Where are Contacts, Calendar, Reminders, Safari and Voice Memos stored on a Mac?
By Kayabyte · Last updated 2 November 2026
Short answer: Each Apple app keeps its data in its own place under your user Library, and most of them use a SQLite database. Contacts is in Application Support/AddressBook, Calendar, Reminders and Voice Memos are in Group Containers, Safari bookmarks are in Library/Safari, and tab groups are in Safari’s container. All of them are in a normal Time Machine backup, and all of them need Full Disk Access to read.
We checked these paths on macOS 26.6 with a real Time Machine backup, and on two public encrypted iPhone backups (iOS 15.3.1 and iOS 17.3).
On your Mac
| App | Location |
|---|---|
| Contacts | ~/Library/Application Support/AddressBook/AddressBook-v22.abcddb, plus a Sources folder with one database per account |
| Calendar | ~/Library/Group Containers/group.com.apple.calendar/Calendar.sqlitedb |
| Reminders | ~/Library/Group Containers/group.com.apple.reminders/Container_v1/Stores/Data-(ID).sqlite, one per account |
| Safari bookmarks and Reading List | ~/Library/Safari/Bookmarks.plist |
| Safari tab groups | ~/Library/Containers/com.apple.Safari/Data/Library/Safari/SafariTabs.db |
| Safari history | ~/Library/Safari/History.db |
| Voice Memos | ~/Library/Group Containers/group.com.apple.VoiceMemos.shared/Recordings, with the .m4a files and CloudRecordings.db |
Calendar isn’t in ~/Library/Calendars any more on current macOS, which is where a lot of older advice sends you. Bookmarks.plist only appears once Safari has saved a bookmark or synced. Our test account was new, so that one path comes from Apple’s documentation.
In a Finder iPhone backup
An iPhone backup stores files under hashed names, and a file called Manifest.db maps each one to its original domain and path:
| App | Domain and path |
|---|---|
| Contacts | HomeDomain, Library/AddressBook/AddressBook.sqlitedb |
| Calendar | HomeDomain, Library/Calendar/Calendar.sqlitedb |
| Safari bookmarks | HomeDomain, Library/Safari/Bookmarks.db |
| Safari tab groups | HomeDomain, Library/Safari/SafariTabs.db |
| Reminders on iOS 15 | HomeDomain, Library/Reminders/Container_v1/Stores |
| Reminders on iOS 17 | AppDomainGroup-group.com.apple.reminders, Container_v1/Stores |
The public test backups had no voice memos and no reminder items, so those two are less proven than the rest.
Finding them in Time Machine
Use Time Machine to enter the backup, or run tmutil listbackups in Terminal, which mounts the backups read only. On macOS 26 the visible folder ending in .previous is a view of your latest backup, not a broken one. Both routes need Full Disk Access for the app you use, such as Terminal, in System Settings, Privacy & Security.
The default Time Machine exclusions are system files and ~/Library/Caches, so all the locations above were in our test backup.
Don’t open the live files
Don’t replace these files while the apps are running or iCloud is syncing. iCloud can overwrite what you put back, and you can lose newer items. To look inside one, copy the database together with its -wal and -shm files to another folder and open the copy. The -wal file can hold the newest changes, so a copy without it may look out of date.
What you can do with them
- Contacts: a .vcf file opens in Contacts, which asks before adding anything.
- Calendar: an .ics file opens in Calendar, which also asks first.
- Safari bookmarks: use File, Import From, Bookmarks HTML File.
- Safari tab groups: there’s no safe way to write these back, so save them as a bookmarks folder and a list of links.
- Voice Memos: copy the .m4a file out of the backup and open it in Voice Memos.
- Reminders: macOS has no reliable import, so keep them as a list you can read and add again.
If you’d rather not work with database files, NoteRescue scans these locations in your backups for free and shows what’s missing or changed compared with your Mac today. Getting the items out is a one-time paid unlock per app. It can’t bring back anything that was never in a backup, and it doesn’t touch iCloud-only data.
FAQ
Can I just copy an old database over the current one? Avoid it. iCloud may sync over the restored file, and you replace everything newer. Getting single items out is safer.
Why does Terminal say “Operation not permitted”? These folders are protected. Give Terminal Full Disk Access, then open a new window.
Why does a voice memo have a database entry but no audio file? The audio may have been moved to iCloud to save space, so that file isn’t on the Mac or in that backup.
Related guides
- Where are Apple Notes stored on a Mac?
- Restore contacts from Time Machine
- Restore calendar events from Time Machine
- Safari tab groups disappeared
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