how do I switch my primary iCloud account id to another iCloud id set up on the computer

Question

how do I switch my primary iCloud account id to another iCloud id set up on the computer

MacBook Pro 15 inch Mid 2009

OS X Yosemite 10.10.3

I share my macbook with my wife and it is currently set up under my iCloud ID as the Primary. Her iCloud id is set up to sync as well but is not primary and some things can not sync. She maintains our calendar and most of the kids music etc.. I would like to change the primary to her iCloud ID instead of mine. How do I do that?

I want to make sure we don't loose music in iTunes, photos in aperture, calendar entries, notes, docs in my docs folder, and pics in other folders.

Thanks

MacBook Pro, OS X Yosemite (10.10.3), 15 Inch, 8GB RAM, 2.8GHz - Mid 2009

Posted on Jun 20, 2015 6:50 PM

Reply

Answer 1

newmanc

Level 1

8 points

Aug 8, 2015 8:57 AM in response to Shawn McCarthy

hey shawn...

had the same problem. this will fix it:-)

http://support.apple.com/kb/ts4020 says:

To change a secondary account to a primary account

Choose Apple () menu > System Preferences > Mail, Contacts, Calendars.
Delete the secondary account.
In System Preferences > iCloud, sign out of your primary account.
Log in with the secondary account that you want to be your primary account.

Note: These steps will not change any of the data stored in your iCloud account.

Additional Information

Because many iCloud services only work on the primary account, it is recommended that you use the same primary account on all devices you use with iCloud. If you have different accounts logged in as the primary account on different devices, those services will not push data between your devices.

good luck!

Reply

Answer 2

Barney-15E

Level 10

123,320 points

Jun 20, 2015 8:25 PM in response to Shawn McCarthy

Tthere isn't a "primary" iCloud account Or AppleID. An AppleID is assigned to a single entity. In your account on the Mac, set up your AppleID in iCloud preferences. In her account, set up her AppleID.

You cannot merge AppleID's or the purchases from one to another.

Reply

Answer 3

Jun 21, 2015 5:24 AM in response to Barney-15E

Hi Barney,

Thanks for the reply, but I do see a "Primary" Account. In Internet Account settings, if you have multiple accounts set up only one can be Primary and usually it's the one initially set up when the computer is new. Which is the case here. If you look at the Internet Account details of each of the accounts you'll notice the others will say this is not your Primary iCloud account and you can not use iCloud for Safari, Photos, Documents, Keychain, Back to my mac or Find my mac. I don't want to merge accounts, I want to switch and keep all the stuff we have on the machine.

My Plan is, after making her ID Primary, I would set up family sharing with that and share out to my ID any features I could use that are available through that.

I'll continue to use my own iCloud ID on another desktop and my personal Phone/Ipad etc....

This may complicate things, but I hadn't considered the "User" setting before and the way we have it set up now is that the "User" that is auto logged in is me. We do have her set up as a separate User, but that has never been used.

In the end, I want this machine to have one user, my wife, with her iCloud as the primary Internet account. from that we would share out calendar items, family sharing, etc... We don't want to loose anything we currently use under my user and internet account though.

Shawn

Reply

Answer 4

Barney-15E

Level 10

123,320 points

Jun 21, 2015 5:43 AM in response to Shawn McCarthy

Edit: Have you tried signing out of your account in iCloud preferences and signing into hers?

I never knew that was possible (never considered it necessary). Essentially, you are just adding another account similar to adding a Google (or other IMAP/CardDAV/CalDAV) account.

I would imagine you would have to delete your account, enable all of the other features on hers, then add yours back. Everything from your account which is stored on iCloud should come back. But, I have obviously never tried anything like that.

Under your user setup, you would not be able to have any Documents in the cloud, accessible on an iPhone or iPad. Nor Notes, keychain, etc.

Reply

Answer 5

cdhw

Level 4

3,594 points

Jun 21, 2015 5:56 AM in response to Shawn McCarthy

I believe that the copy of Yosemite you are running is licensed to the 'primary user', i.e. the one who set up the machine in the first place. AFAIK, this can only be changed by erasing and reinstalling OS X. Check your backups are good before starting down that route. Depending on what you are trying to achieve, you may also need to deauthorise the machine from your iTunes account.

Unless you are a glutton for punishment, I'd recommend you leave the original 'admin' account as is and create two user accounts 'wifey' and 'hubby'. Unlike iOS, OS X is a true multiuser system so it shouldn't matter who the primary owner of the machine is when it comes to services like shared calendars.

C.

Reply