iCloud HELP! Got locked out of my iCloud Keychain!

[ivanpasic]

I managed to fix the issue..no thanks to Apple. I have no idea if this will work for anyone else, and I obviously take no responsibility for any of my own actions should you choose to follow them. My working theory was that if I could get a device to allow me to reset my end-to-end, I might make it out of the loop.

Big Sur would never give me the option to reset my data, so I figured I might as well try something stupid. I was at the point I didn't give a damn if I lost all of my messages and passwords.

Here's what I did:

1) Drank whiskey (may or may not help)

2) Wiped my laptop and my phone, and ensured both were removed from my account through appleid.apple.com

3) Downgraded my MacBook Pro to Catalina (fresh install through internet recovery) and signed into iCloud during setup

4) Same issue presented itself, so I continued to smash that Keychain button

5) Went on an endless aggravating loop of entering passwords over and over again--but it was at least consistently asking me to enter passwords in a predictable and repetitive fashion (unlike on my iPhone and Big Sur).

6) Drank more whiskey

7) Eventually, out of sheer aggravation, hit "Forgot Password" on the "third" password request (the one protecting your encrypted data) and I was finally presented with the option to "approve from other device" (there were none LOL). Forget that mess. Some more clicking around, and I had the option to reset my encrypted data. I smashed that reset button and watched as my computer locked up and crashed. Repeated several times and it finally went through.

8) Laptop appeared to be syncing with keychain, messages, etc. Several minutes of disbelief that something so dumb would/could actually work

9) Set up iPhone and everything worked perfectly.

10) Wiped laptop (again) and set it up fresh on Big Sur. Everything worked perfectly.

11) Pounded on my chest and declared "I AM ALL THAT IS MAN!" before my girlfriend told me to shut up and go to bed

Here's the kicker--it didn't erase anything. I have all of my messages, all of my passwords, and everything is completely intact. I expected it to be erased entirely and, quite frankly, I was OK with that outcome. So far, everything has been working as it should be (and was).

Happy hunting--hopefully this helps someone else out.

But wait.... did you lose all your keychain data when you did this?

 

[movieator]

@movieator are you brave enough to try this?

@internetrando do you think I have to be on Catalina for that? Can I not just hit forgot password on Big Sur or Monterey?

I might. I’ve already erased my MacBook Pro and set up as new, so what’s another go round with a rollback to Catalina? Hell, I think I have a Catalina install on a thumb drive somewhere.

I’m going to need to ponder.

 

[jprez1980]

But wait.... did you lose all your keychain data when you did this?

EDIT - replied to the wrong message LOL

Man I was stoked to try this... had a bootable USB with Catalina already on it... the prompts worked just as you mentioned but I got an error "Too many codes have been sent" - which is odd as I only tried it once this morning. Just got off with support and their system doesn't show my ID locked or anything but all devices are now complaining with the same message.

I asked the advisor to just reset my iCloud/delete the content in the cloud but he claims they can't? I can only ask to delete it... and it can never ever ever be restored if its deleted.

What a cluster.

 

[movieator]

EDIT - replied to the wrong message LOL

Man I was stoked to try this... had a bootable USB with Catalina already on it... the prompts worked just as you mentioned but I got an error "Too many codes have been sent" - which is odd as I only tried it once this morning. Just got off with support and their system doesn't show my ID locked or anything but all devices are now complaining with the same message.

I asked the advisor to just reset my iCloud/delete the content in the cloud but he claims they can't? I can only ask to delete it... and it can never ever ever be restored if its deleted.

What a cluster.

What about account recovery? I wonder if that would work.
Regardless, they need to sort this out.

I asked my advisor today if there was anyway to put me I touch with engineering. I’m kind of tired of being asked the same questions over and over.

 

[Apple_Robert]

EDIT - replied to the wrong message LOL

Man I was stoked to try this... had a bootable USB with Catalina already on it... the prompts worked just as you mentioned but I got an error "Too many codes have been sent" - which is odd as I only tried it once this morning. Just got off with support and their system doesn't show my ID locked or anything but all devices are now complaining with the same message.

I asked the advisor to just reset my iCloud/delete the content in the cloud but he claims they can't? I can only ask to delete it... and it can never ever ever be restored if its deleted.

What a cluster.

That means you can't restore from backup but, if you have your chain information saved, I would think you can slowly create a new chain?

 

[internetrando]

Hmm. Let me look at my weekend plans.

Did you lose any data? Passwords, messages, etc?

I did not lose any passwords, messages, or anything that I am aware of. Everything on my end is intact.

For clarity, yes, I was expecting to lose everything when I reset my encrypted data but I did not. I would fully expect to lose your data if you do what I did--I might have been a fluke. What I will say, however, is whether you lose your data or not, it should throw you back into operational status.

 

[jprez1980]

That means you can't restore from backup but, if you have your chain information saved, I would think you can slowly create a new chain?

While it will be a huge PITA to restore 200 or so logins/passwords I'm willing to do it... as it stands my homepods, watches, home kit devices and other stuff are mostly paperweights.

I'm going to call back one last time and raise hell - why is there a discrepancy...their system shows nothing is locked, yet I get a password too many codes were sent and can't proceed. Already had some whiskey (from step 1 in the process) so feeling up to it

 

[internetrando]

EDIT - replied to the wrong message LOL

Man I was stoked to try this... had a bootable USB with Catalina already on it... the prompts worked just as you mentioned but I got an error "Too many codes have been sent" - which is odd as I only tried it once this morning. Just got off with support and their system doesn't show my ID locked or anything but all devices are now complaining with the same message.

I asked the advisor to just reset my iCloud/delete the content in the cloud but he claims they can't? I can only ask to delete it... and it can never ever ever be restored if its deleted.

What a cluster.

Interesting--I have not ever ran across a "Too many codes sent" message. My Google-fu tells me that the lock only lasts for eight hours...

I might try changing my Apple ID password to see if that will bypass the lockout. It may or may not.

If you're getting the same menus that I was in Catalina, I am pretty hopeful that you'll get the same result that I did.

 

[ivanpasic]

Interesting--I have not ever ran across a "Too many codes sent" message. My Google-fu tells me that the lock only lasts for eight hours...

If you're getting the same menus that I was, I am pretty hopeful that you'll get the same result that I did.

Downloading Catalina as we speak. I am probably gonna back up my iCloud data just in case before I do this.

 

[Apple_Robert]

While it will be a huge PITA to restore 200 or so logins/passwords I'm willing to do it... as it stands my homepods, watches, home kit devices and other stuff are mostly paperweights.

I'm going to call back one last time and raise hell - why is there a discrepancy...their system shows nothing is locked, yet I get a password too many codes were sent and can't proceed. Already had some whiskey (from step 1 in the process) so feeling up to it

t'nod teg oot knurd.

 

[movieator]

While it will be a huge PITA to restore 200 or so logins/passwords I'm willing to do it... as it stands my homepods, watches, home kit devices and other stuff are mostly paperweights.

I'm going to call back one last time and raise hell - why is there a discrepancy...their system shows nothing is locked, yet I get a password too many codes were sent and can't proceed. Already had some whiskey (from step 1 in the process) so feeling up to it

I’ve got my passwords on my iPad, so hopefully I could repopulate keychain with that.
There is a point that, yes, losing seven years of messages might be less important than just getting this working again.

 

[internetrando]

@ivanpasic I would highly recommend making a backup of anything you have access to that you are not willing to lose.

I was in the same boat as @movieator ... the chance of losing some things was less important than just getting everything working again.

 

[movieator]

I would also say any newcomers here should email Tim Cook.

tcook@apple.com

I mean, look, I hate to be “that guy” but I also feel like we need to shake the tree.

 

[Apple_Robert]

If you want to save your messages, use the app iMazing before trying to resolve your problem. They have a free trial.

iMazing | iPhone, iPad & iPod Manager for Mac & PC

iMazing lets you transfer music, files, messages, apps and more from any iPhone, iPad, or iPod to a computer, Mac or PC. Manage and backup your iOS device simply without iTunes. (was DiskAid)

imazing.com

 

[internetrando]

I would also say any newcomers here should email Tim Cook.

tcook@apple.com

I mean, look, I hate to be “that guy” but I also feel like we need to shake the tree.

I agree wholeheartedly. While I *might* have found a workaround for people who can access Catalina, it should not have happened in the first place. I can only imagine that there are a lot more people out there suffering with this issue than just us.

 

[ivanpasic]

I agree wholeheartedly. While I *might* have found a workaround for people who can access Catalina, it should not have happened in the first place. I can only imagine that there are a lot of people out there suffering with this issue than just us.

Don't you guys feel disappointed by Apple? I mean we have a multi-million dollar company here with likely thousands of engineers and each one of us has paid likely thousands and thousands of dollars to them and what do we have? A bunch of random people trying to help each other out with something they could likely resolve in hours if they put their effort to it?

 

[internetrando]

Don't you guys feel disappointed by Apple? I mean we have a multi-million dollar company here with likely thousands of engineers and each one of us has paid likely thousands and thousands of dollars to them and what do we have? A bunch of random people trying to help each other out with something they could likely resolve in hours if they put their effort to it?

Yeah, this pretty much sums it up--and they are a trillion dollar business. I have dumped an ungodly amount of money into Apple over the past few decades and I seem to find myself getting more and more aggravated every year.

Then I remember who the alternatives are...so I just shut up and enjoy the ride.

 

[movieator]

Don't you guys feel disappointed by Apple? I mean we have a multi-million dollar company here with likely thousands of engineers and each one of us has paid likely thousands and thousands of dollars to them and what do we have? A bunch of random people trying to help each other out with something they could likely resolve in hours if they put their effort to it?

I understand that. I’m not disappointed in Apple, per se, I’m disappointed with the person in support who never gave me the follow up call like they said they would.

I get it. Things happen.

I will be heavily disappointed if they can’t figure out a solution. Or “create a new Apple ID” is their actual non-solution solution.

 

[movieator]

Yeah, this pretty much sums it up--and they are a trillion dollar business. I have dumped an ungodly amount of money into Apple over the past few decades and I seem to find myself getting more and more aggravated every year.

Then I remember who the alternatives are...so I just shut up and enjoy the ride.

I’m buried so deep in the ecosystem, I don’t think I could get out even if I wanted to.

 

[internetrando]

I understand that. I’m not disappointed in Apple, per se, I’m disappointed with the person in support who never gave me the follow up call like they said they would.

I get it. Things happen. So fix them. That’s all I ask.

I will be heavily disappointed if they can’t figure out a solution. Or “create a new Apple ID” is their actual non-solution solution.

I think that is probably my biggest complaint. I really feel like their support has taken a nose dive over the past decade or two. I used to call and get a rep who knew what the hell was happening and going on.

Now I have to go through four levels of "support" just to speak to someone who actually knows what a sudo command is. But I digress...

 

[internetrando]

I’m buried so deep in the ecosystem, I don’t think I could get out even if I wanted to.

That's another issue we share. I'm so invested and deep into the ecosystem that I don't think I can get out--and everyone else I know is in the ecosystem so...here we are. ?

 

[movieator]

I think that is probably my biggest complaint. I really feel like their support has taken a nose dive over the past decade or two. I used to call and get a rep who knew what the hell was happening and going on.

Now I have to go through four levels of "support" just to speak to someone who actually knows what a sudo command is. But I digress...

I tired explaining to my mom what a terminal command was once. That was an adventure.

 

[movieator]

I think that is probably my biggest complaint. I really feel like their support has taken a nose dive over the past decade or two. I used to call and get a rep who knew what the hell was happening and going on.

Now I have to go through four levels of "support" just to speak to someone who actually knows what a sudo command is. But I digress...

What's funny about this is not only do I want to a solution, I actually want to know that solution. I'm just curious about that crap. There's a part of me that's fascinated when something that's supposed to "just work" stops "Just working" for no discernible reason.

You ever have the self-checkout terminal at the grocery store just start to give you **** for no reason and you sit there and think "But why?"?

 

[internetrando]

I tired explaining to my mom what a terminal command was once. That was an adventure.

If it makes you feel any better, when I first contacted Apple Support with this issue, I was screen sharing with the tech to show them what was happening.

Get this...I was on the phone with support, while screen sharing my Mac...and this person asked me if I was connected to the internet. Once I stopped laughing, I asked him if he was serious. He said "Yes, is your Mac connected to the internet?" I said "Are you looking at my screen?" He replied "Yes." Several seconds of silence went by and then I hear him go "Ohhhh...never mind."

 

[ivanpasic]

I understand that. I’m not disappointed in Apple, per se, I’m disappointed with the person in support who never gave me the follow up call like they said they would.

I get it. Things happen.

I will be heavily disappointed if they can’t figure out a solution. Or “create a new Apple ID” is their actual non-solution solution.

I am not upset this happened. This happens in big ecosystems like theirs. I am upset it’s been almost a week since I reported this and I feel like no one has really taken ownership of my problem. Literally every time I call I speak to a different person who needs to be updated from scratch. When they say they will call back they don’t.