What Happens If I Sign Out of iCloud? [2025 Updated]

• User Case
• What Happens If I Sign Out of iCloud?
• Preparation Before Signing Out: Back up iCloud to Another Cloud
• Conclusion

User Case

What happens if I sign out of iCloud? If you switch to your personal Apple ID, you may lose access to:

• iCloud-synced data (contacts, calendars, notes, photos, etc.) from your mom’s Apple ID.
• App purchases and subscriptions tied to her Apple ID.
• iMessage and FaceTime history if they were synced with iCloud.

However, locally stored data (such as text messages, call history, and manually saved contacts) will remain on the phone. To keep important data, back it up before switching.

What Happens If I Sign Out of iCloud?

In this part, we will discuss more specifically of “If I sign out of iCloud what happens”. Depending on how you use iCloud services, signing out of iCloud on your device can have a number of effects. When you sign out of iCloud, the following occurs:

1. Data Syncing Stops

► iCloud Data: All of your devices will no longer update with contacts, calendars, reminders, notes, photos, and other data that is synced with iCloud.

► iCloud Drive: The device you signed out of will no longer be able to access files stored in iCloud Drive.

2. Data Deletion (Optional)

You will be prompted to retain a copy of your iCloud data on the device when you sign out. If you select Remove from iPhone/iPad/Mac, the data will stay in iCloud but will be erased from the device.

3. Find My and Activation Lock

► Find My: Before logging out, you will need to enter your Apple ID password to disable Find My if it is enabled on your iPhone, iPad, or Mac.

► Activation Lock: Disabling Find My will also turn off the Activation Lock, enabling another person to use the device.

4. Apple Services Access

Apple services connected to your iCloud account will no longer be available to you, including:

• FaceTime and iMessage (if you're using your Apple ID).
• Purchases from the App Store and iTunes (until you log back in).
• Apple Pay (cards will no longer be accepted).

5. Shared Content

► Shared Albums: Shared iCloud Photo Albums will no longer be accessible to you.

► Shared Notes, Calendars, etc.: Calendars, notes, and other shared content will no longer sync or be available to others.

6. Modifications Specific to Devices

► iPhone/iPad: Health data, Safari data, and keychain passwords will no longer sync.

► Mac: The Documents and iCloud Desktop folders will no longer sync.

7. iCloud Data Retention

Your data is still kept in iCloud and is accessible through iCloud.com or by logging back in.

★Important Notes:

Back up important data before signing out.

If you’re switching devices, ensure you sign in to iCloud on the new device to restore your data.

Preparation Before Signing Out: Back up iCloud to Another Cloud

It is highly recommended to back up your important iCloud data like photos before signing it out. You can choose to back up to your computer, an external hard drive, or another cloud. If you want to access the backups on at anytime in anywhere, backing up to another cloud will be the best choice. Except for iCloud, Google Drive, Dropbox, OneDrive, pCloud, and Box are also widely liked by cloud storage users.

If you want to back up iCloud Photos to the above clouds in the easiest way, MultCloud Cloud Backup can be your choice. MultCloud is a free online cloud file transfer service that supports 30+ popular cloud storage services. Cloud Backup is a function that specializes in backing up and restoring files between clouds. It can directly transfer your photos from iCloud Photos to another cloud without downloading and re-uploading. Besides, it has a versioning feature that helps restore the backups with a preferred version.

There are only 3 steps to create and run a Cloud Backup task. Let’s use the example of backing up iCloud Photos to Google Photos.

Step 1. Go to the MultCloud website and sign up for an account.

Step 2. Add Google Photos and iCloud Photos to MultCloud.

• Add Google Photos: click “Add Cloud” > tap the Google Photos logo > sign in to your account.
• Add iCloud Photos: click “Add Cloud” > tap the iCloud Photos logo > enter Apple ID and password > go through two-factor authentication.

Step 3. Select the “Cloud Backup” function in the left sidebar and choose iCloud Photos and Google Photos as the source and destination. Then, press “Backup Now” to initiate this task.

To restore photos, go to the “Task List” page and find the backup task. Then, click the 3-line button and choose “Restore”. In the pop-up window, you can choose your preferred backed-up version and destination to restore.

Conclusion

What happens if I sign out of iCloud? Will it delete everything from my device? You can find the answer here. Signing out of iCloud will still keep your iCloud data on iCloud. However, if you do not choose to have a copy on your device before signing out, some data may be removed from your device. Therefore, it is necessary to back up your important iCloud data before signing out.

To back up iCloud Photos/iCloud Drive to another cloud, MultCloud Cloud Backup can help you automatically transfer files from iCloud to OneDrive, Dropbox, or other clouds. Besides, if you want to restore files to iCloud, you can choose a specific backed-up version to restore.