Q: i can't change iCloud settings.  When I enter apple id they light up for a second, but then grey out again

Hi,

Make sure you are logged in on your Mac as the administrator.

Might be a corrupt .plist.

Do a backup, preferably 2 backups on 2 separate drives.

Quit the application.

Go to Finder and select your user/home folder. With that Finder window as the front window, either select Finder/View/Show View options or go command - J.  When the View options opens, check ’Show Library Folder’. That should make your user library folder visible in your user/home folder.  Select Library. Then go to Preferences/com.apple.systempreferences.plist.  Move the .plist to your desktop.

Restart the computer, open the application, and test. If it works okay, delete the plist from the desktop.

If the application is the same, return the .plist to where you got it from, overwriting the newer one.

Thanks to leonie for some information contained in this.

I'm a bit confused by something you reported. You indicated that

kafks wrote:

 

...the applied it asks for when I open up iCloud in system preferences is my applied--it is accepted, but then goes grey again.

 

When you simply open iCloud in System Preferences, you should not be asked for an Apple ID & Password if it is signed in. Are you certain you are already signed in to iCloud under System Preferences? If you are not, then that is why you don't have access to the options. If you are, try signing out and then back in again.

Cheers,

GB

Go to Finder/Preferences/Sidebar and check your user/home folder (the house) to make it show in Finder.

It seems to me that there is a problem at Apple's end. When the iCloud preference pane is opened there is a connection made to https://p41-escrowproxy.icloud.com:443/...

The certificate cannot be verified by OCSP and is therefore deemed invalid.

Go to Finder/Preferences/Sidebar/Favorites and check the house at the bottom  of the list. This will make your home folder visible in the Finder Sidebar.

Hi Gail.  It's me.

Just read your reply to Kafks. I also have exactly the same problem.

1. I'm not asked to sign in as it is open.

2. If I click on Sign Out, I get the message>

    If you turn off I Cloud Drive, all documents stored in iClousdd will be deleted from this Mac. Not worried about that but don't want the Photos to be deleted as well as it tok a long time to have them uploaded.

Cheers

Monique    

Hi Monique,

So, I can't remember - do you have iCloud Photo Library turned on? If so, do you have "Download Originals" in Photos>Preferences>iCloud?

Cheers,

GB

Good Morning Gail.

On my iPhone, I have

Photos/iCloud Library turned on

also Optimise iPhone Storage is checked and Upload to My Photo Stream is checked as well

Cheers - Have a good day, weekend is almost here  

Monique

Hi Monique,

OK, so here is what the iCloud Photo Library indicates will happen if you sign out of iCloud (which in turn disengages your device from iCloud Photo Library):

How do I turn off iCloud Photo Library on just one device?

You can turn off iCloud Photo Library on a single device when you follow these steps:

• On your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch, go to Settings > iCloud > Photos and turn off iCloud Photo Library.
• On your Mac, go to System Preferences > iCloud > Options next to Photos, then deselect iCloud Photo Library.
• On your Apple TV (4th generation), go to Settings > Accounts > iCloud and under Photos press Select to turn off iCloud Photo Library.

If you have Optimize Storage turned on, you might not have all of your original photos and videos on your device. To download the original photos and videos on your iOS device, go to Settings > iCloud > Photos and select Download and Keep Originals. On your Mac, open Photos, choose Photos > Preferences, then select Download Originals to this Mac. Then you can turn iCloud Photo Library off. You can also select the photos and videos that you want to download from iCloud.com.

Here is the entire support article:

Get help with your iCloud Photo Library - Apple Support

GB