Gmail account keeps coming back after delete

I managed to fix this issue today. Here is what I did:

1. Turn off keychain sync on all of my Apple devices (in the iCloud preferences). This included 2 Macs, an iPad and iPhone.
2. On each device I removed the accounts I no longer wanted
3. Then I turned keychain sync back on

This worked and all of my old/duplicate accounts are now gone.

I managed to resolve it finally across my three MacBooks. I turned 2 of them offline, removed accounts on the one still online.

Turned it offline, took the second MacBook online, did the same: removed the accounts on that. Put it offline again and took the third Mac online, removed the accounts.

Then put all three back online and the accounts doesn't come back (it seems still)

I might have a more convenient solution to the one below.

1. Turn all Macs off, except one. (Maybe worth disconnecting from the internet and deleting Google first..?)
2. On the on-Mac, go to Keychain Access in Applications.
   1. From the Keychain Access Menu, choose 'Show Invisibles'
   2. You should see a file called 'com.apple.account.Google.accountsync', which is what causes the sync.
3. Go to System Preferences/Internet Accounts and delete Google. This should make the 'com.apple.account.Google.accountsync' file disappear from KeyChain Access, which should make Google stay deleted because it will sync to iCloud without being re-added by the other Macs, which are off.
4. Turn on your other Macs.

Notes:

I have the same problem with a zombie Gmail account. It's been deleted, confirmed as deleted from Google. It appears inactive on macOS on all my Macs. Deleting from System Preferences/Internet Accounts works for a minute then Google returns, which happens on all Macs. iOS is fine.

I can't confirm the process right now because I can't get to one of my Macs (it's in another city); but this process is what support recommended by phone. I'm pretty sure that this must be right because if you stop KeyChain from syncing across iCloud in System Preferences, you can delete Google from that machine. As soon as you turn KeyChain iCloud sync back on, Google is back. Therefore, it's not something on the Mac, it's to do with iCloud.

I assume it's something like iCloud needs a little more time to sync the deletion but, usually, the addition is synced from another Mac before this has a chance. That's the only thing that makes sense to me, anyway.

I fixed this.

1) Logout all Macs except for one of them from iCloud. I know, this is a PITA

2) Go into Internet Accounts on every mac you logged out of and delete every account.

3) Go to the solo Mac that is still logged into iCloud, and delete the single account you want to get rid of.

4) Log back into iCloud on the other Macs.

Try removing it from Mail's preferences. Mail, preferences, accounts, highlight the mail account in the left-hand column, then press the minus button located at the bottom of the columns.

Hi there benekk,

Thanks for reaching out to Apple Support Communities. We understand you're having some difficulties removing an email account from the Mail app. Can you tell us if this is happening across all your devices, or just on one of your computers? Also, can you confirm that your operating system is completely up to date on the devices you're trying to remove this account from? The article below will help walk you through those steps if needed.

How to update the software on your Mac 

We can also have you try to remove the Gmail account while your Mac is booted into safe mode. Safe mode prevents the Mac from loading up certain software or login items so this will tell us if one of those items is interfering with the removal process. The steps to boot your Mac info safe mode are found in the resource below.

How to use safe mode on your Mac 

Let us know if this helps.

This fix worked for me as well. I did need to delete the keychain for each account as well before turning back on Keychain in iCloud for it to stick.

I'm having this exact same issue. I have five old email accounts and I select "Remove from All" when prompted. They all come back as available accounts within a minute. It's frustrating as can be. How do we remove these accounts for good? And why do they keep coming back?!?!

I have the same issue. Running Monterey 12.0.1 and can't remove 2 email accounts. Same as everyone else - each time I remove them (on all devices) it seems to work and then almost immediately I get a notification that the 2 accounts were added.

Same issue. We have Keychain turned on. I delete the account and it comes right back. Tried multiple computers.

Yeah, I'm having the same issue, both accounts that were associated to a corporate server for those companies. It's driving me crazy.

I have the same issue. Safe Mode does not fix it. Has anyone found a solution yet?

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