ralphbrau

Q: iCloud missing from system preferences

Trying to set up family sharing on my iMac, El Cap recently updated to 10.11.1, and see that iCloud is missing from System Preferences. It is present on wife's MacBook Air running 10.11.1. Advice, please.

iMac, OS X El Capitan (10.11.1)

Posted on Oct 26, 2015 12:13 PM

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Q: iCloud missing from system preferences

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  • by Pmintz25,Helpful

    Pmintz25 Pmintz25 Oct 26, 2015 12:26 PM in response to ralphbrau
    Level 4 (1,693 points)
    Oct 26, 2015 12:26 PM in response to ralphbrau

    You will likely need to reinstall El Capitan, but you can manually look for the settings pane using the below pathway.

     

    Open a Finder window: Click "Go" > Computer > Macintosh HD (your hard drive) > System > Library > PreferencePanes

     

    Look for iCloudPref.prefPane. If it's there, double click it and see if it opens the settings for you.

  • by ralphbrau,

    ralphbrau ralphbrau Oct 26, 2015 12:26 PM in response to Pmintz25
    Level 1 (9 points)
    Mac OS X
    Oct 26, 2015 12:26 PM in response to Pmintz25

    Thanks! I can open the iCloud prefPane from the Library, but it doesn't stay in Settings. Is a full reinstall necessary to fix this?

  • by Pmintz25,Helpful

    Pmintz25 Pmintz25 Oct 26, 2015 1:43 PM in response to ralphbrau
    Level 4 (1,693 points)
    Oct 26, 2015 1:43 PM in response to ralphbrau

    Nope! We should be able to delete the preferencepanes cache to bring it back (usually)

     

    Quit System Preferences and open a new Finder window.

    Click "Go" > Hold down Option and Library will appear > Select Caches > Move com.apple.preferencespane.cache to the trash

     

    Close Finder and open System Preferences

  • by ralphbrau,

    ralphbrau ralphbrau Oct 26, 2015 1:50 PM in response to Pmintz25
    Level 1 (9 points)
    Mac OS X
    Oct 26, 2015 1:50 PM in response to Pmintz25

    Downloaded and reinstalled OSX 10.11.1 and deleted the PrefPane cach from the Library. iCloud is still missing from System Preferences!

     

    I notice that the PrefeerencePanes folder in the Library is empty, FWIW.

  • by ralphbrau,Solvedanswer

    ralphbrau ralphbrau Oct 26, 2015 2:56 PM in response to ralphbrau
    Level 1 (9 points)
    Mac OS X
    Oct 26, 2015 2:56 PM in response to ralphbrau

    My problem was ultimately solved by a Senior Apple Advisor who went directly to System Preferences > View and checked "iCloud."

     

    Thanks to Pmintz25 for intelligent suggestions!

  • by Pmintz25,

    Pmintz25 Pmintz25 Oct 27, 2015 9:19 AM in response to ralphbrau
    Level 4 (1,693 points)
    Oct 27, 2015 9:19 AM in response to ralphbrau

    Well that was easy! Out of curiosity, does the iCloud preference disappear if you uncheck iCloud?

     

    Not sure how that got changed.

  • by ralphbrau,

    ralphbrau ralphbrau Oct 27, 2015 9:27 AM in response to Pmintz25
    Level 1 (9 points)
    Mac OS X
    Oct 27, 2015 9:27 AM in response to Pmintz25

    I should have included this step: System Preferences > View > Customize. Check or uncheck iCloud to show or hide it in the Pref Panes.

  • by Pmintz25,

    Pmintz25 Pmintz25 Oct 27, 2015 9:33 AM in response to ralphbrau
    Level 4 (1,693 points)
    Oct 27, 2015 9:33 AM in response to ralphbrau

    I didn't even know that existed!! That is really cool, and really helpful to know. Crazy that you needed a Senior Advisor to tell you that. I've used Macs for years and have never seen that.

     

    Thanks for sharing that.