Skip to Content

Clear out 3rd party .Mac sync items with Syncrospector

.Mac Sync Services leave much to be desired in the management department - Apple provides no UI for removing them once you no longer use an application, and you don't have many options for troubleshooting when things go south.

Until now.

A user named kohlmannj at the indispensable macosxhints figured out how to use an app at the ADC site that can actually remove 3rd party sync items and reset your .Mac syncing to a 'never synced before' status. The hint is actually very simple to implement, but be sure to read the entire post to understand exactly what you're getting yourself into. In summary: this tool and hint will set your .Mac Sync Services back to square 1, meaning that 3rd party items will get removed (though your data in those apps will remain unscathed), and the next time you sync (I recommend performing one manually) you'll be asked all those 'brand new Mac' questions like "you are about to sync your calendars for the first time, do you want to merge, replace, etc."

Soon after you perform this reset, your 3rd party .Mac-aware apps *should* ping Sync Services to get on the list again, and I can personally say this worked for Yojimbo, but not Trasmit - yet. Ultimately, this might be a bit like using a sledgehammer to strike a nail, but it works - which is better than Apple's former solution of 'nothing.'

.Mac Sync Services leave much to be desired in the management department - Apple provides no UI for removing them once you no longer use an...
 

Add a Comment

*0 / 3000 Character Maximum Comment Moderation Enabled. Your comment will appear after it is cleared by an editor.

5 Comments

Filter by:
jason

Dave, I am letting it load fully. It has been this way for a few days. It loads fine in Safari, but not Camino.

February 11 2007 at 6:29 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
David Chartier

#1: Jason, it looks like the page simply didn't finish loading for you, or you simply snapped this before it had a chance to finish loading. TUAW is loading and performing just fine.

February 11 2007 at 12:53 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
bloodthirstyrobot

Excellent tip. This helped me finally get rid of the old Chronos Notes sync in my list.

February 11 2007 at 12:48 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Firblitz

Just FYI, you can "reset" Sync Services by launching iSync, opening Preferences, and clicking on the Reset Sync History button. It will return your computer into the state you have described here.

Safer then using Syncrospector and MUCH safer then pulling the entire Sync Services folder.

February 11 2007 at 12:42 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
jason

When is TUAW going to fix their display problems?

http://img160.imageshack.us/img160/9146/screenshot1fp0.png

February 11 2007 at 12:38 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Buy an ad here

Tweets

© 2012 AOL Inc. All Rights Reserved.