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User profile for user: BlueKatKLJ
BlueKatKLJ Author
User level: Level 1
56 points

My iPhone Stuck 'copying iCloud data' when logging out. How to get it to finish?

(New iPhone SE 3rd gen w/ IOS 15.4.1) I was having some weirdness with iCloud not syncing email and never uploading 'for you' photos. I thought I would log out of my iPhone and check the iCloud from my (non-Apple) laptop while logged out.

When i logged out it asked if I wanted to keep iCloud data on the iPhone (continue/cancel) and I continued. Now it has been displaying a white page with 'copying iCloud data...' and a spinning icon for over an hour... it's on power (battery was 45%+) and using home WiFi. I have 10 photos, 50 contacts, 20 imessages and maybe 20 small emails (no attachments.)

How is it stuck and how do I free it?

iPhone SE, iOS 15

Posted on May 4, 2022 5:31 PM

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User profile for user: Sasparilla256
Sasparilla256
User level: Level 1
45 points

Posted on Jun 12, 2022 1:12 PM

Ran into this same issue getting 2 iPhone's ready to be sold. Basically the "sign out" process from Settings / User (at top of Settings) is broken at some point and just sits there spinning away saying its copying data even if you tell it not to copy anything.


(for future readers) Make sure you already backed things up (locally or iClould) before doing this (or have your new phone up and working with all current information), then don't choose to back anything more to iCloud after you choose to Sign Out from Settings / Your User at top. Even with saying don't back anything up it still stalls out saying "copying iCloud data". So give it some time (15 mins or so) then exit the settings app (finger pull up the app from bottom of the phone a bit and then flick the Settings app window up off the top of the screen), then just shut the phone off. Let it get shut down (a few mins), then restart.


When I restarted and logged into the iPhone I was logged out of the top of the Settings app now (only took 3 hours with no backup to get there - cause I thought it was working the whole time, ugh). Then I could go into Settings / General and go to the bottom for "Transfer or Reset iPhone" and be on my way. This happened and worked for 2 iPhones we're selling.

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User profile for user: Sasparilla256
Sasparilla256
User level: Level 1
45 points

Jun 12, 2022 1:12 PM in response to BlueKatKLJ

Ran into this same issue getting 2 iPhone's ready to be sold. Basically the "sign out" process from Settings / User (at top of Settings) is broken at some point and just sits there spinning away saying its copying data even if you tell it not to copy anything.


(for future readers) Make sure you already backed things up (locally or iClould) before doing this (or have your new phone up and working with all current information), then don't choose to back anything more to iCloud after you choose to Sign Out from Settings / Your User at top. Even with saying don't back anything up it still stalls out saying "copying iCloud data". So give it some time (15 mins or so) then exit the settings app (finger pull up the app from bottom of the phone a bit and then flick the Settings app window up off the top of the screen), then just shut the phone off. Let it get shut down (a few mins), then restart.


When I restarted and logged into the iPhone I was logged out of the top of the Settings app now (only took 3 hours with no backup to get there - cause I thought it was working the whole time, ugh). Then I could go into Settings / General and go to the bottom for "Transfer or Reset iPhone" and be on my way. This happened and worked for 2 iPhones we're selling.

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User profile for user: BlueKatKLJ
BlueKatKLJ Author
User level: Level 1
56 points

May 5, 2022 7:51 PM in response to BlueKatKLJ

Just a follow-up for anyone reading this -- my phone ran 'copying iCloud data... ' for hours, and finally finished. Looking in my 'Settings' , I STILL wasn't logged out!

OK -- in for a penny, in for a pound... I tried again, twice!!!

The first time, I answered the 'keep a copy of your data on this iPhone' by checking all of the options, and it ran for hours, and when finished I still wasn't logged out. The second time, I checked none of the options, and it ran about 15 minutes....

...and I still wasn't logged out.

I finally powered off. When powering back on I was finally signed out, but of course my contact list was empty. So I checked the iCloud from my Chromebook, and at least they were there. Signed back into the iPhone, and contacts reloaded.


As far as I'm concerned this is still a problem -- I can't _sign out_ without losing my contact file on the phone, and the photo widget library is still blank and won't update with any 'for you' pictures (I have set a few favorites out of my 10 pics). I'm not convinced calendar events data or email is syncing either. Working with iCloud seems very untrustworthy.


I know this group is just users and I need to pursue this with Apple Support, but this is frustrating!

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My iPhone Stuck 'copying iCloud data' when logging out. How to get it to finish?

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