How to resolve 'An unknown error occurred' when declining Two-Factor Authentication on Apple Account?

Cancel your password entry. The normal procedure is to click "other options" then again select do not upgrade. Then you can enter your password.

Apple is very persistent about getting you to upgrade and insists upon asking you several times during sign-in. One of the "other options" is to upgrade. :-P

That message can definitely get annoying. Apple has been moving most accounts over to Two-Factor Authentication, especially on newer macOS versions, so the option to stay on the old setup doesn’t always work anymore. That “unknown error” usually just means the system won’t let you skip it.

Turning on 2FA is usually the only way to stop the popup from coming back. If you’d like Apple to change how this works, you can also leave feedback at apple.com/feedback.

Hope that clears it up a bit!

barbra294 wrote:

That message can definitely get annoying. Apple has been moving most accounts over to Two-Factor Authentication, especially on newer macOS versions, so the option to stay on the old setup doesn’t always work anymore. That “unknown error” usually just means the system won’t let you skip it.

Apple doesn't one-sidedly "move" accounts over to 2FA. If you open a new account Apple will make setting up 2FA a requirement. You have no option.

If you have an older account, you do still have an option. Apple recommends that you transition, but they do not currently absolutely require you to, or do any one-sided "moving". Certainly 2FA is more secure, but security questions can also be secured. Unfortunately the old presentation of pre-set questions that Apple used meant that it might not require a lot social engineering to find out the answers. If you ignore Apple's actual questions and simply enter a long and meaningless string of things on your keyboard as your high school mascot or anything else you probably posted on social media web site, it can be almost impossible to guess. Of course then you have to remember your answers. ;-) Some systems let you set up your own questions. I doubt anybody know the nonsense name we gave our pet dog 55 years ago.

For 2FA you apparently must set up a telephone number too. And from posts I have been reading on this forum it must be a unique number. Not all families may have unique numbers for each person. I also know I travel places where I only take a single trusted device and my telephone service does not work. I don't want to be trapped in a situation where I am trying to get a verification code on a telephone or computer that is on the other side of the planet.

Just curious why you prefer not to use Two Factor Authentication. Many people are not aware that it provides a big increase in account security and privacy. When you use Two Factor Authentication along with Face ID or Touch ID, your account is much harder for anyone else to access.

The biometric data used for Face ID or Touch ID stays on your device in the Secure Enclave and is never uploaded to iCloud or shared anywhere. Even if someone guesses your password, they still cannot get into your account without the second verification step on a trusted device. It may feel like an extra step, but it does protect your information in a very effective way.

Most large tech. businesses are requiring two-factor authentication. Thank all the hackers and scammers out there and the fact that people don't take online security seriously and to a small degree have brought this on themselves. 30 years ago a compromised account meant all you risked was somebody being able to post on a BBS in your name. Now people can have tens of thousands of dollars, and more, associated with accounts. Not that it has made them any smarter about security, it just exposes them more than 30 years ago having to go into a place and show an ID to get access to money.