Contacts App Missing All Contacts on Mac? Here’s the Fix

Some Mac users have reported that the Contacts app is randomly missing all of their contacts, and the entire address book is suddenly blank on their Mac. This is obviously alarming, but the good news is that if this happens to you, it’s usually a pretty simple fix and your contact list and address book will be returned shortly.

The Contacts app not loading your contacts can be exceptionally stressful, since many of us have relied on Apple’s Contacts app and iCloud syncing to backup and maintain our entire address books, often with many years worth of individuals, businesses, family members, friends, coworkers, colleagues, peers, providers, and everyone else you’d typically save contact information for. Having just went through this myself on my Mac, I felt the panic and worry of losing all my Contacts, but troubleshooting mode kicked in and it was quick to resolve.

We’re going to assume you’re using Contacts app on Mac and have iCloud Contacts enabled, since that’s the most common situation where the Contacts app is suddenly missing all contacts and contacts are randomly not loading. Below are simple troubleshooting steps to fix this issue quickly and get your address book back in order.

0: Make Sure Your Mac Has Active Internet Access & iCloud Enabled!

Step zero is the most obvious. Before anything else, make sure your Mac is connected to the internet, and that iCloud is enabled broadly. If either of those are not the case, it’s likely that is the problem with your contacts list not loading.

1: Confirm iCloud Contacts Enabled in Contacts

First, you need to confirm that iCloud Contacts are enabled within the Contacts app itself. For whatever reason, this can randomly turn itself off, and nobody really understands why that is, so it’s probably a bug.

From the Contacts app, pull down the “Contacts” menu and then go to “Settings”, then go to the “Accounts” tab. Here, make sure that “Enable this account” is checked.

Some users find this has been disabled randomly, and that would explain why their Contacts are not showing up on their Mac Contacts app.

By checking this box, iCloud Contacts will sync again, and then give your Mac some time to sync the address book properly. Give this a minute or few, and your Contacts and address book should be back again in no time.

2: Confirm iCloud is Enabled Including Contacts

Apple has another setting for iCloud Contacts that’s in System Settings, separate from the iCloud Contacts setting in the Contacts app. Redundant, perhaps, but nonetheless some users report that the setting can be disabled in one place, but enabled in another, and their Contacts and address book can be missing if there’s a discrepency here. You want to make sure they’re both enabled.

Go to  Apple menu > System Settings > your name > iCloud > make sure that iCloud is enabled, and then click on “See All” and make sure that Contacts is enabled.

Again, if this was disabled, give your Mac a few minutes (or longer) to sync with iCloud, and your address book and Contacts list should repopulate again.

3: Restart the Mac

Assuming your iCloud Contacts are enabled in both locations, sometimes a simple reboot is enough to resolve the syncing and missing address book issue.

From the  Apple menu, choose “Restart” and let the Mac reboot as usual. Give everything a little time, since a freshly restarted Mac will trigger a variety of maintenance and housekeeping features, including iCloud Syncing, and your Contacts should return again soon.

Simply restarting the Mac will often fix a missing address book or contact list in the Contacts app for Mac.

A simple reboot after confirming the necessary settings were enabled was the solution that worked for me when I ran into this specific issue, when Contacts and iCloud settings were properly enabled everywhere it should be.

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How common is the Contacts app not loading any contacts issue on the Mac?

Many users report this problem, and there are dozens of threads on Apple Discussions and elsewhere on the web, and there are variations of the same complaint too.

Have you experienced issues with missing Contacts on the Mac? Did toggling iCloud Contacts on and rebooting the Mac work for you? Did you find another solution? Share your experiences in the comments below!