Google accounts Sync Contacts option now missing (S10e, late 2019).

[Fused]

Google accounts Sync Contacts option now missing (S10e, late 2019). Posting 1 March 2020.
First – this is long because I have spent a long time trying solutions proposed by Samsung and in Web forums. So please, do read the whole item before telling me what I should do next. Thanks, Tim.
I have a new-ish (2019) Galaxy S10e, same model as my wife’s. There were 2 Google accounts on it, one with all my contacts. The built-in Samsung contacts app used to allow a choice of contacts to display (Phone, SIM, Samsung account, and the 2 Google accounts), but a few weeks ago it started saying there was a sync error for the Google accounts.
1. I removed one Google account, re-started and added it back to the phone. Now the Samsung Contacts app does not even show that Google Account as a possible source. Clicking “Manage Contacts” then “Sync contacts” then “Add account” and specifying the Google Account, it reports ”This account already exists on this device” and though it knows that, still does not allow it as a choice for either showing or syncing contacts.
1a. I removed the Google account, and, this time WITHOUT first re-adding it via Settings>Accounts, I re-started the phone and confirmed the Samsung Contacts app does not show that Google Account as a possible source (as it should not, in this case). Clicking “Manage Contacts” then “Sync contacts” then “Add account” and specifying the Google Account, it does allow it to be added, but it still does not appear on any lists within that Samsung Contacts app.
So I uninstalled updates and then re-updated the Samsung Contacts app, cleared cache and data , and it still behaves the same.
Please note that my wife’s S10e acts as normally, as it did, and as mine did when first set up, with the same Google account. So it is not a Google account setting that is the problem, but rather something specific to my phone it seems.
Moving on now: Maybe the problem (on this phone) is Google . . .
In Settings>Google Settings>Account Services> Contacts Sync> Automatically Sync Google Contacts, I get the “Automatically sync” button greyed-out (unavailable).
In Settings>Apps>Google, Contacts appears in the App Permissions OK. I toggled this on and off, no useful effect.
I uninstalled updates and re-updated this app. No useful effect.
In Settings>Accounts> I selected the Google account, and the options that appear are:
(a) Remove account
(b) Google account (info, security, personalization)
(c) Sync account (Sync on for 5 of 8 items).
I chose (c) and it shows that list of items, each with an enable/disable button. Please note that “Contacts” does NOT appear on the list. Not at all.
(This is different from my wife’s S10e, Contacts does appear.)

Now something quite unusual: Go to Settings>Apps and use the top-right Menu symbol to choose “Show system apps”.
This reveals a very long list of items, including “Google contacts Sync”. Disable then re-enabler makes no change. I effectively re-installed this using a download file com.google.android.syncadapters.contacts_10-5771379-29_minAPI29(nodpi)_apkmirror.com.apk
-and executed the Package Installer. The phone supposedly updated OK, and the “Google contacts Sync” on my phone has the same version number as my wife’s S10e. But it still does not work.
Note that Contacts (and most other) Permissions are all set the same as for the other phone.
So, to summarize -
I have tried all available/accessible menu options I can think of. Google on my phone does not seem to allow Contacts as a sync-able option.
Several menu options that I can see on my wife’s S10e are just not present on my phone (even when we are meaning the same Google account).
The Samsung reply to my earlier query assumes that these options are present.
Note that all the other features I use of Google (Calendar, Gmail and Drive) are syncing perfectly OK with this phone. It is only Contacts that appears to have this problem.

So - Can anyone please suggest any setting or process I have not mentioned, that might get my phone to show the expected options for Google’s Contacts? It would be gratefully received!!

 

[B. Diddy]

Welcome to Android Central! I realize you might want to avoid this, but it's probably worth backing up your data and going straight to a factory reset, then setting things back up again.

 

[mustang7757]

The other thing is you and your wife sharing same Google account could create a issue , both phones have the same google account as back up ?

 

[Fused]

Thanks. I am almost at this step, just doing a final backup to Samsung Smart Switch. (However I am just a little concerned that doing a full "restore" might re-create the problem so I want to do a progressive restore if I find that is possible.)

 

[Fused]

Yes we both have the same common Google accounts (and each have one other) on the phones but are not using those for backup. Both phones worked well together this way for 6 months before mine started acting strangely, hers is not affected.

 

[Fused]

Thanks. More - One more idea: There is 1 other app that has also begun to malfunction, it is the Panasonic Image App that is supposed to batch-send location data from the phone to my Lumix/Panasonic FZ-1000 camera. "Batch Send" and "Write data to card" produce no error messages, but the JPG files on my camera's SD card no longer get the latitude/longitude added to them. I have no idea if this may be related to the same cause that has stopped the contacts sync from working. Still 'Fused.

 

[Fused]

Hello. I have given up, backed up and done a factory reset and spent 4+ hours getting the p-hone back to normal - but it is, in the end, normal. Still interested in possible causes of what went wrong. I do wonder if this is uncommon . . . .

 

[mustang7757]

My thinking it's a temporary fix factory reset, it's hard to say why it's happening only your phone and not your wife's . But I think it's better to keep accounts separate on each phones.