Fixed – Apple ID an unknown error occurred

Mac OS Catalina and Apple ID

I have spent three days figuring out the Apple ID sign-in issue. It happened to me after upgrading from Mojave to Catalina. I searched the internet and found too many people have the same issue but there is no help at all.

I have tried the following and did not work for me:

  1. Reset password
  2. Reset Keychain
  3. Sign out and quit the Mac App Store
  4. Log out of your Mac, and log back in and try sign in
  5. Restart your Mac, and try sign in
  6. From the Finder, choose the “Go” menu and select “Go To Folder” and then enter the following path: ~/Library/Application Support/iCloud/Accounts/
  7. Remove the files from the ~/Library/Application Support/iCloud/Accounts/ folder so that it is empty and reboot
  8. Clearing cookies and cache
  9. Try a different network
  10. Make sure the iCloud server is working
  11. Make sure you don’t have internet connectivity

Did you notice you cannot add Google, Yahoo or other accounts too? I could not and after noticing this I realized the problem has nothing to do with iCloud or Apple server. It’s just my local machine which needs a fix.

After days of investigation, I found the Accounts/ iCloud local database is damaged and I have to reset it.

Solution:

Open Terminal and type the following:

Your computer restarts and you will be able to sign in or add accounts.

Say Thank You PayPal: maihannijat@gmail.com. If this saves your time and money.

The solution is for the following common problems:

App Store: An unknown error has occurred

An unknown error has occurred app store

An unknown error has occurred in the App Store purchases tab

An unknown error occurred when signing into iCloud
iCloud “Unknown error occurred” & “Mac can’t connect to iCloud because of a problem” Errors

Mac app store unknown error sign in

An unexpected error occurred while signing in. app store

Unknown error app store Mojave

Unknown error app store Catalina

iCloud won’t sign in on mac

An unknown error occurred apple id

Can’t sign in to iCloud on MacBook

iTunes login unknown error

Apple ID Verification Failed: Unknown Error Occurred