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"Approval Request Sent" Message

I recently upgraded my iPhone 5s to iOS-9. I now receive (on my iPhone) a message as follows:


Approval Request Sent. To continue using iCloud on this iPhone, approve it from one of your other devices using iCloud or enter your iCloud security Code.


Sadly, I'm clueless as to what this is about. I suspect I've changed an iCloud setting in my iOS upgrade install. But I don't know what it's asking. I have a MacBookPro Retina (late 2012) as my main Apple device. But when I go there, (it's on OSX 10.10.5, I've no clue what I have to do to "authorize" what the iPhone is asking. So I worry, is this message from Apple, or is it some kind of malware?

MacBook Pro with Retina display, OS X Yosemite (10.10.5), 16GB RAM, 5GB Solid state "drive"

Posted on Sep 24, 2015 3:28 PM

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Posted on Feb 21, 2017 2:25 PM

I finally fixed this, which had been bugging me as well.


  1. Launch Settings, swipe down to iCloud, tap iCloud, then toggle off iCloud Keychain.
  2. Reboot your Apple device. This may be the critical missing step.
  3. After reboot, launch Settings again, then toggle on iCloud Keychain. You will be prompted to enter your passcode. If you don’t have a passcode setup, you can do so now or use your existing code. For me, this is the 4-digit code I use to unlock my iPhone.
  4. Now you'll be prompted to enter your Apple account / iCloud password. Enter the mofo!
  5. And that should do it.
20 replies
Question marked as Best reply

Feb 21, 2017 2:25 PM in response to mokantx

I finally fixed this, which had been bugging me as well.


  1. Launch Settings, swipe down to iCloud, tap iCloud, then toggle off iCloud Keychain.
  2. Reboot your Apple device. This may be the critical missing step.
  3. After reboot, launch Settings again, then toggle on iCloud Keychain. You will be prompted to enter your passcode. If you don’t have a passcode setup, you can do so now or use your existing code. For me, this is the 4-digit code I use to unlock my iPhone.
  4. Now you'll be prompted to enter your Apple account / iCloud password. Enter the mofo!
  5. And that should do it.

Jul 2, 2017 9:04 AM in response to mokantx

Go to Settings->Your Name-ICloud-Keychain.


From there you can click an option to use your iCloud PIN instead of the approval process from another device. It will ask for your AppleID sign in, then ask for your PIN, then ask for a verification code that it will text to the number it has on file for you. You will then be using Keychain without restriction on your phone.

May 16, 2017 9:35 PM in response to mokantx

Or if you go onto another device if you have another apple device, go to settings, iCloud and click keychain, if you cannot find keychain just search for it in the search bar, once you see keychain it'll say so so needs approval and you can approve it that way as well. but Keychain stores your passwords and all that so it depends whether or not you want to use this feature or not.

May 19, 2017 8:12 AM in response to mokantx

If you want to use icloud keychain, your phone will send a request to other devices linked to your account and ask for approval. Icloud keychain is defaulted to ON in the latest updates.

If you DON'T want to use keychain and get rid of the pesky popup, go into >settings >press on your name at the top >press on icloud >scroll down to keychain and press. there you can turn it off and your approval popup will be gone.

Aug 4, 2017 6:10 AM in response to mokantx

I have a brand new iPad with this problem, it's my only Apple device. It doesn't have a menu item in Settings called iCloud, only a sub item under General called Storage & iCloud Usage, which is of no use. There is no relevant reference to "keychain" or "passwords" when I search for the terms in the search bar. I don't know where to go from here.

Dec 12, 2017 1:17 PM in response to mokantx

As others have explained, all that is needed is to RESET your keychain. I upgraded my iPhone 7+ for an 8+ last week. Problems with iCloud backups that wouldn't go through, and now this problem... Well, reseting the keychain fixed this pesky notification, and then when asked, my tech support guy just told me that I had downloaded 4Gigs of all my a apps, photos, calendars, etc. from my iPhone 7 (4GB worth), and now I was trying to backup my iPhone 8's 4GB, too. Hmm. simple fix= Delete the iPhone 7 backup. Done. Boom. Best thing about upgrading each year? FREE TECH SUPPORT. (Although the first guy told me I'd have to wipe my phone to factory settings and download everything from the iCloud. NOT!) I asked for a Sr. Tech Advisor, and I got one immediately. Thank goodness!

Jan 4, 2018 2:07 PM in response to mokantx

i had the same annoying message popping up after phone upgraded to iOS 11.

i had keychain turned off and never use that feature and even icloud backup turned off too, yet this message kept popping up.


after chatting with tech support, the issue was resolved by signing out of the iphone.


they had me go into Settings > > [your name] and scroll down and tap sign out

then do a regular power down and restart... and then sign back in.

after that.. haven't see the stupid approval message pop up.

Sep 28, 2015 8:21 PM in response to Forcefire

I'm having the same issue. Unfortunately, the steps you propose don't work. Keychain don't offer On/Off or Reset. Instead it shows as "pending," and when selected, serves the same message: "to use Keychain on this iPad, approve it from another device that uses iCloud keychain." Do you know how to initiate that approval process? I've gone to the iCloud settings on my MacBook Pro, but I don't see any prompt for approving the iPad. Thanks!

May 2, 2016 6:39 PM in response to Forcefire

Had this message for about 6 months, it gets pretty annoying.


No where that i have found actually tells me where to approve it. Ok approval request sent,where? how do I access it to approve it. Using the security code tells me my password is wrong even if its the same password I use on iPad and mac.


Following your advice did allow me to turn it off, I did not see a reset. Turning it on just pops the message again.

"Approval Request Sent" Message

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