Mac Tip #141/17-Mar-2004
Back up your Address Book

With some 360 cards in my Address Book I’d really hate to lose them all.

I run Mac OS X 10.3.3 (Panther) and no longer have access to Mac OS X 10.2 or earlier to be able to check the details in that version of Address Book. Panther introduced hundreds of small new features and one makes it easier to back up your Address Book.

With Mac OS X 10.2 (Jaguar) I would go to my Home folder and look in the Library. In there I’d locate Application Support then AddressBook and I’d back that folder up to a safe place.

Now, with Panther, it’s easier. Simply open the Address Book and go to the File menu. Choose Back up Database. From the dialog box just choose the folder you want to back up to (I have a folder called Backups) and click Save.

Notice how there’s a Revert to Database Backup item for that horrible occasion when your Address Book’s got itself scrambled or lost. Do it now: back up your Address Book.