Google Contacts syncing not working for some users — here's how to fix it

You might not consciously think about it, but chances are you use Google Contacts every single day. It's a fairly unexciting service, but it's also one of the most important when it comes to communication. Unfortunately for some users, one of Contacts' biggest features – data syncing – simply hasn't been working.

If you're affected by this bug, you'll see that contacts that are saved to Google Contacts aren't showing up on your phone as they should. This is something that appears to only affect devices running Android Oreo (both 8.0 and 8.1), and users have been reporting it on Google's Product Forums, Reddit, and even our own Android Central Forums.

The issue stems from contacts added through Google+.

Community Manager Orrin on the Google Product Forums says that he'll be reaching out to Pixel users to gather bug reports and other information, but if you want a fix right now, Ambassador and Moderator of the Android Central Forums, LeoRex, has something for you to try out.

Per LeoRex's findings, the bug stems from contacts that have been added through Google+. When you add a contact this way, the profile URL for that entry in Google Contacts is a web link for their Google+ profile. You'll be able to see this contact when viewing Google Contacts from Chrome or on your computer, but not through the Contacts app on your Android phone.

To fix this, head to the Google Contacts website, find any contacts added through Google+, and remove the profile URL that's there. Once the contact is saved, it should show up on your phone like normal.

Responses to LeoRex's solution are all positive so far, so if you're running into this bug, it's worth giving this a shot. We're still waiting on an official fix from Google, but in the meantime, this should work just fine.

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Joe Maring

Joe Maring was a Senior Editor for Android Central between 2017 and 2021. You can reach him on Twitter at @JoeMaring1.