Manual setup of Contacts on Mac

The instructions and screenshots in this setup guide are for macOS 14.1 (Sonoma). Previous versions of OS X should be similar. For best compatibility, we recommend upgrading your operating system to the latest version.

The easiest way to configure Mail, Contacts or Calendars on a Mac is via our automatic configuration tool. If you prefer to configure your contacts manually, this page is for you.

Mac Contacts needs its own app password to access your information. If you use your normal password or your Fastmail two step verification password on an external account, syncing to an external service won't work and you will see a password error.

Setting up Contacts

1. Open Contacts. Go to Contacts → Add Account...

   

2. Select Other Contacts Account..., then click Continue.

   

3. Leave the Account Type set to CardDAV and Automatic, then fill in your Fastmail email address and password:

   • Email address: Your full Fastmail email address, including the domain.
   • Password: Your Contacts app password. (What is an app password?)

   

4. Click the Sign In button. Contacts will start syncing your contacts.

With some older versions of Mac, there may be an error attempting to create. Click the Continue button to enter some additional details:

• Server Path: /dav/principals/user/<username@domain>/ (with <username@domain> replaced with your Fastmail username and domain)
  • Example: If your email address is emailisgreat@example.com, the server path is /dav/principals/user/emailisgreat@example.com/
• SSL: Should be checked

Once this has been done, contacts should start syncing.

Be aware that any pre-existing contacts already on your device do not automatically get copied back up to Fastmail with the sync — you need to import them to Fastmail first.

Shared contacts in a multi-user account

For users in a multi-user account, you can set up shared contacts by following these steps:

1. Open Contacts and go to Contacts → Add Account.

2. Select Other Contacts Account... and click Continue.

3. Change the Account Type to Manual.

4. Enter the Server Address as carddav.fastmail.com.

5. Enter your username as username+Shared@domain.com (substituting your Fastmail username and domain accordingly) and enter your app password.

6. Click Sign In.