Bug in Apple Contacts data entry in Big Sur OS

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Bug in Apple Contacts data entry in Big Sur OS

I downloaded and installed Big Sur 11.5.2 last night, and the Contacts bug identified many months ago is still there, still preventing users from adding new contacts. It's past time for Apple engineers to prioritize this issue and fix it. The Contacts app is a vital component for millions of Mac users, and the inability to keep it current devalues it considerably. The problem is well documented: Begin a new entry, type the first name into the top field, and while adding the last name or, sometimes, starting the Title, the whole form disappears, and some unexpected contact from the existing database pops up on the screen. I've tried several of the suggested steps from earlier posts, such as restarting, removing questionable apps from User & Groups in System Preferences, etc., but nothing seems to work. One workaround is to add new contacts from an iPhone or iPad that syncs with your Mac, but that's annoying and not always available.

MacBook Pro 13″, macOS 11.5

Posted on Sep 11, 2021 11:28 AM

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Answer 1

Sep 11, 2021 2:18 PM in response to mputzel

Hmm... I've been running Big Sur 11.5.2 for a couple of months on Intel x86_64 and ARM64 and never encountered this problem before nor now. If there is a bug, it's an obscure one that only impacts very specific scenarios that I have yet to come across with my customer base (enterprise Mac users).

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Answer 2

mputzel Author

Level 1

14 points

Sep 11, 2021 3:01 PM in response to James Brickley

This problem has been reported numerous times in this forum, at least since January 2021. I had not encountered it until this latest update of Big Sur, but I suspect the problem was there in previous versions, as attested to by others. I don't doubt that something unusual triggers it, but I don't know what that is and could not find a solution searching Apple Support and the community. It is, nonetheless, a disabling bug because I can't enter new contacts in the Mac app, which renders the app a history instead of a current tool.

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Answer 3

Sep 11, 2021 3:58 PM in response to mputzel

Have you created a test account on the Mac and logged into iCloud? Can you duplicate the problem or does it go away? If the problem goes away then you may have one of the numerous backend files used by the Contacts app became corrupted.

It may be easier to migrate your data to a new user account rather than attempt to delete all the Contacts related files in your primary user account. You can locate every file the Contacts App opens by searching for "contacts" and narrow down the list to specific /Users/<yourID> and go and delete those files then log out and back on.

BACKUP with Time Machine / CCC / SuperDuper or at least export your Contacts to back them up.

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Bug in Apple Contacts data entry in Big Sur OS

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