Can't activate iCloud Keychain

Question

Level 1

16 points

Can't activate iCloud Keychain

I've tried setting up iCloud Keychain in OS X Mavericks but have failed.

From the iCloud System Prefs I activated Keychain. It asked me for my iCloud password, then for my Keychain password, then to enter an activation code sent to my phone. I waited, and waited and waited. Nothing came through. So I tried deselecting Keychain and allowing it to delete all passwords. I took at look at the new Keychain settings in iOS 7.0.3 under iCloud -> Keychain, and iCloud -> Account -> Advanced -> Keychain. Each time it asked me to use a different device to authorise it. I didn't get anywhere with this.

I finally got a bunch of verification codes sent to my phone, but now I can't enter them. The dialog that was requesting this code was dismissed and I can't get it back. I can't switch off Keychain in iCloud System Prefs, as it gets automatically re-enabled and the "Waiting for approval from other device" message is permanently displayed. Logging out and back in again had no effect.

Anyone else had any luck?

iMac, OS X Mavericks (10.9)

Posted on Oct 22, 2013 4:43 PM

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Answer 1

Best reply

Mr.None

Level 1

4 points

Apr 15, 2017 11:33 AM in response to Paul Verity

I have the exact same problem. I suspected something is blocking the connection form internet attempting to change to the local setting, so I disabled my Antivirus (Kasperkey in my case), and the problem is solved.

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Answer 2

Paul Verity Author

Level 1

16 points

Oct 22, 2013 4:49 PM in response to Paul Verity

Seems to be fixed now. A few more random attempts on my Mac to disable and re-enable it brought the verification dialog back up to enter the verification code. Not entirely sure what the problem was or how I fixed it!

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Answer 3

Oct 22, 2013 5:47 PM in response to Paul Verity

I tried it too and on my iPad and iPhone as well where it says PENDING (authorization). I finally decided to not use it and turned if off on Mavericks but I CANNOT turn it off in iOS 7 now.. I slide the switch and it just returns to ON and says pending. What can I do?

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Answer 4

Oct 24, 2013 11:29 PM in response to Jeff Friedman

I had a similar problem that I solved by invoking the forgot code flow when prompted for my iCloud keychain security code. This will cause you to delete your existing iCloud keychain data and set a new pin. Once that is done you should be setup properly and you can disable, if desired.

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Answer 5

Paul Verity Author

Level 1

16 points

Oct 24, 2013 11:58 PM in response to mattfromtempe

Yeah, I tried that several times as I just wasn't getting a code sent to me. About 10mins later I got about 6 codes all at once! Guess there was a bit of a backlog. But then it just stopped prompting me to enter a verification code altogether as far as I remember. So tried to turn off Keychain and back on again, but every time I switched it off it'd re activate itself after a few seconds.

Anyway, now that it's working, does anyone know how to reveal the password that Keychain generates for a website? This is useful when I need to access a site when not using an Apple device. You can do it through Keychain Access on OSX, but can't find a way to do it from iOS. And it's much more likely I'd have my phone with me than my iMac - find it a bit bulky to put in my pocket! :o)

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Answer 6

Oct 25, 2013 12:03 AM in response to Paul Verity

On iOS i figured out how to locate the password then copy using by long touching the field. Try going into Settings - Safarai - Passwords & AutoFill - Saved Passwords - Select the site and enter your iCloud passcode.

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Answer 7

Paul Verity Author

Level 1

16 points

Oct 25, 2013 12:21 AM in response to mattfromtempe

Excellent! Just what I was after - didn't think to look under Safari prefs. Thanks!!!

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Answer 8

grop

Level 1

0 points

Feb 23, 2014 2:37 AM in response to mattfromtempe

MattFromTempe sollution:

had a similar problem that I solved by invoking the forgot code flow when prompted for my iCloud keychain security code.

Solved the problem for me.

Thx.

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Answer 9

Apr 24, 2014 12:44 AM in response to Paul Verity

I've had a pleasant...not... afternoon trying to synch iPhone , iPad and iMac to access the iCloud keychain.

The final stumbling block was activating the iCloud Keychain access on the iMac which seemed to take a long time. Patience finally won out and the " Waiting for approval from other device" notice finally worked.

I now can see all my passwords across all three devices. I guess it just worked.

I didn't have to turn off iCloud at any stage although was sorely tempted.

I came to this point after reading about DashLane and LastPass as Password Managers combined with a little Heartbleed scare.

I'm sure these two items are excellent products but I'll plug along with KC access for the time being.

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Answer 10

Oct 20, 2014 1:08 PM in response to MightyMagpie

i have enabled keychain on iCloud on my mac, but cannot do this on my iPad.

have tried dis enabling and then re enabling keychain, but this didn't solve the problem.

on ipad i just cannot move the little button in the iCloud keychain window. it is frozen and i cannot access

internet even though other applications are working.

please help, i am not an expert but just a general user.

thank you

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Answer 11

Eric Root

Level 10

684,051 points

Apr 15, 2017 5:55 PM in response to Mr.None

Uninstall Kapersky. Its tends to interfere with the computer's operation while providing minimal to no benefit.

Kapersky Uninstall

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Answer 12

May 31, 2017 8:48 AM in response to Paul Verity

I know this is an old thread but got help from Apple and the solution was to log out of my appleID and then login again.

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