iCloud has manifested several errors that prevent synchronization, password authorization, or throw error codes. With iCloud, you have a fail-safe backup for your data treasures and digital assets. For the most part, it works great, but some users may run into issues from time to time.
The error codes cripple your Mac in an endless marathon of iCloud sign-in failures and lock you out of features like Messages. If you encounter any iCloud not working issue, you are in the same boat as a lot of people.
Therefore, we collaborated with a comprehensive article that links troubleshooting ways for the most common problems.
How to Troubleshoot iCloud Not Working Error
Perhaps you came across the message "This Mac can't connect to iCloud because of a problem with "? Or, maybe iCloud gets more cryptic and shows the inexplicable “An unknown error has occurred” pop-up.
Solution 1. Check if iCloud is down
Right off the bat, check to see if iCloud is down by going to and verifying that you've accessed Apple's cloud services.
iCloud may stop working due to scheduled maintenance or downtime and you need to check it after some time as only the service provider can solve the problem. An orange or red light bulb near any iCloud service represents a problem with Apple's online services. As a result, you have to wait for iCloud to fix the current issue.
Solution 2. Turn off iCloud apps and restart your Mac
If you experience connectivity issues due to caching or unknown causes, close all iCloud windows and restart. Close FaceTime, Messages, Notes, and the System Preferences app. If apps get stuck or become unresponsive, go ahead and use Force Quit on apps to close them.
Once you quit all apps, restart your Mac. For a frozen or unbootable Mac, invoke the force restart. After your Mac restarts, don't rush to iCloud apps, instead head to the iCloud Preferences panel (Apple menu > System Preferences > iCloud) and try to sign in with your Apple ID. Right now, iCloud sign-in works normally without any issues.
Solution 3. Empty your iCloud Accounts folder
Connectivity issues have been fixed by wiping data from your local iCloud accounts in a clean slate. You need to set up a Time Machine backup beforehand. You may want to create a duplicate of the Accounts folder before deleting it as an easy way to reset the folder to its original state to avoid potential problems.
Start a new Finder window.
Choose 'Go > Go to Folder...' on the toolbar.
Enter the following command:
Press 'Go'.
If you got everything right, now is the time to make a copy of your Accounts folder.
Click on the Accounts folder and delete its contents.
Restart your computer.
Once it restarts, go to 'System Preferences > iCloud' and sign in to your account. This will trigger macOS to flood your Accounts folder with newly created files to resume running iCloud normally.
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