Not all my contacts are syncing when using PieSync! What can I do?

There can be several reasons why some contacts are not syncing. Some can be very self-explanatory, others might have deeper issues.

Common reasons for contacts to not sync are:

• No First Name: Command requires all contacts to have at least a first name. Command will not allow PieSync to create contacts without one. If they do not have a First Name, give these contacts a first name and PieSync will sync them to Command shortly after.
  
  
• No Email Address: By default PieSync will not sync contacts that do not have an email address. This is because the email address is used to identify contacts, which means that without one PieSync might create duplicate contacts. Contact PieSync Support if you want this setting disabled.

In case the above two reasons do not explain why your contacts are not syncing, you can look up the sync status of each of your contacts to figure out why they might not be syncing. To do so, go to the Health dashboard of the PieSync connection responsible for not syncing certain contacts. You can find this by going to the configuration page of said connection and then clicking on ‘Activity’ in the top right corner. In the screenshot below you’ll find where you can access it in the Activity Feed. 

Once you click that link, you’ll be redirected to Health. In the top right corner of your Health Dashboard there is a search bar that you can use to look up the sync status of each individual contact. Type in the name, email address or ID of one contact PieSync is not syncing in the top right corner.

Depending on what the sync status of the contact is (‘in sync’, ‘failing to sync’, ‘excluded’), different approaches are required. We’ll go over what you can do about them below, but if you want to learn more about Health, you can click here.

Failing to Sync

If your contact is marked as Failing to Sync, then that means that PieSync has tried to create it or update your contact, but the receiving app has refused it. Any contact that is failing to sync should come with an error message that explains why it’s been refused, such as ‘First Name required’. Change your contact accordingly to bypass those restrictions.

Excluded

If your contact is excluded, then it means that your contact is not supposed to be kept in sync. Excluded contacts are those you might have filtered out in the connection rules. It’s recommended that you double check if this contact indeed matches one of your connection rules.

Another reason might be the fact that this contact does not have an email address. As stated before, PieSync requires all contacts to have at least an email address before they can be synced with Command. Reach out to PieSync Support if you want to include them.

A third reason could be that the same contact in the opposite app has been deleted. If a contact has been deleted, then PieSync will not recreate it to sync an update.

In Sync

If your contact is marked as ‘in sync’, but they don’t seem to be syncing, then troubleshooting is granted for sure. Please reach out to PieSync Support and provide the name and email address of your failing contact. Also explain briefly what you’ve encountered or expected to happen.