When I sync the iPhone it goes right into sync and ther are no prompts give in order to merge with my MAC address book. Can anyone help me?

This works if you have Mobile Me. Here is what the nice people at Apple had me do and it worked. Go to the Apple menu, pull down System Preferences and click on Mobile Me under Internet and Wireless. Click on Sync, check Calendars and Contacts and click Advanced. HIghlight the computer you are syncing to and click "Reset Sync Data". When prompted, click Replace, and the data from Mobile Me will replace the data on your computer, for those two things (calendar and contacts). Hope this helps.
If you don't have Mobile Me, you should be prompted to "Merge" and that's what you click.

 

[Juggertha]

After much turmoil, the answer is so simple.

Go to Settings, Mail, and then scan through all your accounts and make sure that the contacts switch is turned OFF for each mail account.

I believe this setting overrides the address book sync with instructions to sync with mail. So once you switch it off, the address book on your mac should automatically start syncing with your iphone.

hopefully this works for all of you like it just worked for me!

Tried this and... no luck.

Anyone have any other suggestions?

 

[Erwin-Br]

I'm having the same problem. I installed Lion on a new hard disk. My contact list on Lion is of course empty. When I sync my iPhone contacts, I choose "merge". The result is that the contacts on my phone are wiped.

Fortunately I could restore a backup from my Phone, but I still have no idea how the heck I'm supposed to get my contacts from the phone to Lion.

 

[Jay2007]

How do I get my iPhone contacts into my address book

“...am I missing something”?

Here is what you do.

Some people above may have posted answers to this thread way too long ago, when there was no iTunes 10, nor iPhone 4, so their solutions may differ to how backing up an iPhone presently goes. Also, “sync" used to mean replacing all the stuff in your iPhone for what you had in your mac, thus your iPhone could be completely erased, depending on your options. Not anymore.
It is always good though, just as a precaution (since you may still be running an older version of iTunes/iPhone) to follow these steps below in order to get your contacts from your iPhone nicely copied into your Mac -- if that is what you want to do:

(these are directions for iTunes 10.4 on a Mac OS X Snow Leopard or Lion. and iPhone 4.3.5 (or iPod Touch 4), but it may be very similar to other previous device versions; or while running iTunes under Windows OS)

BEFORE hooking up your iPhone to your Mac:
1 Launch iTunes ;
2. GO to iTunes menu and choose PREFERENCES;
3. Under PREFERENCES, check mark the box which says:
“Prevent iPods, iPhones, and iPads from syncing automatically.”;
4. Now you can hook your iPhone up to your Mac;
5. On the left side panel, under Devices, highlight “YourName’s iphone” (where “YourName" is your name);
6. Click on the Info menu (on iTunes’ right panel);
7. Unmark all boxes (ie. Sync address book Contacts; Sync iCal Calendars; Sync Mail Accounts; Other; Advanced; making sure nothing is marked);

NOW, while “YourName’s iPhone” is still highlighted:
8. Press and hold the CONTROL key on your keyboard and click over “YourName’s iPhone,” then choose Back Up from the drop down menu that appears (this will back up your iPhone's most recent Data into your Mac);

Now you are safe -- if anything goes wrong from now on, you can still retrieve all your info by doing a restore, later on.

9. Once your back up is all done, and with “YourName’s iPhone” highlighted still, choose INFO from iTunes' application right panel, again;
10. Now, mark the box which says ”Sync Address Book Contacts” and also the box right below which reads, “All Contacts”;
11. Now, go to the bottom of the Info window and click on Sync.

It will then give you an information screen with the changes that will be made to your computers' Address book with as much detail as you like.

Let me know how this works for you!

In the future, if you are running the latest version of iTunes and iPhone iOS, you can sync as often as you wish when connecting your iPhone up to your Mac’s iTunes without having to back up your iPhone first, because iTunes will always back up your iPhone apps and other Data first anyway and then iTunes will sync.

 

[rebelfan]

Updated contact info from iphone to macbook pro address book

I am often out and run into people and get new address information from them. These are people who are already in my contacts on my iphone and on my mac since i regularly sync them. However, it seems that the updated contact information i put into my phone is not syncing correctly with my mac address book. Is this normal? should contacts updated on my iphone 3GS update the information in my MacBook's address book or is there something special i need to do. All i can figure out is a way to update my phone's contacts with the one's from my computer. Anyone have any ideas what's going on? thanks for the help y'all. I appreciate any and all suggestions..

 

[dimitrisgf]

I am often out and run into people and get new address information from them. These are people who are already in my contacts on my iphone and on my mac since i regularly sync them. However, it seems that the updated contact information i put into my phone is not syncing correctly with my mac address book. Is this normal? should contacts updated on my iphone 3GS update the information in my MacBook's address book or is there something special i need to do. All i can figure out is a way to update my phone's contacts with the one's from my computer. Anyone have any ideas what's going on? thanks for the help y'all. I appreciate any and all suggestions..

well I have tha same problem! I imported new contact on address book on my mac and they won't sync with my iphone 4... any help?

 

[Mr. Luigi]

This worked for me...Thanks Jay 2007

Jay 2007's instructions below worked for me. Please notice Jay's initial comment that this thread goes back so far that some answers no longer are accurate. For ex., I am running iTunes 10.5 and iOS 5.0.1 on a iPhone 4S and many of the suggestions quote functionalities that no longer exist. Just to be clear what my situation exactly was so you know what Jay 2007's protocol WILL work on...

1. I wanted one and only one thing to happen with regard to my contacts. I wanted a complete list of contacts on my iPhone 4S and the exact same list in my MBP's Address Book. I wanted these two things to be duplicates of each other so my address book would be a backup of my contact list on my iPhone. I wanted no other contacts from ANY other sources populating my iPhone or Mac's Address Book.

2. I have a Verizon iPhone 4S and transferred my Backup Assistant contact list (generated from my former LG Envy Touch cell phone) to my iPhone via Verizon's App that recently came out that let's you do this without going to the Verizon store (Backup Assistant does not work on the iPhone). Sorry, I forgot the name of the Verizon App that does this. It is NOT the generic Verizon App. Something like Verizon Contact Transfer.

2. My Contacts on my iPhone 4S were all F$#@ed Up (forgive my language). I went to my iPhone 4S and "repaired" its contact list. It was filled with duplicate contacts, duplicate information within contacts-some of it right, some of it wrong (dated)...etc.

3. Before following Jay's directions I deleted all my Address Book Contacts on my Mac so it was a blank slate. It was contaminated with similar duplicates, etc.

4. I followed Jay's directions.

5. BTW...he's got some cool tricks in there that I didn't know. Thanks Jay 2007.

6. After completing the process my Address Book was populated by what appears to be an exact duplicat of my iPhone 4S's Contacts. I even opened a couple of the contacts in the Address Book. All looks good.

7. I have no idea have long this pristine situation will last. Will my contacts again become contaminated? Will my address book and iPhone continue to sync together so that updating one with additional new content will cause the other to update too? Who knows.

8. What I do know is this...Steve Jobs (Bless his Heart) said his paradigm for Apple products is "They Just Work." I think he would be disappointed with the state of affairs regarding contacts and his iPhone. It does Not Just Work. We can all help Apple know this by submitting feedback to their feedback site. The more comments they get, the more they'll realize this is a situation that deserves more attention.

Most importantly...Thanks so much Jay 2007.

Sincerely, Mr. Luigi

“...am I missing something”?

Here is what you do.

Some people above may have posted answers to this thread way too long ago, when there was no iTunes 10, nor iPhone 4, so their solutions may differ to how backing up an iPhone presently goes. Also, “sync" used to mean replacing all the stuff in your iPhone for what you had in your mac, thus your iPhone could be completely erased, depending on your options. Not anymore.
It is always good though, just as a precaution (since you may still be running an older version of iTunes/iPhone) to follow these steps below in order to get your contacts from your iPhone nicely copied into your Mac -- if that is what you want to do:

(these are directions for iTunes 10.4 on a Mac OS X Snow Leopard or Lion. and iPhone 4.3.5 (or iPod Touch 4), but it may be very similar to other previous device versions; or while running iTunes under Windows OS)

BEFORE hooking up your iPhone to your Mac:
1 Launch iTunes ;
2. GO to iTunes menu and choose PREFERENCES;
3. Under PREFERENCES, check mark the box which says:
“Prevent iPods, iPhones, and iPads from syncing automatically.”;
4. Now you can hook your iPhone up to your Mac;
5. On the left side panel, under Devices, highlight “YourName’s iphone” (where “YourName" is your name);
6. Click on the Info menu (on iTunes’ right panel);
7. Unmark all boxes (ie. Sync address book Contacts; Sync iCal Calendars; Sync Mail Accounts; Other; Advanced; making sure nothing is marked);

NOW, while “YourName’s iPhone” is still highlighted:
8. Press and hold the CONTROL key on your keyboard and click over “YourName’s iPhone,” then choose Back Up from the drop down menu that appears (this will back up your iPhone's most recent Data into your Mac);

Now you are safe -- if anything goes wrong from now on, you can still retrieve all your info by doing a restore, later on.

9. Once your back up is all done, and with “YourName’s iPhone” highlighted still, choose INFO from iTunes' application right panel, again;
10. Now, mark the box which says ”Sync Address Book Contacts” and also the box right below which reads, “All Contacts”;
11. Now, go to the bottom of the Info window and click on Sync.

It will then give you an information screen with the changes that will be made to your computers' Address book with as much detail as you like.

Let me know how this works for you!

In the future, if you are running the latest version of iTunes and iPhone iOS, you can sync as often as you wish when connecting your iPhone up to your Mac’s iTunes without having to back up your iPhone first, because iTunes will always back up your iPhone apps and other Data first anyway and then iTunes will sync.

 

[vegivory]

Jay2000's instructions worked great! No problems losing any contacts on my iPhone 3G and all of the contacts transferred nicely onto my macbook pro contacts.

 

[ParryD]

Hi, I have an iPhone 4S & MacBook Pro 13' (OSX 10.8.2). My contacts & calendars were on my iPhone & I synced them to MBP using iTunes. Also, have my contacts synced to iCloud from my iPhone.

Now, in my MBP Contacts I have all 356 contacts in iCloud - All iCloud but On My Mac - All on my Mac its just showing up 134 out of 356 contacts. How can I have all my 356 contacts under All on my Mac?

 

[Farenxdesign]

These are people who are already in my contacts on my iphone and on my mac since i regularly sync them. However, it seems that the updated contact information i put into my phone is not syncing correctly with my mac address book. Is this normal?

 

[MMH526]

Contacts from iPhone to Mac via iCloud

From your phone, with iCloud turned on....

1. Go into Settings
2. Click the iCloud tab
3. Turn contacts OFF
4. It will ask if you want to keep contacts on phone or delete them... Click Keep on iPhone.
5. Turn contacts back on.
6. It will ask if you want to merge contacts with computer, click MERGE.
7. Reply and say thank you for saving your life!

 

[-sean-]

This

UPDATE: JAN 21, 2013

“...am I missing something”?

Here is what you do.

Some people above may have posted answers to this thread way too long ago, when there was no iTunes 10, nor iPhone 4, so their solutions may differ to how backing up an iPhone presently goes. Also, “sync" used to mean replacing all the stuff in your iPhone for what you had in your mac, thus your iPhone could be completely erased, depending on your options. Not anymore.
It is always good though, just as a precaution (since you may still be running an older version of iTunes/iPhone) to follow these steps below in order to get your contacts from your iPhone nicely copied into your Mac -- if that is what you want to do:

(these are directions for iTunes 10.4 on a Mac OS X Snow Leopard or Lion. and iPhone 4.3.5 (or iPod Touch 4), but it may be very similar to other previous device versions; or while running iTunes under Windows OS)

BEFORE hooking up your iPhone to your Mac:
1 Launch iTunes ;
2. GO to iTunes menu and choose PREFERENCES;
3. Under PREFERENCES, check mark the box which says:
“Prevent iPods, iPhones, and iPads from syncing automatically.”;
4. Now you can hook your iPhone up to your Mac;
5. On the left side panel, under Devices, highlight “YourName’s iphone” (where “YourName" is your name);
6. Click on the Info menu (on iTunes’ right panel);
7. Unmark all boxes (ie. Sync address book Contacts; Sync iCal Calendars; Sync Mail Accounts; Other; Advanced; making sure nothing is marked);

NOW, while “YourName’s iPhone” is still highlighted:
8. Press and hold the CONTROL key on your keyboard and click over “YourName’s iPhone,” then choose Back Up from the drop down menu that appears (this will back up your iPhone's most recent Data into your Mac);

Now you are safe -- if anything goes wrong from now on, you can still retrieve all your info by doing a restore, later on.

9. Once your back up is all done, and with “YourName’s iPhone” highlighted still, choose INFO from iTunes' application right panel, again;
10. Now, mark the box which says ”Sync Address Book Contacts” and also the box right below which reads, “All Contacts”;
11. Now, go to the bottom of the Info window and click on Sync.

It will then give you an information screen with the changes that will be made to your computers' Address book with as much detail as you like.

Let me know how this works for you!

In the future, if you are running the latest version of iTunes and iPhone iOS, you can sync as often as you wish when connecting your iPhone up to your Mac’s iTunes without having to back up your iPhone first, because iTunes will always back up your iPhone apps and other Data first anyway and then iTunes will sync.

THIS ^^^

(iPhone 4S to iMac & MBP running iTunes 11.0.1)

Works perfectly and creates a back-up point at the same time.
Thanks so much for the info!