iCloud on Windows 15.3.138 unable to synchronise

Okay.. so it's working now somehow.

Here are the steps that I performed, your mileage may vary:

1. Uninstall iCloud.
2. Restart your computer.
3. Install iTunes through the Microsoft Store.
4. Open iTunes and log in.
5. Install iCloud through the Microsoft Store.
6. Log in to iCloud (I don't believe that it asked me for a 2FA code on the first try.)
   1. Skip Photos.
   2. Allow iCloud Drive.
   3. Skip Passwords & Keychain.
   4. Skip Bookmarks.
   5. Accept Share iCloud analytics.
7. Click on "Account Details".
   1. I noted that "Your Devices" was blank and I was unable to see any devices.
   2. Click "Sign Out".
8. Sign back in (It 100% asked me for a 2FA code this time)
   1. Skip Photos.
   2. Allow iCloud Drive.
   3. Skip Passwords & Keychain.
   4. Skip Bookmarks.
   5. Accept Share iCloud analytics.
9. It started syncing for me after this!

I am having the same issue!

Check your logs here:

C:\Users\USERNAME\AppData\Local\Packages\AppleInc.iCloud_HASHCODE\LocalCache\Local\Logs

In it, mine has the following:

CKW::iCloudAccount::RefreshBag   AOSTransactionGetError was kAOSErrorInvalidCredentials - trying to launch control panel to show auth prompt

CKW::iCloudAccount::RefreshBag    AOSTransactionGetError was kAOSErrorInvalidCredentials - trying to launch control panel to show auth prompt

CKWD::PCSIdentityManager::CopyIdentityForService  Didn't get a service identity from the PCS framework

I've scoured the internet searching for these errors, but have only found others that have posted on the Microsoft forums. Apple says contact Microsoft support. Microsoft says contact Apple iCloud support. The cycle is endless which is really unfortunate. That being said, there is no fix for this until Apple releases an updated iCloud application.

O MY WORD, the login's email field is case sensitive. I've literally tried EVERYTHING except that until now. I was using capitals in my email as that's what I always did and its always worked. It seems they stupidly changed the field to be case sensitive in 15.3.138.

I have this issue as well. Started last week for me, maybe the week before. I have uninstalled and reinstalled. Tested without an antivirus, on and off a VPN. My iCloud account will show the device in it lists, but nothing will sync. Had no issues before. not sure what version it started with, maybe even just when 15 was released, but currently running 15.3.138.

Windows 11 Pro 24H2 26100.2314

So this answer definitely got me thinking, and it's partially true. When I signed up for iCloud years ago, Apple for some reason made a username@me.com alias, along side my username@icloud.com original email. Whenever I would login to iCloud, prior to 15.3.138, I had always used my username@icloud.com address. With this recent update, I tried the same icloud.com address but it would never sync anything. However, I did notice that when I opened iCloud, at the top where it showed my name, it used @me.com instead of what I had typed in, the @icloud.com. So, I logged out for the gazillionth time, and logged in with my @me.com alias instead, and it works! I tried this on my two PC's (Win11) and it works just fine now. Not sure why it doesn't use the alias as an alternative, but whatever, it works now. I hope this helps some folks out there. Cheers!

KieranBLK wrote:

O MY WORD, the login's email field is case sensitive. I've literally tried EVERYTHING except that until now. I was using capitals in my email as that's what I always did and its always worked. It seems they stupidly changed the field to be case sensitive in 15.3.138.

@KieranBLK, you are a genius.

I've been fighting with iCloud for Windows on this new computer for days now and all I needed to do is log in with my email in all lower-case thanks to your suggestion.

Note to others: it appears to sign in correctly when using capital letters in your email address, but it will be stuck on "Initializing" or "Updating" or if you tap to the Account Details button, your list of Devices will be empty and have an error. All because Apple something in their app is case-sensitive in some parts, but not in others. Sounds like they need to add a test case to cover this.

Thanks again KieranBLK!

For search engines: If you've dived deep into log files, you'll see things like:

TrayWnd::ThreadRegisterDevice	TrayWnd::ThreadRegisterDevice: ERROR! Registration failed with error: The operation couldn’t be completed. (AOSErrorDomain error 1000.)

and

ERROR	CKW::iCloudAccount::RefreshBag	AOSTransactionGetError was kAOSErrorInvalidCredentials - trying to launch control panel to show auth prompt
ERROR	CKWD::PushThread::RegisterTopic	Can't register push topic com.apple.push in push environment : 0x80004005
ERROR	CKWD::PushThread::RegisterTopic	Can't register push topic com.me.prefs.cServicePropertiesChanged in push environment : 0x80004005
ERROR	CKWD::PushThread::RegisterTopic	Can't register push topic com.apple.icloud-container.com.apple.securityd in push environment : 0x80004005
ERROR	CKWD::PushThread::RegisterTopic	Can't register push topic com.apple.icloud-container.com.apple.security.cuttlefish in push environment : 0x80004005
ERROR	CKW::iCloudAccount::RefreshBag	AOSTransactionGetError was kAOSErrorInvalidCredentials - trying to launch control panel to show auth prompt
ERROR	CKW::Container::FetchContainerInfo	Error fetching container info for com.apple.security.keychain(production): iCloud account not setup/configured correctly: (9,2012)

and

ERROR	CKW::iCloudAccount::RefreshBag	AOSTransactionGetError was kAOSErrorInvalidCredentials - trying to launch control panel to show auth prompt
ERROR	CKWD::PCSIdentityManager::CopyIdentityForService	Didn't get a service identity from the PCS framework
WARN	CKWD::PCSManager::PreflightIdentitiesForService	Warn: Couldn't preflight identity for service iCloudDrive: No account DSID, so we can't create an identity: (1,5000)

Wow. Some seriously non-optimal implementation going on here : )

The other mysterious symptom that indicates that you may have entered a mixed case or uppercase email is that the ApplePhotoStreams.exe will flat out *crash* when it attempts to startup. You will see Error level messages in the Admin events Event log in windows containing lines like

Faulting application name: ApplePhotoStreams.exe, version: 257.0.0.33, time stamp: 0x67242743

Changing the email to all lower case fixes the problem and photos and files start synchronizing again.

Thanks to everyone for posting this thread!!!

THIS IS THE ANSWER THAT WORKED!

I signed out as @icloud.com and signed in as @me.com and boom! Things are syncing again!

Thanks @emortaro!

I don't have another account or Windows computer to try on, but it works just fine on my MacBook Pro. I can sync everything normally. Wonder if something is cached somewhere on the Windows computer that is preventing the account from initialising properly on the system. Stored data that it is seeing and cannot replace/overwrite. I have deleted all mention of iCloud and Apple I can find after uninstalling the app and still no luck, even checked Windows Credential Manager to see if a store credential there but I see nothing. I can log into Apple TV and Music just fine on this Windows computer, but the iCloud for Windows just does not want to communicate. Another oddity is at the same time, I could not connect to OneDrive either, but it just started working. Performed malware scans and nothing comes up. Not sure if it is the recent update to the iCloud app or Windows.

nope, that's not my issue.

I'm going to end up uninstalling iCloud b/c THE LOGIN SCREEN continues to clog up my screen! Won't disappear. (fortunately I have 2 monitors...)

the specific error code I'm getting is "cannot contact the Apple Account server"

-- even though I've already logged into my Apple Account via the web.

it's a pain in the tush

I had the same issue of iCloud drive files suddenly not syncing Nov 2024 running all the lastest software on Windows 10. Uninstalled and reinstalled and the program was stuck on "Initializing..." upon reinstalling and would never load anything. Also the paid iCloud+ account would not show; instead it would show Free and the Manage button was grayed out. Spent 2.5 hours on the phone with Apple support going through basic troubleshooting (reinstalling, resetting, relogging in, deleting VPN, deactivating antivirus software) I had already done myself with no resolution. On my own, I was able to delete Windows Temporary files using CCleaner after uninstalling iCloud from Windows, rebooted, reinstalled iCloud, logged in, then files starting syncing normally again. Using the primary email address associated with the account (e.g. gmail address instead of icloud address) could also be a contributory factor. Hope this might also be the fix for others along with the others suggested.

Changing the login from "Mail@gmail.com" to "mail@gmail.com" helped. Thank you.

[Edited by Moderator]