I’m having a recurring problem with Apple Account Recovery and have not been able to identify what is interrupting the process.
The first time this happened, I eventually discovered that I was still logged into the Apple Developer app on my Mac. From there, I was able to reset the password and regain access.
A few weeks ago, the same issue started again. This time, however, I am no longer logged into the Apple Developer app or, as far as I can determine, into the affected Apple Account on any device.
Apple Support told me that Account Recovery can be interrupted if:
-
The recovery process is manually cancelled via iforgot.apple.com.
-
Another device successfully logs into the account.
-
Another device attempts to access the account, which can also stop the recovery process for security reasons.
I am not cancelling the process. I have checked all of my own devices, and our developers have also checked theirs. We cannot find any device that is still logged in or intentionally trying to access the account.
What makes the issue especially confusing is that I can see the recovery process being interrupted.
If I visit iforgot.apple.com each day and go through the recovery steps, the countdown initially progresses normally, for example from “6 days remaining” to “5 days remaining.” But before the 7-day waiting period is completed, the countdown suddenly disappears and the recovery process starts again from the beginning.
So the recovery request appears to be getting cancelled or interrupted, but I have no way to determine what is causing it.
Apple Support has not been able to provide any information about the triggering event, such as the device type, IP address, location, or whether it was a successful login or merely an access attempt.
This Apple Account is also connected to our company’s Apple Developer account, so the problem is causing a serious business issue.
Has anyone experienced Account Recovery repeatedly resetting like this despite having no known device logged in?
And is there any way to find out what device or access attempt is causing Apple to interrupt the recovery process, or to have this escalated to a team that can investigate the trigger?