Software - Written by Felix on Friday, July 11, 2008 18:07 - 18 Comments
How To Sync MobileMe, Address Book & iCal
Finally got MobileMe to work like it’s supposed to (after it erased my contacts on iPhone). It wasn’t easy an hour ago when MobileMe did everything in it’s power to crush my will to live… But you can’t keep a good AppleSlut down for long…
The good news for you and me… well, everybody really… is there’s a way to get it all working in just a few short steps.
Of course it took me a thousand do find it and make it work the first time.
With some fancy computer hacking (not really) I was able to crack the Mobile DaVinciMe code - and get everything to sync (horay) and start working smoothly - with instant updates to new data. Here’s how it’s done:
System Preferences
Open up System Preferences and click on the .Mac icon. (If you don’t have the .Mac icon, you might see the MobileMe icon - click it)
Select Your Items to Sync
1. Click the Sync button in the center menu bar
2. Check the box next to Synchronize with .Mac
3. Select Manually from the dropdown
4. Check all of the boxes next to the items you’d like to Sync.
Move on to the next step…
Click the Advanced Button
Click the Advanced button to open up more options.
Reset Sync Data
This isn’t as bad as it sounds…FYI
1. Click on your computer
2. Click on Reset Sync Data
Switch the Sync Direction
1. Select All Sync Info from the Replace dropdown menu
2. Click the Right Arrow to set the transfer - from your computer TO .Mac / MobileMe (you should see the orange arrow moving from the computer to the .Mac / MobileMe logo)
3. Click Replace to start the transfer
Confirm the Sync
Click the OK button to confirm the transfer and get this party started!
Sync in Progress
Now that the transfer has started…
1. The dropdown menu has been greyed-out.
2. The progress meter will be shown to the left of each item as they sync
3. You can click the Cancel Sync to stop the process
.Mac & MobileMe Sync Completed
The sync is complete when the date and time are displayed at the bottom.
** NOTE ** When the sync is completed, go back to the 2nd step (Select Your Items to Sync) and change the dropdown to “Automatically.” Now your Mac, iPhone and MobileMe will always be in sync!
That’s it - Enjoy MobileMe!
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18 Comments
rich
nimbus
THANKS! Your easy to follow guide really helped me. Nice blog, I think I’ll bookmark ya!
^^
Felix
Don
Holy crap finally. Thanks for doing this tut. I was ready to punch my Mac before I found this.
Jason
If the technical support people at Apple aren’t smart enough to solve the widespread syncing problem with mobileme, even with native applications, then they should at least be smart enough to read your simple and straight forward advice and then share it with the rest of the world. In the future, I will look for solutions here first!
Felix
I was lucky because my account was a free trial of MobileMe, so I was a little more open to problems and I didn’t care if I screwed something up trying to get it all working like Apple said it would.
Never thought this tutorial would become the instruction manual for MobileMe Sync, but if you want to share this page with Apple, please do!
If you’ve got any other ideas for tutorials, send me an email. Thanks for stopping by!
Tom Elkins
Felix, you ROCK!!! Thank you a million times over, I spent the better part of a weekend surfing apple support & various forums, to no avail. I was ready to throw my Macs out the window (i did that once, to a coffee-maker that kept clogging and spilling grounds all over my kitchen — aahhhh, it felt so good!). Seriously, thank you for the amazing tutorial. When does Jobs plan to hire you? You’re amazing.
Felix
Thanks for visiting!
Elizabeth
Thanks very much for your tutorial. I followed all the instructions to the letter but my lost contacts, calendars, and bookmarks did not appear on my iPhone. Any idea what else I could do?
Felix
it’s Aug 8th - Well you have my gratitude, thank you. i have been in a truly pointless dialogue with Apple - they do not have a clue how to guide people thru the simple process you’ve articulated here. I will forward it to them, as i am sure others have done.
mattybee x
Felix
neal
Thanks a bunch! So glad Google found you because Apple did not make this info easy to figure out.
This was a tremendous sigh of relief. Thank you so much. Be well. Ian
Felix
Thanks so much for the info!
Yiscah
Thank you so very much! I was about to pull my hair out, but your guide (with pictures, gee I love pictures lol) helped tremendously! I finally have my contacts list properly updated. Apple needs to hire you :p
Jennifer Mc
I have literally been going bonkers over this whole MobileMe fiasco. The so-helpful (not) chat says to call Apple. Apple says to use chat. SO, with that being said, and after literally days trying to get the sync to work, is this info still relevant since they quietly made some (hopefully positive) changes around the end of October? I’m trying to sync between my iMac & MacBook. I finally got my email from the dreaded Time Warner to work in Apple Mail, but it won’t sync. Everything has to be done twice!
I also need to sync other items on the list, not just the email and contacts. The dock went fine, but not my (not-so-smart) mailbox and the folders I’ve created underneath it, where I store stuff from emails from certain people to passwords.
Sorry to be wordy, I’m literally going insane over this. So - will this work for all my items (other folders, bookmarks, etc). Thanks SO much. Plus I’m glad I discovered your site - the name alone brought me my first smile of this wasted day!
thank you Ms Apple.
Sure Love yoUr Tutorial