iCloud app for Windows won't authenticate without a VPN

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iCloud app for Windows won't authenticate without a VPN

I need to occasionally access my iCloud Drive files on a Windows machine. The iCloud app for Windows "used" to work just fine, but the most recent version of it won't allow me to sign in with my iCloud credentials unless I turn on a VPN. This never happened before. Searching on this confirms it's a current issue, but no explanation or fix can be found, other than the workaround of using a VPN when signing in. When I put in my iCloud credentials, it challenges me on one of my Apple devices (as it should), but when I add the 6-digit code to the iCloud Windows app, it says "Something went wrong...try again".

I shouldn't have to pay for a VPN service just to access iCloud on Windows when Apple supports using iCloud on Windows and even has a support article on how to install and use it. Hopefully, someone has an idea of how to be able to log in to iCloud on Windows using the most recent app. Thanks!

Windows

Posted on May 31, 2023 8:45 AM

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Answer 1

Top-ranking reply

Larry McJunkin Author

Level 2

166 points

Jun 3, 2023 12:08 PM in response to Larry McJunkin

To put some closure on this problem in case someone else stumbles upon it with the same problem...the culprit ended up being my ISP (thanks to a senior advisor at Apple Care for asking me to try this). I'm on a gigabit connection and since the problem disappeared when I turned on a VPN, I tried it using my iPhone Hot Spot...both of them have different DNS servers than the ISP. Sure enough, the Hot Spot worked, also.

Then, on the Windows computer I turned off Automatic DNS settings for the network (taking Spectrum's DNS out of the equation), then plugged in Google's Public DNS server numbers (8.8.8.8) into IPv4 and it also worked! Leaving only the Spectrum DNS servers as the evil doer. If you're having this issue with the iCloud app for Windows, this is likely your problem.

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Answer 2

Chris_C1

Community Specialist

Jun 1, 2023 12:55 PM in response to Larry McJunkin

Hey there Larry McJunkin,

We understand you are having problems accessing your iCloud Drive using iCloud for Windows. You should not need to use a VPN. The VPN or any other installed security software may be intefering with expected behavior. You'll want to follow the guide linked below to address this behavior.

Resolve issues between iCloud for Windows or iTunes and third-party security software

Have a good one!

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Answer 3

Jeff_W.

Community Specialist

Jun 1, 2023 1:13 PM in response to Larry McJunkin

Thanks for replying, Larry, and that additional info, it really helps! You mention that this is a Windows computer, but not any details, so let's make sure the computer meets iCloud requirements: System requirements for iCloud - Apple Support

If you are still having issues after checking that this computer meets requirements, please contact Apple directly, so they can investigate this with you in real time:

Get Support

Have a great day, and thanks for using the Apple Support Communities!

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Answer 4

Jun 1, 2023 1:01 PM in response to Chris_C1

I probably should have added I've already read this article...it popped up right away when I searched for the problem. This only began happening after the iCloud for Windows app was recently updated. Prior to that, it worked great for a long time. Thanks, anyway!

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Answer 5

Jun 1, 2023 1:42 PM in response to Larry McJunkin

Oh, it is. ThinkPad i7 vPro w/32GB. I’m a dev and it’s one of my production machines.

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Answer 6

Oct 9, 2023 7:52 PM in response to Larry McJunkin

Please let me know if you ever solve this issue. I’ve legit done absolutely everything and nothing has worked.

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Answer 7

Oct 9, 2023 7:53 PM in response to Larry McJunkin

None of these things in this article come remotely close to solving this problem. Please think of something else that could be going on because it’s not security software.

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iCloud app for Windows won't authenticate without a VPN

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