Outlook contacts not syncing all Outlook contact folders on Mac

[DBye]

I just started with Hubspot (Free) and tried to use the "Outlook Contacts" Datasync app to sync some of my Outlook (Office 365) contacts from a specific category. When using Outlook on Mac, I see many contact folders in "People" tab, and I can easily search by category across all available contact folders. I found out, that if the contacts are stored in a folder other than the folder called "Contacts", then DataSync will not find the folders, will not be able to search/find/sync any of those contacts by category. Can anyone confirm this? Why does the DataSync App "Outlook Contacts" not find all my contact folders? When I moved some contacts into the "Contacts" folder, they sync'd just fine. Might be important to mention this, or perhaps fix this.

[NicoleSengers · Accepted solution]

Hi @DBye 

The only thing I can think is that this limits who syncs for data privacy purposes.

The below says it syncs the folder that would sync with your smartphone, do your other folders usually sync with your phone?

[DBye · Accepted solution]

It does say "the contact(s) folder", so I assume it can therefore only sync this one folder. I have used Outlook for decades and always had multiple folders in contacts (to group various contacts). My folder list includes the following folders: Contacts, DB:Indy, DB:Prospects, etc. All these folders are in a personal Office 365 account and sync correctly with Outlook on Mac, Contacts on Mac, and with the Contacts App on my iphone. It does not seem correct that HubSpot should not be aware of all these folders, but I guess it is not and therefore I will need to put all the contacts I wish to sync into the "Contacts" folder. Luckily I do use Outlook Categories also, so these will be preserved and can therefore be used for the selective sync. But what a pain. I think Hubspot should fix this. As a first time user, it tainted the setup experience a little.

[NicoleSengers · Accepted solution]

Hi @DBye 

The only thing I can think is that this limits who syncs for data privacy purposes.

The below says it syncs the folder that would sync with your smartphone, do your other folders usually sync with your phone?

[DBye]

Since all the folders sync with my iPhone, including "Contacts", "DB:xyz" etc, there really is no solution here. The contacts I wanted to sync are in "DB:LSI" and the app does not find this. So, I am left not syncing with HubSpot.

[BérangèreL · Accepted solution]

Hi @DBye,
 

Thank you for sharing your syncing experience with the HubSpot Community.

I understand how important it is to be able to sync specific contact folders between your iPhone and HubSpot, especially when you have custom groups like "DB:LSI."

Currently, the HubSpot mobile app, and most third-party integrations, can only access the default iPhone "Contacts" group/folder (sometimes referred to as "All Contacts") due to Apple’s iOS privacy and app access limitations.

This means that custom folders or groups, like "DB:LSI," may not be visible to the HubSpot app or other integrations.

I know this might not be exactly what you are looking for but as a workaround you could move the specific contacts you want to sync into the main "Contacts" folder on your iPhone.
This will ensure they’re recognized by the HubSpot app during sync.

You could also export the contacts in "DB:LSI" as a .csv or .vcf file and then import them into HubSpot via the web app’s Import feature.

I realize this isn’t a perfect solution, but I hope these steps offer a helpful workaround.

For new feature suggestions, I'd recommend first to search and check if this idea is already present on our Ideas Forum here.

If you find a similar idea, give it an upvote and share your unique use case in the comments.

If the idea doesn't exist already, please consider posting and creating a new Idea on our Ideas Forum here.
 

Let me know if you need guidance with the CSV import or have any other questions.

Thanks and have a great day!
Bérangère

[DBye]

Thank you for your suggestions. For now, I like the CSV solution, but decided not to use HubSpot for now for this application.

[DBye · Accepted solution]

It does say "the contact(s) folder", so I assume it can therefore only sync this one folder. I have used Outlook for decades and always had multiple folders in contacts (to group various contacts). My folder list includes the following folders: Contacts, DB:Indy, DB:Prospects, etc. All these folders are in a personal Office 365 account and sync correctly with Outlook on Mac, Contacts on Mac, and with the Contacts App on my iphone. It does not seem correct that HubSpot should not be aware of all these folders, but I guess it is not and therefore I will need to put all the contacts I wish to sync into the "Contacts" folder. Luckily I do use Outlook Categories also, so these will be preserved and can therefore be used for the selective sync. But what a pain. I think Hubspot should fix this. As a first time user, it tainted the setup experience a little.

[PamCotton]

Hello @DBye , Happy Friday!

I would like to add our top experts to this matter @NicoleSengers @JenBergren, @ChristinaKay, any recommendations to @DBye?

Thank you,

Pam