Is this simply a misleading message?

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Level 10

423,929 points

Is this simply a misleading message?

This Mac can’t connect to iCloud because of a problem with “[my Apple ID]”.

It seems to just need me to sign in with my account password. I am getting this in Settings when I click on my name in the sidebar. Once I do it opens a window showing account configuration. If I quit Settings and then open it again immediately I can get back into that window with no password. If I wait an hour or two I have to provide my password again. Appears to me to simply be a timing out of my sign-in

I don't see that there is a "problem" as such —and certainly not with my Apple ID—, just misleading wording about what needs to be done. Or am I not understanding this message? Should I be able to remain signed in?

I posted this in Sequoia because I had never seen this until I started using Sequoia. I'm not sure if it is a "feature".

Mac mini (M4)

Posted on Jul 30, 2025 07:34 PM

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Answer 1

Aug 2, 2025 04:45 AM in response to Limnos

Have you attempted to sign-out from all of your devices, then signing back in, one at a time?

As you know, as a community volunteer, I don’t have the power to look into accounts to see what changes have occurred.

The real question here is; have you made any recent changes such as your password?

All the best! 👋🏼😉

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Answer 2

Aug 2, 2025 08:45 AM in response to Limnos

To help narrow things down, try these things:

* Restart the computer (of course)

* Re-start in Safe Mode. This bypasses certain potentially disruptive processes, and it often helps. Safe Mode is different for different computers, so see this:

Start up your Mac in safe mode - Apple Support

* Make a new user and see if you can sign in there.

The idea is to find out if the problem is with your account, or with caches and login items, and stuff like that. One of these steps may fix the problem, but their failure to work also helps figure out what's happening.

Let us know what happens…

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