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gContactSync Synchronizes Gmail and Thunderbird Contacts
Posted by Lifehacker US Edition at 12:38 AM on August 6, 2008
All platforms with Thunderbird: The gContactSync add-on synchronises your contacts between Gmail and Thunderbird's address book. While gContactSync syncs email addresses without a hitch, it is a little fussier about the formatting of the street address fields. If you're a Thunderbird power user with a large set of Gmail contacts to import and synchronise, it's definitely worth the inconvenience of tweaking your Gmail contacts. Fortunately there's a video walk-through available to guide you through the needed tweaks, when you go to the download page at mozdev.org, a link to the flash tutorial is on the right hand side of the screen. gContactSync is a free download and works with Thunderbird.
Tags: email | gcontactsync | gmail | organise | sync | thunderbird
Comments (AU Comments · US Comments)
There are currently no AU comments for this post.
aerofan897
Posted 12:50 AM 6/8/08
Does anyone know how this compares to Zindus? (This was a previously recommended contact sync for Thunderbird). It would be nice if this handled conflicts better than Zindus; it totally halts the sync process if a conflict is encountered.
aerofan897
zingbot
Posted 1:27 AM 6/8/08
Problem is that Gmail contacts are a freaking mess on my account. It sux in every address I respond to and I can't keep up with it.
zingbot
dualsub2006
Posted 1:22 AM 6/8/08
+1 on Plaxo. Google can't get contact sync or tasks out the door (if they even intend to) so I STILL use Outlook with Gmail and get my tasks and contacts everywhere that I need them to be. 2 desktops, laptop and BlackBerry.
I LOVE Gmail, but I hate it's very obvious shortcomings.
dualsub2006
zia
Posted 1:20 AM 6/8/08
Tempting...But I will stick with Plaxo which does the trick seamlessly
zia
TendoMentis
Posted 1:44 AM 6/8/08
I've tried the various Google sync tools with Outlook and Thunderbird over the last three weeks, and I've finally given up and gone back to Funambol for contacts/calendar/tasks/notes synchronization between computers and phone.
I still use my GFAYD for my email, but the calendar and contacts part simply isn't up to enterprise level yet (hurry it up already Google!!!).
If Google would just make their PIM servers SyncML compatible, that would go a long way in solving a lot of user's problems.
TendoMentis
timofcourse
Posted 2:26 AM 6/8/08
I still dont understand how theres no decent sync program for gmail and outlook contacts. Google released the contacts API almost 6 months ago and Outlook is one of the most used Email client applications out there. Someone needs to get on this!
timofcourse
Green_Star
Posted 2:25 AM 6/8/08
I too tired syncing Gmail contracts with Thunderbird. Finally ended up with manually exporting from Gmail and import it to Thunderbird for every two weeks. When I upgraded to Ubuntu 804 I abandoned Thunderbird and using Prism for Gmail. No interest testing this gContactSync.
Green_Star
TJ in NYC
Posted 3:39 AM 6/8/08
PIM has been an issue for me for the last 5 years. Syncing and re-syncing with so many different accounts has created doubles and triples with first name first or last name first, etc. etc. Why can't the magical Google fix all this? Why won't they just buy plaxo?! argh
TJ in NYC
joelena
Posted 3:27 AM 6/8/08
@zingbot: Gmail has been rolling out a new "suggested contacts" feature: [lifehacker.com]
You can (or soon will be able to) remove those auto-added entries much more easily.
joelena
Chris
Posted 6:29 AM 6/8/08
I'd also like to know how this compares with Zindus.
Chris
strabes
Posted 7:24 AM 6/8/08
That GTK+ theme is hurting me. Anyway, this would be pretty useful.
strabes
GlennA
Posted 11:38 AM 6/8/08
I've been using Zindus with no problem; of course, the only things I pay any attention to are email addresses and, sometimes, phone numbers.
GlennA
tpaine54
Posted 9:47 AM 7/8/08
I use Zindus as well and have never had a problem with phone numbers. It doesn't do postal addresses but the solution these guys used is pretty weak. I also like how Zindus does automatic backups.
As far as duplicates go I recommend the Duplicate Contact Manager addon. It's not perfect but it shows you which contact has which data and allows you to consolidate them before deleting.
[addons.mozilla.org]
tpaine54
Viscouse
Posted 3:22 PM 12/8/08
I get so frustrated with PIM. It seems Sync apps haven't caught up with how we use them yet. Probably on account of so many different protocals. But PLEASE catch up.
I still have all my cantacts stuck in my Palm, waiting for something that can 2-way sync PIM from Thunderbird, Gmail, and WM6. Plaxo is almost there, but no 2-way sync w/Gmail. iContact is also 1-way.
Viscouse