Setup: Windows 11 Pro 26H2 (build 26300.9711), iCloud for Windows 15.10.39.0 (Microsoft Store)

Symptom: I can sign in and iCloud Photos/Drive sync fine, but the “Verify your Apple Account to access iCloud Data on Windows” step always ends with “Verification Failed – There was an error connecting to the Apple Account server.” Passwords/Keychain never become available.

What I’ve already fixed/ruled out:

• Missing Apple Root CA: gsa.apple.com failed TLS because “Apple Root CA” wasn’t in the Windows trusted root store. Installing it from apple.com/certificateauthority fixed the initial sign-in error (SSL error -1200 on setup.icloud.com). Might help others!
• Antivirus HTTPS scanning: Kaspersky was intercepting several Apple hosts. I excluded *.apple.com, *.icloud.com, *.push.apple.com, etc., and confirmed that all hosts now present Apple/DigiCert certs.
• Firewall: the Apple apps are trusted, and ports 443/5223 to courier.push.apple.com are reachable.
• I reset the local keychain folder (...\LocalCache\Roaming\Apple Computer\Keychains), and rebooted several times.

What the logs show (%LOCALAPPDATA%\Packages\AppleInc.iCloud_nzyj5cx40ttqa\LocalCache\Local\Logs\iCloudHome*.log):

APSInitializeAndRegisterTopics: WARNING! Failed to obtain public APS push token!
TrayWnd::_setDeviceRegistrationFailedTimer  Device registration failed; setting retry timer for 43200 second(s)...
App::requestTrustedDeviceList  Token is missing. Relogin required.
RegularSignInCB  AKValidateAppleIDCredentials returned -7005   (once -9106)

APSDaemon.exe runs but never opens a single outbound TCP connection. It fails within ~0.5s, while iCloudHome/Photos/Drive connect to Apple servers normally. So it looks like the push service itself is broken on this build.

Extra weirdness: after uninstalling, the Microsoft Store offered me iCloud 13.4 instead of 15.x, and an earlier Store install failed with 0x80240440 on build 26300. That makes me think 26H2 isn’t properly supported yet.

Questions:

• Is anyone else on 26H2 / build 263xx seeing the same thing?
• Has anyone gotten past “Verify your Apple Account” on this build?
• Any known workaround besides rolling back Windows?

Tip for anyone signing out or reinstalling: back up %LOCALAPPDATA%\Packages\AppleInc.iCloud_nzyj5cx40ttqa first. Restoring that folder brought my sign-in back after a failed reinstall.

My main issure the the thing, that the phone number get used for the verification including the verification to change the password.
That’s a big problem because to get access to this number is not that hard if you know how.

So I want to delete the number as a verification method. To do this so far I know I must buy a physical key to add this as the verification. When I do this and activated this psychical key as the verification get the nunber automatically removed as a verification Methode at all right?
So there is no risk anymore that if someone get access to my number that he can get into my acc by this because the number is useless for this?

So then is the new verification the physical key, but also the trusted devices, so this which are sign in in my acc right?
But this was right?
So to get access the hacker need access to the physical key OR one of my devised, unlocked obviously. Which is essentially not possible except he kidnapped me or something which will not happen because I’m just a casually guy.

So this would be the best set up right? Apart from this what else would be smart to make the apple acc so safe it’s possible? To prevent access from hackers?

I recently bought a used ThinkPad T14 Gen 2 running Windows 11, and I've been trying to get the iCloud for Windows app working for the past couple of days with absolutely no luck.

Every time I try signing in, I get an error saying it can't connect to Apple's servers or that verification is unavailable. The weird thing is that I can sign into iCloud.com perfectly fine through Edge or Chrome. It's specifically the Windows app that refuses to work.

I've tried pretty much everything I can think of at this point:

• Uninstalling and reinstalling iCloud from the Microsoft Store
• Uninstalling and reinstalling iCloud directly from Apple
• Repairing and resetting the app through Windows settings
• Restarting the laptop multiple times
• Trying different networks, including my phone's hotspot
• Checking Windows Firewall and Defender
• Making sure there's no VPN or proxy interfering
• Checking the Windows hosts file
• Checking that the necessary Apple services are installed
• Verifying that the system date and time are correct
• Manually resyncing Windows Time using w32tm /resync
• Checking that Microsoft Edge WebView2 Runtime is installed

Nothing has worked.

The laptop otherwise connects to Apple's websites without issues while using Chrome and Edge.

I would like to have iCloud for Windows because I use iCloud Passwords across my Apple devices and want to access them on this laptop.

I'm running out of ideas here. Has anyone experienced something similar or found a fix for this? Usually, I try my best to figure it out, but right now I'm stumped on what to do.

Any suggestions would be appreciated because this is driving me insane.

Is anyone else having trouble signing into iCloud on Windows?

I can't sign into iCloud on either my laptop or desktop. Both computers give me the same error:

"Verification Failed"
"There was an error connecting to the Apple Account server."

What I've tried so far:

• Completely reinstalling Windows
• Reinstalling iCloud for Windows
• Disabling my VPN
• Disabling Advanced Data Protection on my Apple account
• Restarting my iPhone and network equipment
• Making sure my iPhone is nearby, with Bluetooth enabled and connected to the same Wi-Fi network

I can sign in & out on my browser, but I can't get iCloud for Windows to authenticate.

I'm trying to use iCloud Drive to sync my Obsidian files between my iPhone and Windows computers.

Has anyone experienced this issue or found a solution?

Any troubleshooting suggestions would be appreciated, especially if you've encountered this exact error.

I’m having some bugs with my iPhone 15, so I’m planning to back up my entire iPhone to iCloud, factory reset it, and then restore everything from the iCloud backup.

Is this safe? Will my iPhone be exactly the same as it was before the factory reset, including my apps, settings, photos, messages, and other data?

I want to back up and restore using a computer, but I don’t have access to a PC or Mac. That’s why I subscribed to Apple’s 2TB iCloud+ storage.

Can anyone explain how this works and whether there’s anything I should be careful about before resetting my iPhone?

I have over 400 GB of photos and videos stored in iCloud Photos, but I don't pay for iCloud+ every month. I usually resubscribe every six to eight months to upload new ones.

I've read posts here saying Apple may delete your data after 30 days without a subscription, and that's also what their policy seems to suggest. But I've gone months without paying, multiple times, and so far, nothing has been deleted.

I'm wondering how this works in practice. Does Apple actually keep your photos for much longer than the stated policy suggests? Has anyone else had a similar experience?

The reason I'm asking is that I'm switching to a newer iPhone, and I'm trying to decide whether to pay extra for more storage on the phone itself or continue relying on iCloud Photos. I'd rather not spend more on storage if I don't have to, but I'm also not comfortable risking 400 GB of photos and videos based on the assumption that Apple will keep them indefinitely.

Would love to hear from people who've actually gone several months without an active iCloud+ subscription.

I have a 64GB iPad with around 46GB of data. Tried backing it up through Finder to my MacBook, which had roughly 80GB free. Failed due to insufficient storage.

So I tried an external 500GB SSD (ExFAT), redirecting Finder's backup folder using a symbolic link since Apple doesn't let you choose a backup location.

Left it running overnight. Woke up to 400GB of backup files and another insufficient storage error. For a 64GB iPad. Seriously?

Has anyone experienced this? What am I doing wrong? How do you guys back up your iPads locally without iCloud?

I genuinely don't understand why something this basic is so complicated. Is Apple's local backup system just broken, or are they deliberately making it inconvenient to push people towards iCloud subscriptions?

Nobody told me iCloud storage is basically a lifelong subscription 😔 I feel trapped, what you mean I have to pay every month for the rest of my life instead of just buying a certain amount of storage once and being done with it!! 

In 2024, a random guy stole my phone and changed my icloud password, and I didn't realize it until a few hours later. I checked my Gmail notifications and got announced that my icloud password and the trusted phone number had been changed, so I couldn't do anything about it. And I didn't do anything about it; I just bought a new complete phone running on Android and forgot about it.

I still use that Gmail account; now I need to do something with my past Apple account, but I cannot sign in with my Gmail account because an Apple account connected with it has already existed and I cannot take control of it.

I know I'm a dumbass, and I can just create a whole new Apple account with another Gmail account, but it might be quite an inconvenience to do so. So I'm asking for ways to get my Gmail back, or to disconnect my Gmail from that icloud account.

My iPhone got water damage and it was not longer even turning on(so I thought). I bought a new phone and tried to transfer my iCloud, but because I didn’t have my password, I ended up being locked out of my iCloud. Matters got worse because the phone was on, but the screen was black, and I didn’t know. I have already gone through the 2/3 days waiting process 3 times, called support 3 times, and went to the Apple Store twice. The problem I keep running into is that at the end of the try, the screen always says: “We will be contacting you through said email with instructions.” 😩 I am like… NO! I already clicked in “forgot my password“ when you guys ask for the email password. I only have access to my phone number that was linked to the iCloud. Not sure if that is relevant to the point that I am the organizer of my family Cloud and I do have an Apple card that is about to give due payment, and I don’t know how to pay without logging in. Please, help❗️

The WhatsApp backup starts but stops midway, although it updates the "Last backed up" date and total size. However, when I click "Back Up Now" again, it still shows the same backup size.

I want to transfer chat to my new phone hence doing this. these chats are very important.

The WhatsApp backup starts but stops midway, although it updates the "Last backed up" date and total size. However, when I click "Back Up Now" again, it still shows the same backup size.

Edit: I logged on to my old MacBook Pro which said it had issues signing in to iCloud. I logged in, it sent a request to my phone which resulted in the account seemingly unlocked. iCloud for Windows no longer complains about account being locked and it finally asked for verification on a trusted device.

My Rog Ally handheld PC had a bios update today and upon restarting iCloud for windows said it needed to verify the account (I’d already restored access to it previously after I had cleaned out old devices from my Apple account so I figured it shouldn’t be a problem). Curiously my iCloud passwords windows app remained accessible even though it shouldn’t.

But after entering my password it says “This Apple account has been locked for security reasons. Visit iForgot to reset your account” (I don’t remember if I made a mistake entering the password the first time but for subsequent tries I made sure it’s the correct one by typing it out first verifying it’s correct then pasting it into the password)

I have 2 factor authentication and Advanced Data Protection turned on and my Apple account remains accessible on my iPhone and iPad with no “locked” messages.

Stuff I’ve tried:

Deleting the ADI folder (I believe this fused the issue before but not this time)
Repairing iCloud for Windows
Resetting iCloud for Windows
Uninstalling and reinstalling iCloud for Windows from the Microsoft Store
Installing an older version of iCloud for Windows

I have not removed the device from my Apple account list of devices yet. Should I be doing that?

i wasnt aware that it would and i hate it, i hate having so much photos on my phone now my gallery went to shit and i cant find anything now, same with my ipad, i hate having them mixed and i need to know if theres a way to at the very least erase all the ipad photos from my iphone, i hate it. please help.

Hello everyone. I made an ICloud account in 2013, and stopped using it in around 2018 or 19 when I switched to using Android. I know for a fact what my email and password was, but I can't log in. Does Apple delete inactive accounts? Is there any way to recover it? I know you porbably can't and asking this is a bit of a long shot, but I have stuff with my mom who passed away on there I'd love to be able to look at if possible. Thanks in advance.

I am on a base 16 with 128gb storage. My photos are taking 20gb of my phone with only 15gb free storage left.

I have read the sub and realised that my base iCloud+ plan won’t act as a backup if try to upload images there and delete from my phone.

Is there any way to offload my images without having the risk of losing them ? I don’t want to use google photos since uploading manually is a hassle.

Wanted something that backs up automatically and then stays there even if I clear it from the phone.

I just got the new 18 pro max and set it up yesterday. I chose the option to transfer everything through iCloud, and so far everything else has transferred to my new phone, but none of my photos have. Every time I’ve looked at my camera roll, it’s just said syncing, but nothing has actually loaded. I checked my old phone before transferring, and it said everything was backed up to iCloud. I even left it charging overnight because that was the first thing Apple recommended, but that didn’t help.

Hi everyone!

I'm a bit confused about how WhatsApp backups work on iPhone and hoping someone can clarify.

When I check my WhatsApp backup under iPhone Settings -> iCloud -> Saved to iCloud, it shows a much smaller backup size (around 11.5 GB).

However, when I go to iPhone Settings → Apple ID → iCloud → iCloud Backup, WhatsApp shows a much larger size (around 32 GB).

I'm particularly worried about losing my WhatsApp chat history and media when switching phones.

Has anyone experienced this? How can I make sure everything is properly backed up before transferring to a new iPhone?

Thanks in advance!

A couple of weeks ago I found that my login to one of my devices was failing and I managed to change my Apple ID password.

Just today I found that the new password failed for a login to icloud.com on my PC was failing with rejected password. I set about changing the password again and experienced different failures in their system. One annoyance was being shunted to a new-device setup option. On my second attempt to use that I followed the route via another person's Apple device and account. I passed the phone test only to be presented with a challenge to enter the login code for my iPad. I entered the code but it was rejected. I immediately checked that it was working on the iPad.

I'm wondering if there's a (hidden) OS issue here - not with my PC but with the other devices. My iPhone is an X with iOS 16.7.16, , and my iPad is a 6th Gen with iOS 17.7.1.

This is only happening on my iPhone, where older messages show “No Sender” or “No Recipient” for iCloud. I’ve deleted Mail app, removed and re added the account and nothing. Any ideas?

My gf and I went on a two week round trip and now we have hundreds and maybe even over a thousand photos. Is there a central way we can both add and edit photos in one place?

I pay $2.99 a month for icloud storage but my gf does not.