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Fix to Apple ID sign out being greyed out

a lot of people have this issue, here is how to fix it. Do a back up of your phone, wipe a i phone you don’t use anymore, download your the back up onto your old phone, once the back up has successfully downloaded onto old device(for me was an I phone x), connect problem I phone to a Mac, then put your problem device in recovery mode ,then go into your Mac and click restore I phone, once that is complete you should see a locked to iCloud notificationon the phone you just restored. Start to set up I phone using your old phone, once you gets to transfer data tab, click transfer from your old device(iPhone X for me) then once everything is downloaded. Your problem should be fixed. I think it is an I cloud issue rather then a phone issue. So don’t use I cloud or don’t transfer data through I cloud back up. Just use the older phone to transfer the data. Let me know if this helps. It worked for me and I was talking to Apple support for months. They weren’t able to fix it. But I was able to figure it out

iPhone 11

Posted on Jan 18, 2022 6:23 AM

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Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Posted on Jan 18, 2022 1:53 PM

Thank you for offering the remedy but it worked for your circumstances and as we don't know what the reason for your grey-out was we can't offer it to everyone.

Each user coming here for help has a unique set up and we need to explore more options before the nuclear one.

Two main reasons for greyed-out "Sign Out" are

  • Screen Time turned on with account restriction.
  • Company profile installed in Settings, General, VPN & Device Management.

And yes Backup and Restore has been a standard last resort remedy for all serious problems provided that

  • the AppleID password is known.
  • The old phone if you use one is set up with the same or higher level of iOS
  • The setting or problem causing the grey-out is not reinstalled with the backup

There is no need for an old iPhone . The computer backup or iCloud backup is quite sufficient.

Suggesting avoiding iCloud backup needs explanation.


This is what we generally offer as a last resort after normal diagnostics.

Backup and restore

(1)How to back up your iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch – Apple Support

(2) Restore your iPhone, iPad, or iPod to factory settings – Apple Support

(3) Restore your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch from a backup

4 replies
Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Jan 18, 2022 1:53 PM in response to timfromratoath

Thank you for offering the remedy but it worked for your circumstances and as we don't know what the reason for your grey-out was we can't offer it to everyone.

Each user coming here for help has a unique set up and we need to explore more options before the nuclear one.

Two main reasons for greyed-out "Sign Out" are

  • Screen Time turned on with account restriction.
  • Company profile installed in Settings, General, VPN & Device Management.

And yes Backup and Restore has been a standard last resort remedy for all serious problems provided that

  • the AppleID password is known.
  • The old phone if you use one is set up with the same or higher level of iOS
  • The setting or problem causing the grey-out is not reinstalled with the backup

There is no need for an old iPhone . The computer backup or iCloud backup is quite sufficient.

Suggesting avoiding iCloud backup needs explanation.


This is what we generally offer as a last resort after normal diagnostics.

Backup and restore

(1)How to back up your iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch – Apple Support

(2) Restore your iPhone, iPad, or iPod to factory settings – Apple Support

(3) Restore your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch from a backup

Fix to Apple ID sign out being greyed out

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