Change iCloud feature settings

You can change which iCloud features you’re using on any of your devices by turning features on or off. You can also turn off iCloud completely.

When you turn off an iCloud feature on a device, your up-to-date iCloud information for that feature is no longer available on the device. If you turn off iCloud Mail, Contacts, Calendars, Notes, or Reminders on a device, you can still access your information on iCloud.com. You can also access the information on another device you have set up for that feature. In some cases when you turn off an iCloud feature on a device, you can choose to keep a copy of the feature’s information on that device. The copied information isn’t kept in sync with iCloud.

Before turning off a particular feature on all your devices, or before turning off iCloud completely, you can archive a copy of your iCloud data on your computer. For more information, see the Apple Support article Archiving or making copies of your iCloud data.

Turn iCloud features on or off

Depending on which device’s settings you want to change, do one or more of the following:

  • On your iOS device’s Home screen, go to Settings > iCloud, then tap to turn on or off iCloud features.

    Settings window with iCloud services turned on
  • On a Mac, open iCloud preferences, then select or deselect each feature. (iCloud features in OS X v10.7.5 are listed slightly differently.)

    System Preferences window with services selected

    If your Mac has OS X v10.7.5 and you turn off Calendars & Reminders, your calendar information and reminders aren’t stored locally in iCal. If you want to retain your calendar and reminder information, you need to back it up before turning off iCloud. For more information, see the Apple Support article Calendar & reminder data removed from Calendar and Reminders or iCal when disabling iCloud Calendar.

  • On a Windows computer, open the iCloud Control Panel, then select or deselect each feature. To make your changes take effect, click Apply.

    Checkboxes next to iCloud services

    Turning on Mail, Contacts, Calendars, & Tasks adds your iCloud account to Microsoft Outlook 2007 or later if your Windows computer has it installed. Note that iCloud reminders are called tasks in Outlook.

    If Outlook isn’t installed on your Windows computer, you can use iCloud Mail, Contacts, Calendars, & Reminders in your web browser on iCloud.com.

    When you turn on Bookmarks, iCloud keeps your bookmarks in the Windows browsers you select up to date with bookmarks in Safari on your iOS devices and Mac computers that have the iCloud Safari feature turned on (iCloud Bookmarks in OS X v10.7.5). To change the Windows browsers whose bookmarks you want to keep updated, click Options next to Bookmarks. For information about browsers supported by iCloud Control Panel, see the Apple Support article System requirements.

Turn off iCloud completely

Depending on whether you want to stop using iCloud on all or only some devices, do one or more of the following:

  • On your iOS device’s Home screen, go to Settings > iCloud, then at the bottom of the screen, tap Delete Account.

    Note: If you delete your iCloud account, iCloud will no longer back up your iOS data. You can still back up your device in iTunes (for more information, open iTunes and choose iTunes > Help).

  • On your Mac, open iCloud preferences, then click Sign Out.

    If your Mac has OS X v10.7.5 and you turn off iCloud, your calendar information and reminders aren’t stored locally in iCal. If you want to retain your calendar and reminder information, you need to back it up before turning off iCloud. For more information, see the Apple Support article Calendar & reminder data removed from Calendar and Reminders or iCal when disabling iCloud Calendar.

  • On your Windows computer, open the iCloud Control Panel, then click Sign Out.

Note: If you turned on automatic download of music, app, or book purchases (in iTunes preferences or in Settings on your iOS device), your iTunes purchases are still downloaded to your devices.