MobileMe: How to reset sync data
Summary
Ocassionally, syncing with MobileMe may not behave as expected, causing a sync to take longer than expected, or an alert about inconsistant data to appear, or for data to not sync successfully between computers.
When troubleshooting situations such as this, resetting sync data on MobileMe may be a good step to take. This clears out all current sync data on MobileMe and replaces it with the data from your computer.
Products Affected
MobileMe, Microsoft Windows, iPhone, iPod touch
If you reset the sync data, be sure you reset it from the computer that has the most up-to-date information on it. If at all possible, before performing these steps, you should back up your data.
To reset your MobileMe Sync data in Mac OS X 10.5.4 or later
- Make sure that all your data is correct and current in Address Book, iCal, Safari bookmarks, Keychain, Mail, and other applications that use MobileMe Sync, and that you are connected to the Internet.
- Open System Preferences and click MobileMe.
- Click Sync, then click the Advanced button.
- Click Reset Sync Data.
- From the Replace pop-up menu, choose the information you want to reset, such as Bookmarks, Keychains, or all data.
- Click the right arrow button so that the orange arrow "flows" from the computer icon to the MobileMe icon in the window, and the text above the icons says "On MobileMe with sync info from this computer."
- Wait for the sync to complete. Depending on your Internet connection and on the data you are syncing, it may take several minutes. The status of your sync is indicated at the bottom of the Sync panel.
To reset your MobileMe Sync data in Mac OS X 10.4.11
- Make sure that all your data is correct and current in Address Book, iCal, Safari bookmarks, Keychain, Mail, and other applications that use .Mac Sync, and make sure that you are connected to the Internet.
- Open System Preferences and click .Mac.
- Click the Advanced tab and then click Reset Sync Data. (If Reset Sync Data is dimmed, click the Sync tab and make sure categories to be synced are checked, then go back to Advanced.)
- From the "Replace" pop-up menu, choose the information you want to reset, such as Bookmarks, Keychains, or all data.
- Click the right arrow button so that the orange arrow flows from the computer icon to the .Mac icon in the window, and the text above the icons says "On .Mac with sync info from this computer."
- Wait for the sync to complete. Depending on your Internet connection and on the data you are syncing, it may take several minutes. The status of your sync is indicated at the bottom of the Sync panel.
To reset your MobileMe Sync data in Microsoft Windows
- Open the MobileMe Preferences in the Windows Control Panel.
- Click Sync.
- Click Advanced.
- Click Reset.
- From the "Replace" pop-up menu, choose the information you want to reset, such as Bookmarks, Contacts, or all data.
- Choose to replace the data on your MobileMe with data from your computer.
- Wait for the sync to complete. Depending on your Internet connection and on the data you are syncing, it may take several minutes. The status of your sync is indicated at the bottom of the Sync panel.
Additional Information
After resetting, other computers syncing with MobileMe will display an alert the next time they sync the data on MobileMe that has been reset. Generally, choosing to merge is recommended, but if this does not resolve your issue, you may need to replace the data on your other computers with data from MobileMe.
Resetting data on MobileMe will delete all sync data from the MobileMe web apps and any iPhone/iPod touch and replace it with the data from the computer you performed the reset from. Any contacts with a specific ringtone may lose that setting.
Important: Information about products not manufactured by Apple is provided for information purposes only and does not constitute Apple’s recommendation or endorsement. Please contact the vendor for additional information.