User profile for user: captaingyro
captaingyro Author
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6 points

Reminders on iMac won't sync with iCloud

2019 Retina iMac 4K, 21.5”, macOC 12.4 Monterey


Some background:


A few months ago I had to wipe and reformat my Mac’s HD because of a split fusion drive. The reformat went smoothly, the fusion drive was restored, and I restored everything from a Time Machine backup. Everything is working great except that the Reminders app on the Mac won’t sync with iCloud. I’ve tried everything I can find online, including Apple’s support website, to no avail. Nothing has gotten Reminders to sync.


Details:


The Reminders window is completely blank. The only option available on the sidebar is to Add List.


Reminders is syncing just fine with iCloud on my MacBook, my iPhone, and my iPad…it’s only on the iMac that they won’t sync. I’m signed in with the same Apple ID on all four.


Every other app on the Mac that is able to sync with iCloud is syncing just fine (Mail, Contacts, Calendars, Photos, Notes, Pages, Numbers). It is only Reminders that refuses to sync.


I’ve tried the obvious: unchecking Reminders and Calendars in System Preferences -> iCloud, restarting the Mac, re-checking Reminders and Calendars in System Preferences.


I’ve tried everything on this Support page.


I've deleted all completed reminders (because someone on another forum said this fixed their syncing problem.) This proved to be no help.


I even tried completely signing out of Apple ID on the Mac (System Preferences -> Apple ID -> Overview -> Sign Out). Besides being a tremendous PITA waiting for all the other apps to re-sync, this did nothing to fix the Reminders syncing problem.


I’m stumped. I’m hoping someone can point to a corrupted snippet of software someplace that might be preventing Reminders from syncing.

Posted on Jul 5, 2022 2:46 PM

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User profile for user: captaingyro
captaingyro Author
User level: Level 1
6 points

Posted on Jul 10, 2022 4:26 AM

Found the solution! As I suspected, the problem had to be on the iMac, since iCloud was syncing fine with Reminders on three other devices. I suspected corrupted code somewhere, and re-installing the OS (and thus Reminders) had no effect. Finally, I found this exact problem addressed on a Reddit forum. The solution was to trash everything in the folder User~/Library/Reminders. The exact sequence that restored everything:


Quit Reminders if it's open.

Copy everything in User~/Library/Reminders to a different folder for backup, just in case. Leave the folder empty, or delete it.

Uncheck Calendars and Reminders at System Preferences --> Apple ID --> iCloud

Restart the machine.

Go back to System Preferences --> Apple ID --> iCloud and re-check Calendars and Reminders.

Open Reminders.


Voila! After a few seconds, the Reminders app started re-populating all of my reminders and checklists. It took a while for the synch process to finish, but everything is now back to the way it should be.

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User profile for user: captaingyro
captaingyro Author
User level: Level 1
6 points

Jul 10, 2022 4:26 AM in response to tygb

Found the solution! As I suspected, the problem had to be on the iMac, since iCloud was syncing fine with Reminders on three other devices. I suspected corrupted code somewhere, and re-installing the OS (and thus Reminders) had no effect. Finally, I found this exact problem addressed on a Reddit forum. The solution was to trash everything in the folder User~/Library/Reminders. The exact sequence that restored everything:


Quit Reminders if it's open.

Copy everything in User~/Library/Reminders to a different folder for backup, just in case. Leave the folder empty, or delete it.

Uncheck Calendars and Reminders at System Preferences --> Apple ID --> iCloud

Restart the machine.

Go back to System Preferences --> Apple ID --> iCloud and re-check Calendars and Reminders.

Open Reminders.


Voila! After a few seconds, the Reminders app started re-populating all of my reminders and checklists. It took a while for the synch process to finish, but everything is now back to the way it should be.

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User profile for user: captaingyro
captaingyro Author
User level: Level 1
6 points

Jul 6, 2022 5:29 AM in response to tygb

Unfortunately nothing in that thread addresses my issue. To review:


iCloud Reminders sync normally between iCloud and my iPhone.

iCloud Reminders sync normally between iCloud and my iPad.

iCloud Reminders sync normally between iCloud and my MacBook Air.

iCloud Reminders do not sync between iCloud and my iMac.


All these devices are using the latest operating system updates.

All are using Upgraded Reminders (I'm forced to assume the iMac is using Upgraded Reminders because the option to upgrade is no longer available in the side bar).

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Reminders on iMac won't sync with iCloud

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