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Sync your Mac Address Book with Google Contacts

December 27th, 2009 - How to, OS X Apps, Tips & Tricks

sync address book with google contacts

You can easily sync your Mac’s Address Book contacts with your Google Contacts, here’s how to do it:

* Launch Address Book
* Click on the “Address Book” menu and select “Preferences”
* Click on the “Accounts” tab
* Select the “On My Mac” under the left accounts
* Check the checkbox accompanying “Synchronize with Google”
* Click on “Configure…”
* Enter your Google Account login, click “OK”
* Then click “Sync Now” from the menubar
* Now your Address Book is synchronized with your Google contacts!

This walkthrough is set within Mac OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard but the ability to sync Google contacts with Address Book is within 10.5 as well (users have mixed results, I don’t have Leopard 10.5 so I am unable to help much). Syncing makes everyones life easier. Your Gmail contacts will now be the same as what is on your iPhone, Mail.app, and anything else that uses the Mac Address Book!

Update: I apologize if the above instructions weren’t clear. If you’re having troubles, one of our helpful readers, Steve Guttbinder, suggests the following:

This process uses iSync to synchronize. You need to manually hit sync from the menu bar OR use iSync. The menu bar icon is the SAME as the MobileMe sync icon (since that uses iSync as well). If you do not manually hit sync, it will NOT DO ANYTHING, you merely just set it up.

Thanks for the tip Steve!

Posted by: Paul Horowitz

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Comments:

Comments: 20

Pingback from Sync your Mac Address Book with Google Contacts – OS X Daily | ePortals
Time: December 27, 2009, 7:10 am

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Comment from Steve Guttbinder
Time: December 27, 2009, 7:48 am

You forgot the most important step! If you just follow the steps above… nothing will happen! Once you complete the steps above, you actually have to go to the menu bar, click the sync icon, then click “Sync Now”.

Comment from Rayford Smith
Time: December 27, 2009, 8:11 am

The ability to sync with Google isn’t available in 10.5. The synchronize options are under the General tab–there is no Accounts tab–and the only options are MobileMe, Exchange, and Yahoo!.

Comment from Macnewbie
Time: December 27, 2009, 12:49 pm

Will this work even if you don’t have mobileme and a iPhone? I tried it and don’t see a change.

Comment from Ganymedus
Time: December 27, 2009, 1:00 pm

@Macnewbie
I have the same problem. You can set things up to sync in adressbook but it doesn’t give a sync now button. Seems like one needs an iPhone for this. I wonder how this will work with an android based phone.

Comment from Steve Guttbinder
Time: December 27, 2009, 4:26 pm

Folks, read my post above! This process uses iSync to synchronize. You need to manually hit sync from the menu bar OR use iSync. The menu bar icon is the SAME as the MobileMe sync icon (since that uses iSync as well). If you do not manually hit sync, it will NOT DO ANYTHING, you merely just set it up.

Comment from Jared
Time: December 27, 2009, 11:48 pm

To get this option available in 10.5 you have to have an iPhone. Once it sees that you sync to an iPhone the option will appear to sync google contacts.

Comment from Don Veto
Time: December 28, 2009, 10:36 am

Google syncs just fine with Mac OS X 10.5, here is the proof:

http://imgur.com/g9pdm.png

Comment from JoaoGon aka uterrorista
Time: December 28, 2009, 12:40 pm

For those who have Windows Mobile Phone, you can sync also with Gmail account – making all synchronized :)

In ActivitySync make a new connection (config server)
Server address: m.google.com
your user: user@gmail.com
and your pass…

Hit Syncronize :D

Comment from Tim Bogus
Time: December 28, 2009, 1:46 pm

You may have problems with Leopard syncing just your Google Contacts. Add a yahoo account and then try to sync. It should work then.

Comment from Gabriel
Time: December 28, 2009, 5:38 pm

Adding a yahoo account made the “Sync Now” option appear in 10.5.8! Thanks Tim.

Comment from gregS
Time: January 1, 2010, 11:07 am

I have address book syncing with gmail contacts just fine (10.6.2). But to get it to sync I seem to need to manually trigger an iSync “sync now” each time. Obviously I needed to do it the first time, but I had hoped it would pick up when something changed and automatically sync. In the gmail help screens it mentions that syncing happens once an hour in Snow Leopard (though I haven’t let it sit long enough to test that theory). Is there a way to adjust this schedule or to have it automatically sync with gmail when a change is made in address book (or vise versa).

Comment from Don
Time: January 5, 2010, 12:07 pm

I tried above steps and about only one quarter of my contacts on Mac Address Book went through to Gmail account (900 out of 4000)… I am using Macbook Pro with Snow Leopard 10.6.2. Anyone experienced same ? Any suggestion to address this ?

Comment from bob
Time: January 8, 2010, 3:00 pm

I cannot find the sync now button ..what menu bar? I’m going nuts.

Comment from Scott
Time: January 12, 2010, 5:48 pm

Bob, the sync ‘button’ is actually an icon on the task bar. To the left of the clock icon. It looks like two arrows wrapped around in a circle. Click that icon and select ’sync now’ from the pop up menu.

Comment from Jorge
Time: January 15, 2010, 9:36 pm

I can sync from google to Address Book, but not the other way (as in, any changes I make through Address Book don’t show up on google). This is using 10.6.2

Comment from tquigs
Time: January 17, 2010, 12:16 pm

I am using OS 10.5.8. There is no sync option to select Google in Address Book/Preferences/General. There are options to select Mobileme, Yahoo and Exchange, but nothing for Google.

I’d like to use this and am not interested in 10.6 just yet.
No problem setting up and syncing with iCal.

Comment from De LARKIN
Time: February 11, 2010, 2:34 am

I have the same problem as Tquigs. I don’t get it.

Comment from kit
Time: February 16, 2010, 12:26 pm

me too! i followed the instructions on lifehacker but 10.5.8 doesn’t seem to want to cooperate. does anyone with 10.5.8 and an ipod with working google sync want to take a looksy to see if the plist file has changed?

Comment from kit
Time: February 16, 2010, 12:41 pm

By the way guys, this is the lifehacker approach. Maybe it’ll work for you. Google sync currently only appears on 10.5.8 if you have synced an iPod or iTouch to your mac.

http://lifehacker.com/393855/enable-google-contact-sync-without-an-iphone-or-ipod-touch

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December 27th, 2009