My Mac System Preferences won't allow me to update my iCloud password

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Level 1

8 points

My Mac System Preferences won't allow me to update my iCloud password

My Mac System Preferences will not allow me to change my iCloud password. There are no System Preferences available under iCloud. I recently had to change my Apple ID because of a possible hack. I have changed my Apple ID on all my other devices and updated my ID for iCloud on those devices. While trying to do this on my Mac the wheel just sat there spinning for hours until I finally Force Quit System Preferences. Now I cannot access iCloud from my Mac.

MacBook Pro (13-inch Early 2011), OS X El Capitan (10.11.6), recently had to change by Apple ID

Posted on Aug 15, 2016 2:07 PM

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Answer 1

Aug 15, 2016 6:17 PM in response to Gingermtx

That isn't how you change an Apple ID (iCloud) password.

Follow the instructions in this support article > Change your Apple ID password - Apple Support

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Answer 2

Gingermtx Author

Level 1

8 points

Aug 15, 2016 6:20 PM in response to Carolyn Samit

IT is not my Apple ID that I am referring to. It is my iCloud preferences on my MacBook Pro. There is no longer a way to change the password in my System Preferences.

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Answer 3

Eric Root

Level 10

685,293 points

Aug 16, 2016 1:57 PM in response to Gingermtx

Change the password or sign out? Can you sign out and then sign back in with the new password?

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Answer 4

Gingermtx Author

Level 1

8 points

Aug 17, 2016 1:20 PM in response to Eric Root

Apple ID and iCloud passwords (same password) are operable on all my other Apple devices. Only my MacBook Pro seems to be the problem. I have to use the password everytime I want to reply to comment on this thread. I am on my Mac now. The password does not seem to be the issue. The iCloud icon in System Preferences seems to be inoperable.

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Answer 5

Eric Root

Level 10

685,293 points

Aug 18, 2016 1:03 PM in response to Gingermtx

Might be a corrupt .plist.

Do a backup, preferably 2 backups on 2 separate drives.

Quit the application.

Go to Finder and select your user/home folder. With that Finder window as the front window, either select Finder/View/Show View options or go command - J. When the View options opens, check ’Show Library Folder’. That should make your user library folder visible in your user/home folder. Select Library. Then go to Preferences/com.apple.systempreferences.plist. Move the .plist to your desktop.

Restart the computer, open the application, and test. If it works okay, delete the plist from the desktop.

If the application is the same, return the .plist to where you got it from, overwriting the newer one.

Thanks to leonie for some information contained in this.

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