"Use iCloud password" on mac not an option

Question

Level 1

27 points

"Use iCloud password" on mac not an option

Good Evening,

I am trying to resolve an issue I've had for the last few days. Basically, when I go to Users & Groups and click on "change password", I do not get the option to "Use iCloud password. It was working fine until I did factory reset. I did the recovery, erased my whole drive, then reinstalled OS. What happen though is that it sent me all the way back to OS Mavericks and then I upgraded to El Capitan. Could that be the reason the option is not showing up? I've tried everything I could think of. Signing in an out of iCloud. I even changed my iCloud password. I reset my keychain. I even talked to support and they really couldn't help me. Please let me know.

MacBook Pro with Retina display, OS X El Capitan (10.11.4), null

Posted on Apr 9, 2016 10:39 PM

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Answer 1

JJHofst

Level 1

8 points

Oct 28, 2017 2:44 PM in response to janaagaard

Weird... I'm running 10.13.1 Beta and I have this feature. In fact, I've had this feature for many many versions ago and it never went away with any upgrades. When I try to configure my kids' iMac's, I can't... this feature doesn't exist on theirs. So odd BUT would love this feature for all. I hate having two separate PW's.

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Answer 2

Lexiepex

Level 6

14,108 points

Apr 10, 2017 9:16 AM in response to music_1971

"When I try your solution I get a prompt for a password but no ability to actually enter it. Might you be able to advise on that?"

When you type in the Terminal command, you see "Password" then you type in your password and enter: you will not see the password that you typed (so that nobody sees it over your shoulder).

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Answer 3

Aug 12, 2017 1:19 PM in response to WaltervdHeiden

Walter this is great, thank you! I got it to work on Sierra 10.12.6 by substituting my actual user name for `users` in your command string. I found my username by typing whoami at the $ prompt in terminal, and hitting enter. Again, thank you for solving this messy issue.

-Gordon

Recently, Walter wrote this command string:

sudo dscl . append /Users/`users` AuthenticationAuthority ";AppleID;ID@APPLE.COM"

Off course change the ID@APPLE.COM by your own iCloud email address.

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Answer 4

Apr 9, 2016 10:45 PM in response to mmarquez661

Users & Groups > Password > Change Password is for changing your Mac's administrator password not your iCloud (Apple ID) password.

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Answer 5

mmarquez661 Author

Level 1

27 points

Apr 10, 2016 2:12 AM in response to Carolyn Samit

Thanks for your input however, if you are logged in to your iCloud account and you go to Users & Groups > Change Password you will get a pop up that states "use your iCloud password". That is what I was trying to do however it was not popping up for me.

I did resolve the issue. When I restored my mac to factory settings it took me to OS Mavericks and then I upgraded t o OS El Capitan. I just finished another complete restore and instead of jumping straight to El Capitain, I went from Mavericks, Yosemite and then El Capitan. This fixed the issue ! Thanks

Here is a website explaining the "Use iCloud Password" 🙂

http://osxdaily.com/2015/03/24/use-icloud-password-as-mac-login-unlock-os-x/

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Answer 6

May 13, 2016 2:04 AM in response to mmarquez661

Having the exact problem.

After disabling the iCloud password and selecting use a separate password, I can no longer get the option to use iCloud Password to login to mac.

Does anyone have a way to fix this ?

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Answer 7

May 15, 2016 5:02 AM in response to Blueloony

Ditto! A fix would be greatly appreciated.

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Answer 8

Lexiepex

Level 6

14,108 points

May 15, 2016 5:51 AM in response to mmarquez661

In older ElCapitan there was an opportunity to use the AppleID (iCloud) when you had forgotten the administrator password, that option is not shown any more in 10.11.4

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Answer 9

SonikUK

Level 1

8 points

Jun 26, 2016 12:55 AM in response to mmarquez661

I am also having the same issue - Apple where is the fix?

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Answer 10

Barney-15E

Level 10

122,732 points

Jun 26, 2016 4:31 AM in response to SonikUK

SonikUK wrote:

I am also having the same issue - Apple where is the fix?

I doubt there is one. From what we can tell from people who have contacted AppleCare, the feature was removed. Nobody here would know why.

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Answer 11

x4vl

Level 1

4 points

Sep 5, 2016 10:54 PM in response to mmarquez661

I found a command to fix that. Write this in Terminal app:

sudo dscl . append ~/ AuthenticationAuthority ";AppleID;YOUR_APPLE_ID"

Be sure to change YOUR_APPLE_ID for your apple id email.

Restart and you got it. You will have to enter the icloud password.

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Answer 12

Sep 21, 2016 3:01 AM in response to x4vl

Thanks for this - I tried it (I'm running macOS Sierra 10.12) and got the following error:

append: Invalid Path

<dscl_cmd> DS Error: -14009 (eDSUnknownNodeName)

😟

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Answer 13

m0thr4

Level 2

311 points

Sep 23, 2016 8:21 AM in response to IanBlackburn

Yes, unfortunately that fix does not work on Sierra. After upgrading, I have suddenly discovered that my Mac cannot use my iCloud ID to unlock it.

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Answer 14

Sep 23, 2016 9:21 AM in response to m0thr4

Strange... has anyone got this working on Sierra?

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Answer 15

LmH337

Level 1

8 points

Sep 30, 2016 8:06 AM in response to IanBlackburn

Hi,

I am currently talking to Apple Support about this and apparently the feature to use iCloud as login for Mac was removed in Sierra due to issues with logging in after changing the iCloud password.

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