Why Can't I Sign Out of My Apple ID [iPhone, iPad]

Help me! I can't log out of my Apple ID on my iPhone! Why?

Apple ID plays an important role in the Apple ecosystem. It's a user's unique identity to access most of Apple's services like the App Store, Apple Music, iCloud, iMessage, FaceTime, and more. Without an Apple ID, an iPhone or an iPad almost becomes useless as a brick.

In this article, we will walk you around why you can't sign out of your Apple ID on your iPhone, AKA iCloud account, and the solutions to help you sign out of the Apple ID successfully. Later, you can sign in to a new Apple ID on the devices.

Why Can't I Sign out of My Apple ID on my iPhone or iPad?

There are various reasons caused that you can’t log out from iCloud, such as poor internet connection, screen time restriction - "Sign out is Not Available due to Restrictions", or having no password, settings no connection, and more troublesome situations, etc.  In the following part, we will explain the reasons why you are unable to sign out and then how to sign out.

You may encounter one of the following scenarios "Why My iPhone or iPad won't let me sign out of Apple ID". 

Quick Tutorial to fix the problem that "iPhone/iPad won't sign out".

• Part 1: Fix "Unable to Log out of iCloud" for failed Connections.
• Part 2: Turn off Screen Time on Devices for "Sign Out is Not Available due to Restrictions".
• Part 3: Unlock Apple ID on iPhone or iPad directly using Third-Party Software.
• Part 4: Your Apple ID is Greyed Out in Settings and You Can't Sign Out.
• Part 5. You Can't Sign Out of Your Apple ID because Your Phone is Being Restored.
• Can't Sign Out of Apple ID without Password.

Part 1: Fix Your Internet Connection on iPhone.

Slow or failed Internet Connection can cause you to fail to sign out of the Apple ID. Make sure your iPhone is online. 

 The internet connection or the cellular network is too slow to connect to the iCloud service.

Normally, you will do the following to sign out of Apple ID (iOS 14 for example).

Go to Settings > [your name] scroll all the way down and Tap the "Sign out" button.

If your Wi-Fi network or cellular network speed is slow, it might happen that the spinning symbol appears to indicate that it's working on signing out, and then it never stops. Finally, you should fail to sign out of our iPhone or iPad.

Step 1. Check your cellular network connection:

• • • Tap Settings.
    • Tap Cellular.
    • Check if the switch beside the Cellar Data is on.
    • Wait for a few moments for the iCloud account signing out process.

Step 2. Check your Wi-Fi Connection.

• • • Tap Settings App.
    • Tap WLAN. Make sure the WLAN switch is on/green.
    • Tap your Wi-Fi name and see if it works well, or you can tap Forgot This Network and rejoin later.

Related Post： How Do I Fix iPhone No Connection to Wi-Fi and No Cellular Data?

Step 3. Make Sure the Settings app is allowed to use WLAN & Cellular Data.

• • • Tap Settings > WLAN.
    • Scroll down to find the option: Apps using WLAN & Cellular.
    • Navigate to Settings.
    • Under the ALLOW "SETTINGS" TO USE DATA, tap it and Choose WLAN & Cellular Data, among Options: Off, WLAN, WLAN & Cellular Data.

If you choose Off, the Sign Out button on the Apple ID screen will be greyed out, unclickable, and untappable on the iPhone or iPad immediately. Note, in some cases, such as after a factory resetting or resetting all settings, you may encounter the problem that the Settings app is disabled to use WLAN & Cellular Data without knowing it on your device.

Sometimes, you will see the message "Verification Failed - There was an error connecting to iCloud." That's also because your iPhone or iPad has no active connection to a Network.

It’s worth mentioning that if you are always using VPN connections, you’d better turn off your VPN service app to log out of Apple ID once you failed with it.

Why a slow or unstable internet connection will lead to the failure of signing out of iCloud?

Here you should know what will happen if you sign out from your Apple ID. There will be data and files changing on your synced iPhone or iPad if you quit your previous iCloud account. Depending on the size of the data and the internet speed, the signing-out process for Apple ID might need a few minutes. The iCloud page will ask you whether you need to keep a copy of several types of data. Read more about data and service changes about signing out of iCloud on Apple's official site.

You might face data loss if you sign out from Apple ID, refer to the article on backup methods  to keep your data safe:

How to Back Up Your iPhone with iTunes or iCloud.

Finally, you should sign out of your iPhone/iPad, then sign in again if your Internet connection problem is resolved.

Part 2: Solution for 'Can't sign out of your Apple ID' Caused by Screen Time Restrictions.

Why you can’t log out of your Apple ID with the "sign out not available due to restrictions" and the greyed-out Sign Out button? The situation is caused by that you turned on the screen time password restrictions. In this part, we'll guide you to highlight the Sign Out option and get rid of the "Sign out is not available due to restrictions" error.

Turn off Screen Time on iPhone/iPad for "sign out not available due to restrictions".

You can’t sign out of your Apple ID with the Message "sign out not available due to restrictions".

Many people are unaware of what restrictions stop that on earth, or wonder why I can't sign out of my iCloud due to restrictions. They are Screen Time restrictions. With the screen time passcode turned on, Apple won't let you sign out of your device.

After turning off the Screen Time passcode successfully, you should find the Sign Out button highlighted and then you can sign out of your Apple ID. Turning the whole screen time also disable the screen time password to solve it.

Go to Settings > Screen Time > Turn off Screen Time. Then enter your screen time passcode, And Tap Turn off Screen Time. Don't know what a screen time passcode is used for? Refer to What is Screen Time Passcode.

As the widely used feature of Screen Time, the problem that Apple ID won't sign out problem become common. To keep safe digital habits of their children, a great number of people tend to use Apple’s Screen Time and set up a screen time passcode as a great parental control tool (including me). You won’t be able to sign out of your iPhone or iPad or child’s devices for exactly the Screen Time restrictions. The solution is to disable screen time to completely take off these restrictions.

Part 3. Unlock Apple ID on iPhone or iPad directly using third-party software.

Can’t turn off your screen time with restrictions or forget your screen time passcode? A smart software tool helps effectively.

It is not easy for some people to turn off screen time and restrictions on iPhones or iPads manually. Luckily, we find a simple third-party iPhone Unlocker software to unlock Apple ID at this point. This method can be extremely useful for anyone who needs to sign out his Apple ID with screen time restrictions immediately. This iPhone Unlocker is one of our best picks to unlock your Apple ID when you can’t sign out of your iPhone or iPad.

Free Download and install it on your computer either PC or Mac.

As we’ve mentioned that unlocking your Apple ID will lose several data or services on your device, to be confident to proceed, make sure you’ve backed up the data you need.

Steps for unlocking your Apple ID to sign out of iPhone or iPad.

1. Start the app and head to Unlock Apple ID section.

2. Connect your iPhone or iPad to the computer with a USB cable. Trust the computer if it prompts. And Unlock the screen to use the iPhone or iPad as a computer accessory.

3. Click Start to Unlock.

There are 3 circumstances here, follow the on-screen directions:

• • • Once Find My iPhone/iPad is disabled, the software will remove the Apple ID directly for you. (All iOS versions supported).
    • Once Find My iPhone/iPad is enabled, you need to set up your iPhone or iPad follow the onscreen directions after removing the Apple ID with the app.
    • Once Two-Factor Authentication is Enabled (iOS 11.4 and above are supported), Confirm it and hit the Yes Option to proceed.

If the screen prompts, make sure that Two-Factor Authentication is enabled on your device. Check Settings >[Your Name]> Password & Security to check if Two-Factor authentication is on. Then click Yes to proceed.

4. Download the firmware using the stable network. The algorithm of the software will automatically detect your iPhone/iPad models and find the right firmware version.

5. After the software extracts the firmware packages completely hit Unlock Apple ID. Done.

Wait for a few minutes, when your iPhone reopens, set it up with your new Apple ID or switch your Apple ID to another to log into iCloud. Enjoy your device with your current Apple ID.

Here we have provided a video tutorial for Fix "Can't sign out of Apple ID" with restrictions via turning off Screen Time and using this third-party software.

Part 4. Your Apple ID(The name banner) is Greyed Out in Settings and You Can't Sign Out.

Find your Apple ID is greyed out and you can't sign out to make changes to the accounts? This is caused by restrictions on the devices. The solution is easy.

Tap Settings > Screen Time > Content & Privacy Restrictions, and scroll all the way down. Under Allow Changes, Tap Account Changes.

Choose Allow option. When you choose Don't Allow here, you are restricted here by choosing Don't Allow on your screen time monitor's iPhone, iPad, or Mac. And your Apple ID is greyed out. After you choose the  Allow option, it will recover to active normal status, and you can sign out.

If you can't sign out of Apple ID on Mac, please refer to the article: Can’t sign out of Apple ID on Mac.

Part 5: You Can't Sign Out of Your Apple ID because Your Phone is Being Restored - How to Fix It.

When signing out of your Apple ID with the Sign Out button greyed out, and showing the message "You cannot sign out of your Apple ID because your iPhone is being restored.",  what does this mean, and how to solve it?

When you see the message "You cannot sign out of your Apple ID because your iPhone is being restored.", your iPhone is restoring on the backend so you are unable to sign out of your Apple ID. Trying to find the cancel iCloud restore Option, but you discover that it is nowhere to be found?  Try these steps to fix that.

Restart your iPhone or iPad. Apple Support.

If the problem still exists, try to reset your network settings. Tap Settings > General > Reset > Reset Network Settings.

Finally, if you still can't sign out with the greyed-out Sign Out button and that message, back up your iPhone or iPad and factory reset it, then when you set it up, restore it from your backup.

The bottom Line

If you are unable to sign out of the Apple ID on your iPhone, here are some simple ways to fix that. With knowing the Apple ID and password, you can resolve the troubleshooting situations "Can’t sign out of your Apple ID" calmly and effectively via the Part 1 and Part 2 method. If you might get failed to log into your iPhone or iPad with the iCloud Activation Lock with no previous owner's Apple ID or password, it will take you a little more time to resolve it via the approach in Part 3. At last, hope one of these methods can do the trick and then you can sign in to iCloud once again and regain control of your iPhone or iPad successfully. In a word, we have grouped the various "Can't sign out of iCloud" problems into four main types: connection problems, restriction problems, iCloud Activation Lock screen problems, and other unknown problems. You can leave a comment below about your "unable to sign out" scenario descriptions if they are not listed.

You May Also Want to Read:

• What Happens If I Sign Out of My Apple ID
• How to Turn off Screen Time without Passcode
• iPad Security Lockout Bypass
• Apple ID Sign Out is Not Available Due to Restrictions
• How to Hard Reset iPhone 11