How to Change iCloud Account on Mac?

Shreyas Patil SEO
Shreyas PatilUpdated :
How to Change iCloud Account on Mac

If you have multiple iCloud accounts or want to switch your primary account, it is easy to change the iCloud account signed in on your Mac. Apple provides simple controls for both adding accounts as well as designating another iCloud as the default.


Sign Out of Existing iCloud Account

Before switching accounts, you first need to sign out of your current iCloud account:

  • Go to System Preferences > Apple ID
  • Click Overview and then Sign Out
  • Confirm sign out when prompted

This disconnects your account details and data from the Mac.


Add New Account in System Preferences

With prior iCloud signed out, go back to add the new account:

  • Return to System Preferences > Apple ID
  • Click Sign In and enter new Apple ID credentials
  • Follow prompts to sign in to iCloud services

Upon successful sign in, the new account will now be active on your Mac.


Merge iCloud Data After Sign In

If you stored data such as photos, documents or contacts in iCloud, you can import this into apps when prompted:

  • Open apps like Photos or Contacts
  • You may get popups asking to merge iCloud data from the new account
  • Follow the onscreen instructions to combined stored data

This retrieves items from the new iCloud account into local apps which is convenient for access.


Re-Enable iCloud Features

Additionally, re-enable any specific iCloud features relied upon from the old account:

  • Return to System Preferences > Apple ID > iCloud
  • Check boxes to turn back on PhotosMailContacts etc

Toggling these syncs data going forward with the newly signed in iCloud.


Designate Primary iCloud Account

If keeping old iCloud on Mac for certain data while making the new account primary:

  • Go to System Preferences > Apple ID > Overview
  • Under Primary Account section, click Make Primary on the desired account

This assigns default iCloud status to the chosen Apple ID for app downloads, iCloud Drive and more. Can still access both accounts.


Key Things to Remember When Changing Account

When switching iCloud accounts on your Mac, keep these additional tips in mind:

  • Sign out of existing account first before adding new one
  • Merge carries over stored data to new account for easy access
  • Re-enable sync on specific apps if relying on their iCloud integration
  • Set Primary iCloud to designate main account if keeping multiple

Following this process allows smoothly transitioning accounts and data access on your Mac.


Quick Tip to ensure your videos never go missing

Videos are precious memories and all of us never want to ever lose them to hard disk crashes or missing drives. PicBackMan is the easiest and simplest way to keep your videos safely backed up in one or more online accounts. Simply Download PicBackMan (it's free!), register your account, connect to your online store and tell PicBackMan where your videos are - PicBackMan does the rest, automatically. It bulk uploads all videos and keeps looking for new ones and uploads those too. You don't have to ever touch it.

Download PicBackMan


Frequently Asked Questions

Does changing account delete my iCloud backup?

No, existing device backups made to old iCloud account remain available if you need to restore that Mac or linked devices later.

Can I switch between accounts once signed in?

Yes definitely - you can actively swap accounts in System Preferences anytime. Just sign out of current one first before signing into another.

What happens if I accidentally delete files from old account?

As long as old iCloud retains the 30-day deleted item recovery option enabled, any mistakenly removed files stay recoverable for that duration.

Is there a way to merge contacts and calendars from both accounts?

Unfortunately there isn't a built-in mechanism to combine contacts and calendars across two different signed-in iCloud accounts. Recommend exporting and then importing into the preferred account.


Conclusion

Changing your iCloud account allows easily linking a new or different Apple ID to your Mac. Make sure to sign out, sign back in to the new account, optionally migrate stored data, re-enable iCloud app features, and designate the primary iCloud. This makes switching accounts a smooth process.

World's #1 Photo/Video Uploader

Backup & Transfer your Photos in Minutes

Automate backup & migration of your photos & videos with support for all top services.

(283 reviews)

Trusted by users in 125+ countries.

95,000+ PicBackMan Users

95,000+ Users Trust PicBackMan To Backup Precious Memories

money back guarantee
Kip Roof testimonial Kip Roofgoogle photos flickr
PicBackMan does exactly what it's supposed to. It's quick and efficient. It runs unobtrusively in the background and has done an excellent job of uploading more than 300GB of photos to 2 different services. After having lost a lot of personal memories to a hard drive crash, it's nice to know that my photos are safe in 2 different places.
Julia Alyea Farella testimonialJulia Alyea Farella smugmug
LOVE this program! Works better than ANY other program out there that I have found to upload thousands of pictures WITH SUB-FOLDERS to SmugMug! Thank you so much for what you do! :) #happycustomer
Pausing Motion testimonialPausingMotionsmugmug
I pointed PicBackMan at a directory structure, and next time I looked - all the photos had uploaded! Pretty cool. I use SmugMug and while I really like it, the process of creating directories in is pretty laborious when you need to make 80+ at a time. This was a breeze. Thank you!
Gavin Whitham testimonialGavin Whithamflickr
PicBackMan was really easy to setup and has been running for 3 days now backing up all my locally saved photos to Flickr. My photos are really valuable to me so it's great to be able to have them easily backed up to a secure location.
 Jim Griffin testimonialJim Griffinsmugmug
It's AWESOME!! I have tens of thousands of pictures...and they are now successfully uploaded to SmugMug, where they are safely backed up, and I can edit and organize them. If you are hesitating about using PicBackMan, hesitate no longer...try it...and you'll be glad you did!!
close icon
World's #1 Photo/Video Uploader

World's #1 Free Photo/Video Uploader

PicBackMan has everything you've ever wanted to backup your photos or migrate/transfer from one account to another. No feature left behind!

(283 reviews)
Trusted by users in 125+ countries.
  • Maintain Folder StructureMaintain Folder StructureUpload to your online accounts & keep your folder structure as you have it.
  • Sub-folder SupportFolders & their sub-folders are automatically picked up.
  • Smart De-dupeDe-dupes photos before uploading so you don’t have duplicate copies.
  • AutomaticPicBackMan monitors & automatically uploads from connected folders.
  • PrivacyPrivacyAll uploaded photos & videos are always marked as private by default.
  • RAW FilesComes with support for RAW files for uploads as well as transfers.

“Your pictures are scattered. PicBackMan helps you bring order to your digital memories.”

the wall street journal
close icon
One Uploader for All Services

One Uploader for All Services

PicBackMan is the only tool you will need to backup to one or more of the top online photo and video services.

(283 reviews)
Trusted by users in 125+ countries.
Google Photos

Google Photos

Flickr

Flickr

SmugMug

SmugMug

Dropbox

Dropbox

Google Drive

Google Drive

pCloud

pCloud

OneDrive

OneDrive

youtube

Youtube