Google contacts: show all accounts

[LucidLemon]

Every time I open the Google Contacts app it says "No contacts in this account". I do know how to fix this - I press the 3-bar menu in the top-left corner and press "All accounts". However if I close Contacts and open it again I have to repeat this step.

I'd like to find a setting please that makes it default to "All accounts". I'm pretty sure that it used to work like that for me a year ago, and somehow it broke - perhaps with a new version of the App.

Phone: Nexus 5X
OS: Android 8.1.0
Google contacts: 3.59.3

Thanks

 

[B. Diddy]

Welcome to Android Central! First, are there any updates available for the Contacts app? The one on my Pixel 6 Pro is version 3.60.5. (If not, then it's probably because your phone is fairly out-of-date.)

Tap the 3-dot button at the upper right (not the 3-line hamburger icon at the top left), then Customize View. Is that always set to All Contacts, or Customize?

 

[LucidLemon]

Thanks very much for the reply. I have just updated the contacts app and now have 3.60.5. Unfortunately it didn't help and everything is still the same as in the original post.

When I start the contacts app, the customise view setting always says "All contacts". It seems to mean "all contacts in the selected account" (which is zero) rather than "all contacts in all accounts".

PS I forgot to say that my phone is rooted. Probably not related, but I mention it just in case.

 

[B. Diddy]

What other accounts do you have? Are they also Google accounts, or something else?

 

[LucidLemon]

Thanks. I have two other accounts that are synchronised [link redacted]. The main Google account has no contacts and I have no other Google accounts.

 

[B. Diddy]

Instead of tapping the 3 dot menu button, try tapping the icon to the right of it. Make sure that's set to "Contacts from all accounts", and see if it stays that way after you exit from the app and come back to it.

 

[LucidLemon]

Thanks that's an interesting idea. So on the icon (which has the first letter of my name in a circle) menu I can choose one of my DAV accounts. This selection is maintained after restarting the app. However my menu does not have a setting "Contacts from all accounts". It has the following:

• An entry for each of my accounts
• Add another account
• Manage accounts on this device
• Contacts app settings
• Help and feedback

I have explored all of the sub-menus and can't find the solution there.

 

[B. Diddy]

I wonder if this might be a limitation of how old your phone is. Even though it has the same Contacts app version as my Pixel 6 Pro, it's possible that since it's stuck on Oreo, the Contacts app may not have all of the same features.

 

[LucidLemon]

OK that's probably it. Many thanks for your time figuring it out.