In Microsoft Outlook, your contacts are stored in the PST file, whereas in Lotus Notes, the contacts are contained in a file, called Names.NSF. It sometimes throws the "Contacts Not Syncing Error" when you try to access your contacts.
Causes of the Contacts Not Syncing Error
There are many reasons for "Contacts Not Syncing Error". Some of them are:
• Corrupted names.NSF file
• Connection issues between the client and the server
• Network issues
• Replication errors
Before going forward on how to fix this error, let's take a brief look at the replication process, as the errors associated with it are fairly common.
Replication Process in Lotus Notes
Replication is one of the salient features in Lotus Notes as it allows users to work offline. When you create a contact, it is stored locally in the system first, and later, it is synced with one or more servers to create replicas and backups. Since this data is moved in batches, it saves on network bandwidth. Also, this sync happens in the background and hence, causes no disturbance to the users. You can also set a schedule for syncing your offline data with the servers.
When there are errors in this sync, it can cause a mismatch between the offline and online copies, leading to "Contacts Not Syncing" error.
Corrupted File
The corrupted names.NSF file is a common reason for such errors. Many times, it can cause permanent damage and you can lose the contacts saved in it. In such an unfortunate scenario, you will have to recover data from your backup. However, still, there may be some data loss.
How to Fix the "Contacts Not Syncing Error"?
The exact fix for the "Contacts Not Syncing Error" depends on the cause. Let's see how to fix the error.
1. Check Network
Network issues between the client and the server can cause the contacts to not sync properly. If this is the case, unplug your Internet cable and make sure there are no problems with your Internet.
2. Enable Synchronize Contacts
Here are step-by-step instructions to fix your Lotus Notes contacts' synchronization issues.
• Close the Lotus Notes program.
• Make a backup of the Names.NSF file. It's best that you copy it directly from** C:\Program Files\IBM\Notes\Data\names.NSF**. This is the default location of the file. It could be different depending on your custom installation.
• Open IBM Lotus Notes and navigate to Contacts.
• Select all the contacts by pressing Ctrl + A.
• Press Ctrl + X to cut all the contacts. Now, the contacts page must be empty.
• Next, synchronize the contacts. To do this, go to File > Preferences > Contacts. On the left-hand side, click on an option called "Enable Synchronize Contacts" and press OK.
• Next, go to Tools > Replicate > Sync All.
• Finally, force the synchronization by pressing Start Now.
This should synchronize your offline and online contacts and will remove any associated errors.
Note: This can only fix the synchronization errors and will not work against network or file corruption problems.
3. Transfer Contacts from Corrupt NSF File
File corruption is by far the most serious and difficult issue to fix. You are most likely to lose all the data present in it. While backups can restore some data, there is still a chance for a certain degree of data loss.
The easiest way to overcome this problem is to transfer your Lotus Notes contacts to Microsoft Outlook and access them via Outlook.
The manual effort for this conversion is high as you will have to convert the files from NSF to CSV format, and again from CSV to PST format before opening them in Outlook.
An easier option is Stellar Converter for NSF.
What is Stellar's NSF to PST Converter?
Stellar Converter for NSF is a powerful tool for converting data from Lotus Notes NSF file into Microsoft Outlook PST file. This tool converts your emails, attachments, contacts, and all other information from the NSF file into PST format.
The salient features of this tool are:
• Comes with a Preview option so you can choose what mailbox items you want to convert.
• It is free for the first 10 items per folder.
• The Technician version converts multiple NSF files into PST format.
• Converts data into other formats as well, such as MSG, EML, RTF, PDF, HTML, and more.
• Supports Lotus Notes versions from 6.0 to 10.0.1.
• Exports NSF mailboxes to Office 365 directly.
• You have the choice to do a full or part conversion.
• Allows you to search for specific NSF files.
• Comes with a simple and intuitive user interface that masks the complex conversion process.
• Generates a log report for auditing and reporting.
• Offers advanced filters for precise conversion.
• Compatible with Windows 10, Outlook 2019, and earlier versions.
This tool is comprehensive and comes with many features that make it easy to convert NSF files into PST format, so you can access the data you need in Outlook. In particular, this can come in handy for extracting data from corrupted NSF files.
Conclusion
The "Contacts Not Syncing Error" occurs in Lotus Notes due to a host of reasons. To fix this issue, you must sync your contacts manually or fix the network problem, as the case may be.
While there is a way to fix network and synchronization issues, there isn't much you can do when the NSF file is corrupted. Your best bet, in this case, is to use an advanced and comprehensive tool like Stellar Converter for NSF that will convert your NSF file into PST format, so the same can be viewed in Outlook.
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