iCloud encountered an error while trying to connect to the server

Same bucket, iCloud.com and the iCloud app are not syncing or working with Windows 10. Have signed out and the authentication window comes up, but the error "iCloud encountered an error while trying to connect to the server." keeps popping up. This is my case at least. Changed the password but no such luck to fix. iPhone, iPad and Apple Watch all "seem" to be working fine...

I reinstalled Win11 and could connect with Edge until the latest updates started. I think it is Edge. I installed Firefox and can connect without any changes to anything. I did have to reset my Apple password for some reason I don’t understand. I’m a super user. This is not a network connection error but a browser issue if some type.

Definitely not simply a browser issue. This forum is flooded with posts of problems involving iCloud with a wide variety of PC configurations. I am using the desktop sync with iCloud and it has been broken for a week now on two different computers running two different versions of Windows. Dropbox is running perfectly fine on both machines. Apple broke something with iCloud and hopefully they get around to fixing it.

This is a much larger and more complex problem than Apple is admitting to. We have several Macs, iPhones, and PCs and we're getting no rhyme or reason why some configurations work, and others don't. Here are the OS/Browser combos I've tried, and with the exception of "Old Mac" all OSs and Browsers exceed the minimum requirements for iCloud published by Apple:

Windows 10 / Chrome: Error <-- Windows 10 19045.3248, Chrome 116.0.5845.111

Windows 10 / Edge: Error

Windows 10 / Brave: Error

Windows 10 / iCloud App: Error

iPhone / Brave: WORKS <-- This proves it's not a browser issue

iPhone / Safari: WORKS

Old Mac / Chrome: Error

Old Mac / Safari: Error

New Mac / Chrome: Error <-- I have MacOS Ventura 13.5 and Chrome 116.0.5845.110 -- Why the error?

New Mac / Safari: WORKS <-- This proves it's not my internet connection, and it's not a security software issue.

Something else is happening on Apple's end. iCloud running from a Windows/Chrome environment was literally working fine one day, and then errors the next. No changes in the local environment proves the change is on Apple's side.

Please fix!

UPDATE: Now the "New Mac" is working with Chrome. Nothing changed. It absolutely was not working. (I still have the Chrome window with the error on my screen.) What is going on?

Could not agree more and thank you for the breakdown. I am having the exact same issue, with no changes to the infastructure, internet or computers. This would appear to be a iCloud/Apple issue at this point.

I will say, that oddly, it started working again on my Windows 10/Chrome browser laptop, which was odd. It will not work on my Windows 10/Chrome browser tower.

Same thing here, sort of. Started on stable Windows 10 Pro laptop; icloud suddenly dropped calendar syncing with Outlook. Started troubleshooting. Uninstalled icloude; reinstalled. Can get to icloud in a browser (Edge, Chrome, Opera, Firefox). Hours spent on tech support call including apple tech looking at my screen via my phone.

Wound up doing a clean install of Windows 10. MAJOR pain since many, many application suites had/have to be reinstalled, not to mention various utilities. Still no joy with iCloud.

Called back to tech support to pick up on the case. The tech ultimately said upgrading to Windows 11 would likely fix it. Did that (also a major pain) and still no joy. iCloud app fails; all browsers fail.

So it appears I've gone through these hoops and tremendous wastes of time for absolutely not positive outcome.

I know the feeling. I've been in this business a long time. It's an issue somewhere in the connections and how the browsers and icloud handle them. Firefox has proven to work foe me to connect to iCloud on my Laptop Win 11 super fast gaming machine. iCloud works with Edge when IPV6 is turned off but that causes problems with other apps like FB.

However, my win 10 surface pro connects to iCloud through Edge with IPv6 on! WTF

That did it. IPV6 was the culprit, although I fear that will cause havoc in other places. But I can access iCloud now from a browser.

Although the Outlook settings in the iCloud app did not add my calendars or contacts to Outlook.

Unbelievable! I have changed absolutely nothing / did not even restart computer, and now 24 hours later I am successfully logging in on Windows 11 / Chrome and have loaded my Calendar.

I will enjoy for now as I am not confident how long this will last.

Update on my situation:

Turning off IPV6 allowed me to successfully see icloud.com in a browser. However, the icloud app (from the Microsoft store) didn't work. I successfully downloaded and installed it, and it didn't error our when I selected the Outlook addin from icloud preferences. However, my calendars and contacts didn't load in Outlook; also the iCloud menu in Outlook didn't appear in Outlook. I check to make sure the add-in was present and activated. Still no joy.

Based on a suggestion from another post here, I uninstalled the icloud app and installed an older version I downloaded in 2019. This version does not include sync'd passwords. However, it did properly install, it did add the Outlook add-in, and it did add the iCloud menu in Outlook.

Clearly, there is a disconnect in the current (MS Store) version of the icloud app. I hope Apple fixes the problem.

Thank you, this is the most helpful post yet. The work arounds offered (the IPV6 chiefly) seems to help with the browser issue of iCloud, not the app, which is what this thread is for.

Thanks again, hopefully Apple/MS fix this very soon as it has crippled many.

If you turn off ipv6 in windows network adapter settings in control panel it starts working again.

Can you tell what problems may occur elsewhere as a result of making this change? I worry that if I go changing settings in my computer to accommodate this issue, I will cause problems with something else. I.e. why wouldn't I want to leave it unchecked indefinitely?

Is there any indication from Apple that they acknowledge that this problem exists and that they are working to remedy this problem? I, as is the case with many others, cannot log into icloud from windows 10, using Firefox or Edge. I get the same messages that others are getting, cannot connect to server, authentication failed.