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Can't approve Passwords and Keychain for iCloud for Windows

Beginning a few weeks ago, I was no longer able to use the iCloud Passwords extension for Edge on my main PC and a pop-up told me that I needed to enable Passwords in iCloud for Windows. Going in to iCloud for Windows, I found that Passwords and Keychain was off with an Approve... link underneath it. Clicking the link prompts a 2FA request on my iPhone and MacBook, which I authorized. I entered the code on my PC and it moved to the Signing In... screen, which then closed and there was no change to the Passwords and Keychain status. I've disabled VPNs and security software, and I've made sure that the PC is on the same network as my phone when doing the approval to no avail. iCloud for Windows is working just fine on my other PC and laptop. It's rather frustrating that there are no logs generated that end users have access to help diagnose the problem.



I've contacted Apple Support and they were supremely unhelpful as they told me to contact "Windows support" for help with this issue and then to come back to Apple with their results. I'm seeing that I'm not the only person having this problem. The PC in question is running Windows 10.


Posted on Mar 5, 2024 7:23 AM

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Posted on Apr 15, 2024 5:42 AM

So I think I found a fix. At least for me anyways...

I had to have both my iPhone and Windows system on the same exact wifi/network. Having same external (internet) IP address.

I have 2 vlans and internet providers. One I use for work, one is personal. So when they reach out the internet they have different IP addresses. I moved the Windows system, to same VLAN as iPhone and it activated without an issue. Once activated I moved it back and has been fine since... Well until next update probably...

So my guess it it checks your connection to make sure someone is not trying to get your passwords by activating it on a remote pc.

Hope this helps some...

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38 replies
Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Apr 15, 2024 5:42 AM in response to profane77

So I think I found a fix. At least for me anyways...

I had to have both my iPhone and Windows system on the same exact wifi/network. Having same external (internet) IP address.

I have 2 vlans and internet providers. One I use for work, one is personal. So when they reach out the internet they have different IP addresses. I moved the Windows system, to same VLAN as iPhone and it activated without an issue. Once activated I moved it back and has been fine since... Well until next update probably...

So my guess it it checks your connection to make sure someone is not trying to get your passwords by activating it on a remote pc.

Hope this helps some...

Jun 30, 2024 9:42 PM in response to profane77

I encountered the same problem on 2024/7/1 and wasted most of my day trying to solve it. Based on my past experience of wasting a lot of time on it, in order to prevent iCloud for Windows from continuing to waste my life, I uninstalled all Apple software products on my Windows computer, leaving only Apple Music. Now the world has become much cleaner!

Jul 5, 2024 6:53 AM in response to profane77

After troubleshooting this problem for almost five whole days, contacted Apple Support thrice to no avail, even brought it to an offline technician without any meaningful resolution, and the only thing that solved my issue (not even turning off VPN, connecting the iPhone and Windows laptop through a USB to Lightning cable along with Bluetooth, uninstalling and reinstalling, making sure both devices are connected to the same network, reinstalling/restarting too many times to even count, Advanced Data Protection, downgrading to older iCloud versions, resetting--yes, that was genuinely my last resort--both my iPhone and Windows laptop were able to solve it) was having the Apple ID signed into a Macbook. That's... literally it. Somehow the approval went through after the 6-digit authentication so easily after that, without any hassles or troubles at all. Which sucked really hard because I do not own a Macbook, and probably means that the system somehow doesn't recognise my iPhone as a trustworthy Apple device even when it literally says that it's trusted on my iPhone's devices list. I live in Indonesia and I had to ask a close one from the US to help me out with this, which is even more ironic because other people had to make sure their devices were in the same network for this to work. Dear God, I just hope it won't break all over again because having to input my auto-generated passwords manually were so arduous I just didn't log in to any new services. Man.

May 8, 2024 3:09 PM in response to profane77

SOLVED.... Use your desktop to connect to web using YOUR wifi or Ethernet-cable network. Use your iphone/ipad/laptop to connect WIRELESSLY to your SAME wifi network. In desktop, click the key-icon on top right to enable the passwords. You will receive a code on your iphone/ipad/laptop. Enter code on desktop window that requested it. And voila.... they both become active..!

May 14, 2024 1:48 PM in response to profane77

Unfortunately, none of the suggested fixes worked for me, but I'm glad that they proved useful for other people. I wound up getting a new computer issued to me, and I was able to approve Passwords & Keychain for that computer with no problem. My phone and the computer were not on the same network, so I don't think that was the issue in my case.

Sep 28, 2024 12:57 PM in response to profane77

I have resolved this on my Laptop. I uninstalled iCloud for Windows and the browser extension. I changed the Appleid password on my iPad. Then reinstalled iCloud for Windows and the browser extension. Started up iCloud for Windows and with bated breath hit the “authorise” button and …. It all works perfectly now.


Maybe the problem is something to do with 2FA? Or maybe my Laptop was somehow picking up a wrong password as part of 2FA - although Windows for iCloud was always active OK, but within that the Password sync needed authorisation which requires 2FA. That’s the step that had failed.

Can't approve Passwords and Keychain for iCloud for Windows

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