iCloud Three devices, one Apple ID. One device will not sync Safari in iCloud.

[exi]

Issue in title. Two macOS devices, one iOS device, all up-to-date, all same AppleID.

At some point, one of the macOS devices (Apple Silicon laptop) fell out of sync with Safari via iCloud (bookmarks weren't syncing anymore; browser history wasn't updating anymore).

Have attempted disabling and reenabling, including across reboots and several minutes, and fully logging out and back in on the problem device.

By way of troubleshooting, I logged out of the AppleID, deleted everything from Safari on problem device, and logged back in. Now, nothing synchronizes in Safari (not just missing bookmarks, but favorites no longer sync).

Issue persists. What am I missing?

 

[exi]

Revisiting. Issue persists.

What hasn't worked: Ensuring all bookmarks from all devices are deleted, disabling Safari sync on all devices, rebooting all devices, leaving them alone for 5-10 minutes, then re-enabling Safari sync and importing backed-up bookmarks to a single device to attempt sync (when I did so, a folder of some saved links imported to an iPhone without maintaining folder structure, but favorites did not sync over, and the third device did nothing;

What I've noticed: calling devices "Mac A", "Mac B", and "iPhone", I can import bookmarks on "Mac A" but which do not sync as expected to either of the other devices despite waiting several minutes. I can manually create a favorite bookmark on "Mac B" which does not sync to "Mac A" or "iPhone". I can manually create a favorite bookmark on "iPhone" which does not sync to either "Mac A" or "Mac B".

I appreciate any help.

 

[exi]

Partial progress: on both Macs, going to ~/Library/Safari and deleting Bookmarks.plist caused the default favorites sites to auto-populate and be replaced by the previous saved favorites right in front of my eyes, and something favorited on Mac A now syncs to Mac B.

Despite hard resets and toggling of settings on the iPhone, the iPhone still is the odd man out. Logging out of iCloud and back in does nothing. Thoughts?

 

[James Godfrey]

The only way I managed to get safari history, tabs etc to sync with iCloud is to set the date on the offending device forward by a few months then bring it back to its current date, this flushed the safari iCloud cache and restores it, I had old tabs which just wouldn’t go away at one point from my iPhone and this is the only thing which got everything synced back up

 

[exi]

The only way I managed to get safari history, tabs etc to sync with iCloud is to set the date on the offending device forward by a few months then bring it back to its current date, this flushed the safari iCloud cache and restores it, I had old tabs which just wouldn’t go away at one point from my iPhone and this is the only thing which got everything synced back up

Thanks for the suggestion. I have tried this, but it didn't work for me. I have noticed, though, that when I turn Advanced Data Protection off, I don't have these sync issues. With it on, I do. It didn't always happen. Anyone have an idea how to resolve?

(Edit - found this page describing what I'm experiencing. Will post back.)

 

[movzx]

I am also experiencing this problem, my MBP won't sync to my iPhone, vice versa, and this what I did:

• I did all suggestions/tutorials from google, macrumors & reddit:
  • turn off icloud > safari on iphone/mbp, reboot, turn on icloud > safari again
  • sort bookmarks by name, then press command + Z
  • etc.
• logout all icloud on mbp & iphone;
• erase & reset all contents;
• fresh install/reinstall macOS & iOS without restore backup;
• fresh install to latest macOS Sonoma & latest iOS 17 without restore backup.

nothing, all of them didn't fix my bookmarks problem, I surrender 🤝

 

[klspahr]

I too have this problem. Had it before the recent os updates. Same problem after updating to the new os’s. I have tried all the suggestions I found online without any progress. I think it’s an issue with iCloud. I think this will require a call to apple support.

Years ago I had a problem with something on iCloud, tried everything, then called apple and then they said try it now, and everything worked. They can reset stuff on their end.

 

[exi]

In clarification of my own thread, my issue has been specific to use of advanced data protection being set to "on" and can be resolved by turning ADP off and sometimes toggling Safari sync within iCloud settings.

I cannot seem to get things working with ADP on. Unsure why or when that became an issue since ADP's launch.

 

[klspahr]

ADP was one of the things I tried, turned it off for a week - no change in sync. It’s funny that I can see the web pages that are open on the other devices, from iPhone I see what open on the Mac and also from the Mac to the iPhone. So they are in a way connected.

 

[RazorBackXX]

The only way I managed to get safari history, tabs etc to sync with iCloud is to set the date on the offending device forward by a few months then bring it back to its current date, this flushed the safari iCloud cache and restores it, I had old tabs which just wouldn’t go away at one point from my iPhone and this is the only thing which got everything synced back up

hey brother could you please tell me how to do this? because once again im having iCloud safari sync issues with my Mac & iPhone. I had it on iOS 16 & Ventura & now iOS 17 & Sonoma. it's another reddit website lol. I put reddit before I google something out of habit. but now the iCloud safari tab wont go away no matter how many times I close it on the Mac. or erase history on both safari's

 

[James Godfrey]

hey brother could you please tell me how to do this? because once again im having iCloud safari sync issues with my Mac & iPhone. I had it on iOS 16 & Ventura & now iOS 17 & Sonoma. it's another reddit website lol. I put reddit before I google something out of habit. but now the iCloud safari tab wont go away no matter how many times I close it on the Mac. or erase history on both safari's

Basically if a safari tab that won’t go away is showing from say the iPhone, set the iPhone date to about 3 months ahead of time, then open safari on another device and the tab should be gone, once done you can then set the offending device back to the correct date.

 

[Kickikack]

Just wanted to throw my hat in the ring and share my experience with resolving iCloud bookmark syncing issues. After performing a clean reinstall of Sonoma, I encountered problems with bookmark syncing on my Mac, iPad, and iPhone. Initially, the syncing stopped on my Mac, followed by my iPad and iPhone. Strangely, I could still add new bookmarks on my iPad, but on my Mac, I kept receiving a message stating that my bookmarks were being synced, preventing any changes.

I reached out to Apple Support multiple times, but they were unable to understand or provide a solution to the problem. Despite trying all the usual troubleshooting steps like turning off and on, reinstalling, and other suggested methods, I made no progress for a frustrating four weeks.

Out of desperation, I decided to turn off ADP. Surprisingly, this action resulted in my bookmarks syncing between my iPhone and iPad. Unfortunately, my Mac's Safari still remained unresponsive. I went back to Apple Support, but once again, they were unable to offer any valuable assistance.

Finally, after much experimentation, I came up with a solution that worked for me. I completely quit Safari, turned off bookmark syncing, and navigated to the Library/Safari folder on my Mac. There, I deleted every single file, ensuring that I also emptied the bin to remove any traces. After restarting my Mac, I turned on bookmark syncing again, and to my relief, it finally started working properly.

This method may not be universally effective, but for me, it resolved the issue. You may also be able to turn ADP on again, so far I haven't encountered any further issues.

 

[exi]

Returning to my old thread: as regards ADP specifically, I continue to have issues with favorites/bookmark/history sync within Safari when ADP is on, despite time since my above posts, any cloud/service-side updates Apple may have made, and the macOS/iOS point releases that have followed since.

I can disable Safari sync before or after ADP is enabled, then reenable before or after ADP is enabled, to the same outcome: having ADP on interrupts Safari sync. Disabling ADP allows Safari sync.

Extensive other troubleshooting steps appear in my previous posts above.

There is this post on Reddit, this Apple forum post, and likely others elsewhere that detail similar issues.

I had several conversations in the past with Apple to no success, shy of a logged session to submit further data to their engineers.

Does anyone have any other thoughts?

 

[klspahr]

After many, many months my bookmark syncing still does not work yet I can see what webpages are open on both devices.

Contacting Apple support is a total waste of time. You have to prove to them each time that syncing isn’t working and then they act surprised and nothing happens after that.

I have done everything thing: signing in and out, turned various things on and off, put chicken bones in a circle and danced around them naked at midnight, all to no avail.

It is a problem in the Apple cloud but they will not admit it let alone fix it. I can prove that’s the problem but the circle of chicken bones is more effective.

Wait! I think I hear more silence from Apple…

 

[PhilMacintosh]

No tool to verify in Apple iCloud if the bookmarks are present or not.
The bookmarks are also NOT synchronized between iPhone and Mac, by doing all your steps.
Apple seems not to test MacOS Sequoia 15.1 and iOS 18.1.
The Apple "Try & Error ******** continue.