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I am having trouble with deleting outdated or unwanted contacts in SKYPE.

Following the usual procedure, the contact will delete as expected. HOWEVER, seconds later it returns to the list.

Apparently this has been an issue for many folks for quite some time, but SKYPE itself has not addressed the matter, as far as I can tell.

Has anyone here got a PERMANENT fix? Is there a file buried somewhere - like a plist, for instance - which can be safely trashed without losing all of the contacts?

now that Skype is part of the Evil Horde there's no telling what's up. It may be in your contacts list somewhere else, lord knows where it may be getting pulled back in from. Outlook contacts? Microsoft Online somethingorother? Your mac's addressbook? MobileMe contacts?

When all else fails, I go hunting plists.

" . . . When all else fails, I go hunting plists."

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I believe I mentioned this . . . and then asked : Will ALL the contacts be removed if I delete SKYPE's plist?

Anyone know for sure?

Easiest way to find out is to locate the plist(s), open or QuickLook them, and see what's inside. (Your contacts may be stored in Skype's Application Support files.)

Duplicate the plist on your Desktop before trashing the original. If you don't like the outcome, put the copy (properly renamed) back where you found the original.

There are several factors at work here that would make the consistency of such behavior very questionable between two different users, so take any hard answer to that question with a grain of salt. The best way to know is to try it yourself.

Please keep in mind, the OS WILL FIGHT YOU on this, thanks to cfprefsd. It runs in the background and caches plist data. It won't normally cache data you haven't accessed SINCE RESTART (not since login! SINCE RESTART! it stays running and caches it across sessions!) Normally it loads data on first app launch after restart, so the easiest way to make sure it's not getting in your business is to restart and not launch the app before you move or dump its plist. Unfortunately, Skype has a service that loads when you login, to put the widget up in the menubar, so cfprefs may already have its claws in the plist by the time you see your desktop.

In this case, I would only completely trust a reboot into another user account (or single user mode) to go fish out that plist.

Thanks, Folks, for the input.

I deleted several contacts from my SKYPE list in the usual fashion last week. These did NOT immediately pop back into the list . . . nor have these yet to do so.

It was a known problem. Since I posted my inquiry a month ago, SKYPE may have finally addressed the issue itself. Let's hope so.

Time will tell. I will try the PLIST routines as described in this thread if the problem rears its ugly head again.

:0)