change primary iCloud account

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Level 1

8 points

change primary iCloud account

I am using an iMac pro, OSX 10.9.5. I HAD 2 iCloud account, and wanted to change the secondary account to the primary account. My email was available to my primary account, but not to the secondary account. I thought found the answer on the support forum, and it seemed simple enough--for most people. It appears that on my system preferences, I went to "Internet Accounts" instead of "iCloud", to sign out, and deleted the secondary account (which is the one I wanted to change to primary) instead . Now I have one account, and don't have "MAIL' on it.

This all came about as a result of having to change internet providers, and had nearly 2 weeks frustration. I am a senior, and do have a problem understanding the technology. Can I get back the account I may have deleted. I don't want ANOTHER email address, and have to notify contacts, as I have already done that once.

Any suggestions or help will be greatly appreciated.

Thanks

Doug

eSword for Mac-OTHER, OS X Mavericks (10.9.5), eSword for Mac

Posted on Oct 10, 2015 3:18 PM

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Answer 1

Best reply

Winston Churchill

Level 10

122,487 points

Oct 11, 2015 12:15 PM in response to dougg8717

You haven't deleted the account, you have merely signed out of it on that particular device, you can sign back in at any time. If you want o sign back in as the primary account at system preferences > iCloud, sign out of the other account first.

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Answer 2

dougg8717 Author

Level 1

8 points

Oct 11, 2015 12:25 PM in response to Winston Churchill

When in system preferences>iCloud, it only shows 1 account now, and in my mail preferences, icloud does not show. iCloud doesn't show up as an account on the apple mail, where I had my mail from other accounts linked to.

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Answer 3

Oct 12, 2015 10:11 AM in response to dougg8717

System preferences > iCloud will only show you your primary iCloud account. As you have learned you can have more than one iCloud account on your computer, you can see all of your iCloud accounts at System Preferences > Internet accounts.

You can only have one primary iCloud account.

Does this help explain what you are seeing.

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Answer 4

dougg8717 Author

Level 1

8 points

Oct 12, 2015 10:27 AM in response to Winston Churchill

Yes, it helps. In system preferences>iCloud, it does only show one account, but I cannot checkl the box for email.

When I go to system preferences>internet accounts, but no iCloud accounts are listed.

In system preferences>iCloud, most of the boxes that I want are checked, except email. When I check "email", It requires me to choose an email address that I cannot change, from a list. from a list provided. It also give me the option to 'sign out'. I'm Afraid to 'sign out' in case I lose this account too.

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Answer 5

Oct 12, 2015 10:32 AM in response to dougg8717

I understood from your first post that the account that you have 'lost' is actually the one that you wanted to use rather than the one that remains, is that correct.

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Answer 6

dougg8717 Author

Level 1

8 points

Oct 12, 2015 6:19 PM in response to Winston Churchill

Yes, that is correct. The account I "lost" is the account I received my iCloud email on.

Now, system preferences>iCloud, and system preferences>internet accounts both show one account, the one that was the secondary account.

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Answer 7

Oct 13, 2015 12:13 AM in response to dougg8717

What you need to do is sign out of that account at system preferences > iCloud and then sign back in with the other ID. If you still wanted access to the account that is on your Mac right now, you can sign back into it as a secondary account at system preferences > internet accounts.

If you have any questions about the effects of doing this please ask before proceeding.

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Answer 8

dougg8717 Author

Level 1

8 points

Oct 13, 2015 6:29 AM in response to Winston Churchill

I have signed out of the account, but don't see anywhere to 'sign in" again. The box for email is unchecked, and when I check the "email' box, it wants me to choose a new email address.

I seem to have the same result with both system preferences>iCloud, or system preferences>internet accounts.

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Answer 9

Oct 13, 2015 6:52 AM in response to dougg8717

Do you know how to take a screenshot.

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Answer 10

dougg8717 Author

Level 1

8 points

Oct 14, 2015 5:51 AM in response to Winston Churchill

Yes. I think my problem may be somewhat of my own making. I went to the Apple store, to see if they could rectify the problem, and it appears I have confused my Apple ID passwords and my iCloud passwords. When the Apple tried to set up the iCloud accounts, because it took more than 3 tries to login, my account is now frozen, and I have to contact Apple support to unlock it.

I really don't know how to explain what I have done to cause this. I can see my passwords in system preferences>passwords, but I have a lot more than I realized.

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Answer 11

Oct 14, 2015 6:49 AM in response to dougg8717

You shouldn't need to contact support to reset your password and unlock the account. You can do it at.

iForgot.apple.com

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Answer 12

dougg8717 Author

Level 1

8 points

Oct 14, 2015 9:16 AM in response to Winston Churchill

Got it! We're back and running again. Thanks for all the help.

One more question; I am running Mavericks 10.9.5 and wondered if it was advisable to upgrade to El Capitan. I don't want it to affect any of the settings or cause me any more ifficultires.

Thanks again,

Doug

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Answer 13

Oct 14, 2015 9:55 AM in response to dougg8717

I haven't suffered any adverse effects with iCloud after upgrading. It's very much the same although notes are much improved under El Capitan and iOS 9

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