iCloud for Windows not fully initialized.

The very same kind of troubleshooting and conclusion was made with me when I've contacted Apple. So I confirm that, if you create a brand new user profile in your Windows 10 or 11, than iCloud 14.x will not give you any issue and so you'll be prompted - as expected - to satisfy the MFA multi factor authentication and than Login successfully - This aspect led me to the conclusion that the issue we are all facing and reporting here on this thread is most probably caused by something going wrong during the "iCloud local app profile migration from the legacy version 7.x to the new current iCloud local Ms App 14.x". I am 100% sure about this root cause because, as WPeterG and myself experienced, when you create a new Windows profile and you install from zero iCloud by the Ms Store, than you will succeed to authenticate and use it fully. On the contrary, in my opinion, if you were using (in W10 or W11) iCloud 7.x happily and than migrate to iCloud 14.x than you'll most probably face this kind of challenge. I hope these notes will help you all users and also Apple Support to investigate deeper, reproduce the issue on their side as well and finally get it solved in collaboration with Ms Store hub. Thank you!

UPDATE:

Here is a fix for the problem. I have tried it, and it works. (https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/forum/all/why-am-i-getting-blank-window-with-red-x-when/c12ad5cf-b9f0-4e8b-a695-2df1945b92fe)

Be very careful in implementing this. If practicable, back up your C: drive before proceeding. If you are unsure how to proceed, please don't!

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Jason McCullough [MSFT]

I spent a few hours trying to reverse engineer

what the issue is here with process monitor and eventually resolved it. The

client certificate that iCloud uses to talk to the server appears to be getting

broken in some way.

How I fixed it:

* certmgr.mmc, file->add/remove snap-in,

certificates, my user account. There should be a certificate in

Personal\Certificates with a Issued By of Apple iPhone Device CA. Delete it.

WPG NOTE: This above step doesn't work with Windows 10 Home, which doesn't use snap-ins. Instead, do this:

1. 1. Type {WINDOWS KEY}-R
   2. Type: certmgr.msc and ENTER. This should open the Certificates Manager.
   3. 
   4. Open \Personal\Certificates
   5. Expand the right-hand panel to display the menu item, "Friendly Name."
   6. 
   7. Click on "Friendly Name" a time or two, until the "Apple Phone Device CA" file/s appear at the top.

8. Delete those files (only)

Now resume McCullough's instructions...

* In file explorer, go to

%APPDATA%\Microsoft\Crypto\RSA. There should be a folder with a name like S-1-5-21...or the like. Go in there.

* Backup this directory before messing with it (eg. Copy to Desktop - WPG).

* Open each file with Notepad, starting with the oldest one. You're looking for one that has the string APNSDaemon in it. Delete that one.

* Restart the computer and iCloud sign-in should work now.

I had this problem and here are the steps I took to solve it. iCloud worked fine on my Windows machine until it didn't, so here's what I did:

1. Uninstalled and re-installed iCloud like 10 times
2. Updated Windows Media Player
3. Read every board and article I could about the issue
4. Installed an older version of iCloud
5. Started creating a new local user - that seemed like a situation I didn't want
6. Next-level command prompts like fiddling with the Microsoft Store and running diagnostics and stuff
7. Watched YouTube videos (which had me repair, reset, uninstall, reinstall - again)
8. Called Apple Support. They asked me one question ("Is your computer 64-bit or 32-bit?") and the call disconnected. You bet I gave them a "strongly disagree" on their survey!
9. Tried iCloud on my other Windows computer where it used to also work just fine - same issue (not initializing, not logging in)
10. After several hours over a few days, I did one more round of searching online and found one last thing I hadn't tried:

I had to update my version of iTunes.

Everything works great.

I can confirm that on a machine behind a corporate firewall, iCloud was giving me the same "iCloud for Windows not fully initialized." Error. After opening port 5223 for TCP/UDP traffic on the firewall, the issue went away and I got the MFA prompt on the screen and on my iPhone/iPad in order to proceed. All is now working. Thanks DSI_Groupe_Louis for the lead.

WARNING: Be very careful trying to find older versions of "iCloud for Windows" v.7.x on the web. The Filehippo files, for example, install PUPs - Potentially Unwanted Programs.

FWIW: On my system, Malwarebytes Premium didn't find any problems with this one (version 7.21.0.23): https://en.softonic.com/download/icloud/windows/post-download/v/7.21.0.23?msclkid=4aa4d86234001073efe1bceb7dc58f10 Be sure to uninstall v.14 items (the MS Store version) first if you want to try it. But read delavega79's post (Jun 13, 2023 8:54 PM) first!!

[This is a Direct Download Link]

Solved--- for me at least.

I had this same problem, immediately after upgrading from Windows 10 Pro to Windows 11 Pro. Does not get to TFA, just spins and then gives the not initialized message.

Because this was right after the upgrade, I de-installed iCloud and tried it again. Same result.

I then de-installed it and thought I would see if iTunes was working. It was -- BUT it was logged into a different AppleID (I have three). So, I logged out of iTunes, logged back in with the same AppleID that I use for iCloud, and then downloaded the iCloud app from the MS store and ran it again. Success! Got the TFA and it installed as expected.

UPDATE:

Troubleshooting continuing... with help of Apple tech. Andrew, created a new (local) user on PC. iCloud installation and login went through without any problem on that account. So in my case, the issue is caused by something installed on my account, but we were unable to work out exactly what. A load of diagnostic data has been uploaded to Apple's engineers, who may be able to throw some more light on the problem (at least in my case). Will keep you updated.

Dear Fellow Computer User,

I feel your pain... As far as I can tell, the version of iCloud that you download from the Microsoft App Store doesn't work as it is supposed to. My opinion -- and it's only an opinion at this stage -- is that the MS Store version fails to deal correctly with previously-installed version/s of iCloud. (I suspect this because I had no problem installing it on a laptop running Windows 10 Pro, which had not previously had iCloud on it.) The problem on my Windows 10 Home PC showed up at the two-factor authentication stage, where the installer sends a text message to your phone with a six-figure code. The process just stopped at that point.

I tried uninstalling/deleting everything Apple that I could find on my PC, but to no avail: the MS Store version of iCloud still wouldn't do the two-factor authentication.

One or two users have done a "bare-metal" reinstallation of Windows from scratch, and that seems to have worked (like installing iCloud on a new PC).

Others, like me, used a procedure detailed earlier in this discussion, which involves delving into the depths of Windows to delete files. This worked for some of us, but not for others.

Another procedure that seems to have worked is to uninstall iCloud, then install an earlier version. Some used v.7 and others v.13. Once this installs successfully, some have found that they can then install the MS Store version (v.14).

I hope this may be of some help to you. If you are put off by the suggested 'fixes' you could try contacting Apple Support, but I suspect that most of their Level 1 help people won't have a clue. I spoke to a Level 2 guy who was most helpful, but didn't have a solution at that stage. Or find a friend who's savvy enough to follow the suggested fixes, and do them for you. All the best.

installing v13 of icloud fixed this for me (i'm also running on windows 11). icloud v14 (latest from the store) would not work. even with all of the ideas in this thread. i uninstalled v14, and installed v13, and everything works now.

Thank you for your work to find out whats going on. Just wanna tell you that for me it was enough to just uninstall 'icloud outlook component' without touching main icloud 14.x app (downgrading to 7.x and upgrading again wasn't necessary) Login and MFA worked like a charm after that and is still working after a few restarts of Windows. Looks like the outlook component could be the culprit here.

Hi,

I found a solution when i check my firewall logs.

Have a look at Jabbers protocol on port 5223.

In my case, allowing this protocol in my firewall rules allowed the connection to my icloud account.

What worked for me, was to uninstall iCloud, uninstall iCloud for Outlook (needed to click the three-dots, and modify, and remove), and then reinstall iCloud for Windows (through the Microsoft App Store).

Jun 16, 2023 5:07 AM in response to RB0000

• RB0000 wrote:

• After working with Apple Support for several days, we have found this workaround that works for me:

Uninstall iCloud for Windows version 14

• Download iCloud for Windows version 13 (Version 13.4.101.0

• Install iCloud for Windows version 13

Apple Support is continuing to look for a full solution to the issue, but this works for me. Many thanks to Jatinder for working through it over the past weeks.

[Link Edited by Moderator]


Fascinating that Apple Support should have recommended downloading iCloud v.13. Did he mention a site from which users can obtain that version? (For those whom McCullough's fix doesn't work.) Or did our Moderator remove the link?

I also installed this app, but I got the same issue.

I tried to change the Wifi network from my company to my iPhone tethering, therefore, my PC smartly installed the iCloud app.

I hope this helps you.