Google Contact and gContactSync don't work so...?

User Help for Mozilla Thunderbird
periodic
Posts: 178
Joined: October 13th, 2006, 10:13 pm

Re: Google Contact and gContactSync don't work so...?

Post by periodic »

because all groups and contacts brings in many redundant entries. The my contacts list is what I need. It is the list of contacts that I want, have curated.
JYLD
Posts: 305
Joined: July 18th, 2019, 9:59 am

Re: Google Contact and gContactSync don't work so...?

Post by JYLD »

OK, I understand. You could sync all groups and contacts. Then change the synching to "only contacts, no groups". Then delete the extraneous gmail created groups you don't want. And once a month or something repeat this procedure. Would that sort of work?
periodic
Posts: 178
Joined: October 13th, 2006, 10:13 pm

Re: Google Contact and gContactSync don't work so...?

Post by periodic »

Maybe, because the 500 or so addresses that I don't want should be deep sixed. Oh, but I think that's not how gcontactsync works with that setting. When you change it from one type to another, it wipes out the existing contacts and labels, asks you to closed and restart tbird, and then does a green field sync.
JYLD
Posts: 305
Joined: July 18th, 2019, 9:59 am

Re: Google Contact and gContactSync don't work so...?

Post by JYLD »

Are you sure gContactSync works the way you describe? I'm not sure. Even if it did, you could always create a new address book in Thunderbird, and tell gcontactsync NOT to touch or sync that address book. Then copy the contacts from the gmail sync'd contacts addressbook to the new nonsync'd one. Do that before you change how gcontactsync should sync contacts.

You could also check to see if you can delete the contacts you don't want from the labels/groups you don't want while logged into gmail contacts with your browser. Then they won't be there for gcontactsync to try and sync.

You could use the browser interface to export the gmail contacts to a csv file and then load it up in Excel. Then you could sort and find contacts however you wanted.

Where there is a will there is a way.
periodic
Posts: 178
Joined: October 13th, 2006, 10:13 pm

Re: Google Contact and gContactSync don't work so...?

Post by periodic »

That is how gcontactsyn works when changing the sync type. I may experiment with something like what you've suggested. But also the gcontactsync forum is back online so I can ask about a fix for the faulty sync of my contacts. Thanks for you help!
periodic
Posts: 178
Joined: October 13th, 2006, 10:13 pm

Re: Google Contact and gContactSync don't work so...?

Post by periodic »

Hmm, well this am gcontactsync behaved differently. I changed from "all contacts and groups" to "my contact", clicked "find all groups" (which I'd never clicked before, documentation for that button doesn't exist), hit save, got the warning about all contacts would be removed from tbird, and then close. It didn't prompt me to restarted tbird but I did. I then found that it was still set to "all contacts and groups". I set it to My Contacts, save, warning was presented, close, sync, and it said it was going to delete 590 contacts from thunderbird and 0 from gmail. That's the first time I've seen a message like that - always before it just tossed the entire contents of the address book and repopulated. Minus the 590 contacts it removed, it is the My Contacts set, and the labels are intact. Erratic behavior which is a bit unsettling but maybe now it will remain stable with the data I want.
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