Deleted email accounts keep being added back

Question

Deleted email accounts keep being added back

macOS keeps adding older Microsoft email accounts that I deleted dozens of times from Internet Accounts in System Preferences. I removed the account entries also from Keychain Access. I have multiple Macs and multiple user account on these Macs and it happens for each user account and Mac. The issue does not occur on my iPhone where is also use Keychain syncing.

I am not the only one who has this problem and it's not limited to Microsoft but can also occur with Google account, see Deleted email account keeps being added b… - Apple Community (all those suggested solutions don't work).

Apple needs to better test syncing across multiple Macs and macOS users. I experience the problem since at least a year now. Very annoying.

MacBook Pro

Posted on Dec 31, 2022 03:54 AM

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Answer 1

Chris_V89

Community Specialist

Jan 1, 2023 02:46 PM in response to Bjoern Adamski

Hey there Bjoern,

Thanks for reaching out to the Apple Support Communities. To get started, how soon after removing the account does it reappear?

We ask because to help with isolating the issue, we'd recommend testing the issue in safe mode. This can help to determine if the issue may be caused by some other software that has loaded when starting your MacBook up.

For steps on how to boot into safe mode, and what to do if the issue does or doesn't occur in safe mode, check out this link here: How to use safe mode on your Mac - Apple Support

How to use safe mode

Determine whether you're using a Mac with Apple silicon, then follow the appropriate steps:

Apple silicon

1. Shut down your Mac.

2. Turn on your Mac and continue to press and hold the power button until you see the startup options window.

3. Select your startup disk, then press and hold the Shift key while clicking “Continue in Safe Mode.”

4. Log in to your Mac. You might be asked to log in again.

Intel processor

1. Turn on or restart your Mac, then immediately press and hold the Shift key as your Mac starts up.

2. Release the key when you see the login window, then log in to your Mac.

3. You might be asked to log in again. On either the first or second login window, you should see ”Safe Boot” in the upper-right corner of the window.

Keep us updated on the results.

Take care!

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Answer 2

Jan 2, 2023 12:50 PM in response to Chris_V89

The accounts reappear after logging in a user. I think the problem is caused by the various macOS users that kept syncing their local keychains back to iCloud. Deleting the entries for one user didn't help because the entries got synced back as soon as another user logged in. I noticed that the keychain entries for the old Microsoft accounts reappeared after Little Snitch reported that the Accountsd system daemon connected to the cloud.

This time, I denied the connections via Little Snitch and deleted the entries again in the Keychain Access app for every user. So far, it seems to work, even after deleting the Little Snitch rules for Accountsd.

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Answer 3

Neil22R

Community Specialist

Jan 2, 2023 02:59 PM in response to Bjoern Adamski

Hi Chris Vercher,

It looks like everything is working. If you should need further assistance, please contact support. Contact Apple for support and service

Cheers.

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Deleted email accounts keep being added back

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