How can I disable iCloud?

Question

Level 3

721 points

How can I disable iCloud?

I made the mistake of trying out iCloud and it does not work properly for calendars.

Now I want to stop using iCloud for calendars on my Mac but when I attempt to disable calendars in the iCloud preferences it insists that I must also let it remove the iCloud calendars on my Mac which is definitely what I do not want. In my iPhone when I disabled iCloud it allowed me to keep the calendars on the iPhone.

How do I do this without losing all of my calendar entries?

2.4 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo, Mac OS X (10.7)

Posted on Oct 23, 2011 8:03 AM

Reply

Answer 1

babowa

Level 9

78,097 points

Oct 23, 2011 9:02 AM in response to Patricia W

From what I've read, the following may work:

Make sure though that you have a backup - just in case! I would not try this without a backup. After you have a backup, go ahead, disable iCloud and remove calendars (I'm aware of the message). Restart Mac. See if your entries are still on the Mac - if not, replace with the backup copy.

Or, try another method (which is what I did with my contacts): remove every entry in your calendar manually while on iCloud.com until it is empty. Sign out and simply ignore iCloud.

Reply

Answer 2

Patricia W Author

Level 3

721 points

Oct 23, 2011 9:08 AM in response to babowa

I decided to make backups and see what happens. What the situation is now is that iTunes still shows the iCloud calendars instead of the local iCal versions. Any idea how I can fix this? My system which used to work well is not totally screwed up. (I should add that I use BusyCal instead of iCal because Apple makes each version of iCal worse than the previous one.)

Reply

Answer 3

Oct 23, 2011 9:24 AM in response to Patricia W

You need to change the iCloud calendars back to 'On My Mac' calendars first. Please follow the second set of numbered instructions on this page:

http://www.wilmut.webspace.virginmedia.com/notes/movecalendars.html

It's written for MobileMe but AFAIK the principle should be the same. Make a backup (the second step does this anyway - keep the file) before proceeding.

Reply

Answer 4

Patricia W Author

Level 3

721 points

Oct 23, 2011 9:51 AM in response to Roger Wilmut1

I have not followed your instructions because at this point both iCal and BusyCal only show calendars "On my Mac" and the iCloud calendars are not listed. However, iTunes still lists the iCloud calendars and hence I am unable to sync my iPhone and iPad to the "On my Mac" calendars.

Reply

Answer 5

babowa

Level 9

78,097 points

Oct 23, 2011 9:52 AM in response to Patricia W

I just found these troubleshooting articles from Apple (note the first link):

http://www.apple.com/support/icloud/calendar/

Reply

Answer 6

Patricia W Author

Level 3

721 points

Oct 23, 2011 9:53 AM in response to Patricia W

Oops ... I just noticed that now my calendars are correct in iTunes ... they were listed as the iCloud calendars but when I clicked on the checkbox it listed the right ones. Panic over!

Thanks

Reply

Answer 7

Patricia W Author

Level 3

721 points

Oct 23, 2011 9:57 AM in response to babowa

Thanks ... these will be useful when I get up the courage to try iCloud again.

Reply

Answer 8

babowa

Level 9

78,097 points

Oct 23, 2011 10:01 AM in response to Patricia W

Glad to hear you're all sorted and thanks for the feedback!

Reply

Answer 9

Franqc

Level 1

0 points

Nov 5, 2011 5:44 AM in response to Patricia W

I agree with you, and as you did in inadvertently switched Icloud on when the IOS5 was uploaded on my computer. I have a lot of private and confidential information, such as bank account statements and so on, which are not meant to be uploaded on a central data bank. I would like to fing out how to disable this Icloud, as Apple or any other third party should not have access to privy information.

Reply

Answer 10

babowa

Level 9

78,097 points

Nov 5, 2011 7:16 AM in response to Franqc

when the IOS5 was uploaded on my computer

You can't upload iOS to your computer. iOS is the operating system for iDevices; it does not work on computers.

You can turn on/off and/or activate/de-activate iCloud on the computer by going to the iCloud Preference Pane in System Preferences. That pane is part of the Lion operating system.

Reply

Answer 11

Dec 29, 2011 5:40 PM in response to Patricia W

I just downloaded lion so that I could use icloud. It will not let me use any of my entourage, microsoft word, or exel at all. I cannot access any of my important documents. I want out! How do I go back to not having icloud at all? I love the ability to sync seamlessly, but not at the expense of losing most of my data! Is there a way to keep icloud and still be able to use these programs?

Reply