iCloud account keeps getting locked for "reasons".

Welcome and thank you for reaching out. 🤗

According to Apple:

If your account has been disabled for security reasons:

If you see one of the following messages, your Apple Account locked automatically to protect your security and you can’t sign in and use any Apple services:

• “This Apple Account has been disabled for security reasons”
• “You can’t sign in because your account was disabled for security reasons”
• ”This Apple Account has been locked for security reasons”

This might happen if you or someone else might have entered your password or other account information incorrectly too many times. To regain access, you need to reset your password.

Learn how to reset your Apple Account password.

If your Apple Account is locked or not active:

If you see a message that says your Apple Account is locked or not active, you might be able to request access to your account by tapping Request Access right from the alert.

You can also request access to your account.

If you can’t regain access to your Apple Account:

When you request access to your locked Apple Account, you might get an alert that says, “This Apple Account is locked and can’t be used” or your request might be denied.

If you can’t regain access to your Apple Account, you can either:

• Create a new Apple Account.
• If you need help removing Activation Lock and have proof of purchase documentation, you can start an Activation Lock support request.

If your Media & Purchases account has been disabled:

If you see a message that says “Your Media & Purchases account has been disabled,” you might be able to request reactivation by tapping Continue right from the alert.

You can also request reactivation.

Good Luck! 👋🏼😉

Smiliñ 😎 Brian | Community Volunteer

It seems that allot of things are going wrong for some reason that I don’t understand.

When in doubt, contact Apple Support directly. They have many abilities and resources available to them.

Take care! 👋🏼😉

Smiliñ 😎 Brian | Community Volunteer

Thanks for the reply.

This might happen if you or someone else might have entered your password or other account information incorrectly too many times. To regain access, you need to reset your password.

Actually, every time this has happened I have been able to get back in just by requesting a PIN, or doing the 2FA thing with my phone. They never forced me to reset my password. But I normally do the 2FA thing anyway, even when there is no "account lock" message, because I have 2FA set up.

And how does resetting my password solve the problem of somebody trying to log in too many times with a wrong password? They can still keep doing that right? If anything, I should keep my current password because it's apparently strong enough that they have not been able to crack it. It seems sensible not to change a password that is doing its job.

If you can’t regain access to your Apple Account, you can either: * Create a new Apple Account

Yikes! iCloud accounts are not just "throw-away" things. They are full of personal items and a lot of my own intellectual property. Over 200 of my keynote presentations that I use for my job are in that account. A permanent lock on my account would essentially threaten my livelihood. What about all the movies and music I've downloaded over the years? Would I lose all of those assets (that I paid for) because "reasons"? I guess I have to start downloading and keeping local copies of everything.

I know a lot of my questions are rhetorical and people reading this may not have a satisfactory answer, but I think they need to me said.

Update:

As you may have guess, it's only been a few days and my account has been locked again.

I tried unsuccessfully to unlock using the captcha, twice. I entered the letters and numbers I saw, and clicked the button and nothing happened.

I waited. I clicked the button again. The page refreshed and I was presented with a new captcha. Everything repeated.

I gave up and validated myself via phone passkey.

But before I did all this, I went to my iPad and as usual, I can use the account without limitation. Was it even really locked if I can still get into all my stuff via iPad & iPhone and use Apple services?

Update to the update!

I had to unlock the account to post here. After I posted my earlier message (a few minutes ago), I opened another tab and went to iCloud because my account is supposedly now unlocked.

You're never going to guess, but it's LOCKED AGAIN! Wheeeee!

I am still logged in here and posting (will confirm that if I can actually post this message), so how can my account be locked? My account is not locked for posting here but it is locked for iCloud, but only on a PC and not on a mobile device?