I was syncing my iPhone 3GS with my Macbook because I'd added some new contacts to my iPhone. When I opened Address Book, I noticed that the new contacts hadn't transferred over. I confirmed that the "Sync All Contacts" box was checked in iTunes but contacts still weren't syncing. I decided to allow Mobile Me sync the Macbook and iPhone, and the pop-up window warning that some contacts would be deleted popped up- the number was small, but I inadvertently checked the okay button.

Well, about forty contacts got deleted. I don't keep Time Machine (will start tomorrow) but I've done pretty regular Super Duper backups. When I went to my external HD and opened Address Book, all I had was the new, smaller contact list and I don't know where to look for any file that may contain the contacts.

I've made an appointment with the Genius Bar to see if they can restore the data if it's still on my HD.

Does anyone here have any suggestions?

 

The sync isn't unidirectional by default. If you deleted them, they're gone barring a time machine backup.

Even with time machine, it's still a very good idea to export and manually back up your address book every so often.

 

That's what I was afraid of but believed to be the case.

 

We were able to restore the contacts at the genius bar by pulling up an old backup of my iPhone out of iTunes. I've since backed up my address book and will start using Time Machine in addition to Super Duper.

 

That's not all that bad, I synced a years of porn to my iPhone.