Contacts in Mail showing wrong user photo

Some users are experiencing an issue in Apple's Mail application where messages received from contacts that have user photos are displaying the incorrect image. The issue, in some cases, even extends to applications like iChat that use the Address Book image database as well.

Apple Support Discussions user "Robert Bowers" reports:

When I receive new mail, Mail.app is showing the wrong picture for the sender of the message. Presumably, there is some cache file that has gotten corrupted. Can someone suggest where that cache lives, or if there is a better solution to correcting this problem?

As it turns out, the issue may be a little more complex than simply clearing a cache or rebuilding a mailbox--both of which were tried without success. One suggestion from ASD user "Ernie Stamper" suggests Time Machine may be to blame. It may be that Time Machine is confusing the user images and shuffling them as it creates backups. Also of note are users that have the issue appearing on their iPhone as well as in iChat.

As mentioned earlier, removing the Address Book cache or rebuilding the mailbox in Mail did not seem to solve the issue. Users can try deleting the photo in Address Book. Then, restart Address Book and add the image back in--sort of like turning it off and back on again. I attempted to replicate the issue myself but could not. Users will want to check to be sure that all user images are the same across all their programs that use the Address Book database. Some programs like Adium and other third-party clients for social networking and chat services have options that enable users to replace the Address Book image with images from the client.

Of course, we will keep an eye on this issue and update you if something more definitive comes out. Have you experienced this issue? Solved it? Let us know in the comments!

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