Where apps hide your files
Your address book is a set of database files in Application Support, not a folder of cards. Here is the path, what each file is, and the supported way to export a vCard or a full archive.
Contacts keeps its data here (checked on macOS Sequoia 15.6):
~/Library/Application Support/AddressBook/There is one database at the top and one subfolder per account:
AddressBook-v22.abcddb
Sources/<UUID>/AddressBook-v22.abcddbEach folder under Sources is one account (iCloud, Google, Exchange, CardDAV and so on), named by a random UUID, with its own AddressBook-v22.abcddb. The top-level database is generally the local store used for contacts kept On My Mac. The folder names are random, so you cannot tell which account is which from the names alone.
In Finder choose Go > Go to Folder (⇧⌘G) and paste the path, or in Terminal:
open ~/Library/Application\ Support/AddressBookTo list what is there without opening any file:
ls -la ~/Library/Application\ Support/AddressBook
ls ~/Library/Application\ Support/AddressBook/Sources| Item | What it is |
|---|---|
AddressBook-v22.abcddb | A contacts database (Core Data on SQLite) |
-shm and -wal files | Shared memory and write-ahead log that belong with the database |
ABAssistantChangelog.aclcddb | A change log kept next to the main database |
Sources/<UUID>/ | One folder per account, each with its own database, Metadata folder and sync files |
Metadata/ | Small .abcdp and .abcdi index files named by record ID |
.AddressBook-v22_SUPPORT | Hidden folder holding _EXTERNAL_DATA, where larger items such as some contact photos can be stored |
Press ⇧⌘. in Finder to show hidden items such as the support folder. The whole AddressBook folder was about 25 MB on the Mac checked. Where a given photo ends up (inside the database or in _EXTERNAL_DATA) is decided by the system, so do not expect a folder of loose images.
Use the Contacts app, not the folder, to get data out in a form anything can read:
.vcf file imports into Gmail, Outlook, Android phones and most other address books..abbu file you can import into Contacts on another Mac with File > Import.A vCard is the portable format and the archive is the complete one. If you are about to wipe the Mac, make both. Importing an archive is meant for restoring an address book, so try it on a Mac whose contacts you do not mind replacing.
Contacts in iCloud, Google or Exchange are held by the provider, so signing into the same accounts on the new Mac brings them back. Contacts stored On My Mac exist only locally. Export an archive before you wipe the machine, and keep Time Machine running, which backs up this folder with the rest of your home folder.
Do not delete anything here to free space. It is tens of megabytes at most, and it holds the only copy of any On My Mac contacts. The files are also never idle: a background service called contactsd keeps the databases open even when the Contacts app is quit, so moving or deleting files here can lose recent edits or leave the address book inconsistent.
If Contacts shows duplicates, use Card > Look for Duplicates in the app. If an account stops syncing, choose Contacts > Accounts to open its settings and turn that account's contacts off and on again. Export an archive before trying either.
Spotlight and Finder searches leave out files in ~/Library, so searching Finder for "AddressBook" or "abcddb" shows nothing even though the files exist. Individual contacts still appear in Spotlight results, because Spotlight gets them from Contacts rather than from the files.
Groups you created are stored in the same databases as the contacts, and a Contacts Archive keeps them. A vCard file is a list of cards, so do not rely on it to rebuild your group structure. Your own card, marked Me, is set with Card > Make This My Card. Before you send a vCard export to someone else, leave your own card out, since it can include your home address and other private details.
By default Contacts shows all accounts merged. Choose View > Show Groups to see the sidebar, with each account listed separately. The same person can exist in two accounts at once, which is a common cause of duplicates. The per-account folders under Sources also explain why copying one database file never gives you the whole address book: you would need every one of them plus the top-level database, all consistent with each other.
Give Everywhere Full Disk Access when it asks: without it, macOS keeps the AddressBook folder and external drives out of reach of other apps. Then typing abcddb lists the main database and every per-account copy under Sources at once, and typing abbu or vcf finds the exports you saved earlier, even on a drive that is not connected. ⌘↵ reveals a result in Finder, and only file names are read, never the people inside them.
In ~/Library/Application Support/AddressBook, with one AddressBook-v22.abcddb at the top and one per account under Sources.
Open Contacts, select the contacts (press ⌘A for all), and choose File > Export > Export vCard. For a full backup, choose File > Export > Contacts Archive.
It is a Contacts Archive made with File > Export > Contacts Archive. Import it on another Mac with File > Import in Contacts to restore the address book.
No. Use Card > Look for Duplicates in Contacts instead. A background service keeps these files open, and On My Mac contacts have no server copy to come back from.
Everywhere keeps track of every file on your Mac — including the folders Spotlight hides and drives you have unplugged. Free for a day, then $19 once.
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