icloud Code 4035

How to Fix iCloud Error 4035

Diagnostic Procedures

  • 1 What Causes iCloud Error 4035
  • 2 Fix Local File System Permissions on macOS
  • 3 Fix iCloud Drive Permissions on Windows
  • 4 Resolve Shared Folder Access Issues
  • 5 Reset iCloud Drive and Rebuild Permissions

How to Fix iCloud Error 4035

iCloud error 4035 appears when iCloud Drive cannot read from or write to a folder due to permission restrictions. The error reads “Permission denied. Unable to access the specified folder (Error 4035).”

Step 1: What Causes iCloud Error 4035

  • Local file system permissions preventing the iCloud Drive daemon from accessing folders
  • macOS Full Disk Access not granted to iCloud services
  • Shared folder permissions set to read-only by the folder owner
  • Corrupted ACL entries on iCloud Drive directories
  • Windows NTFS permissions conflicting with iCloud for Windows requirements

Step 2: Fix Local File System Permissions on macOS

  1. Navigate to ~/Library/Mobile Documents/com~apple~CloudDocs in Finder
  2. Right-click > Get Info and ensure your user has Read & Write access
# Fix permissions on the iCloud Drive folder
chmod -R u+rw ~/Library/Mobile\ Documents/com~apple~CloudDocs
# Reset ACLs
chmod -RN ~/Library/Mobile\ Documents/com~apple~CloudDocs

Grant Full Disk Access:

  1. Open System Settings > Privacy & Security > Full Disk Access
  2. Ensure bird and cloudd are listed and enabled (navigate to /System/Library/CoreServices/)

Step 3: Fix iCloud Drive Permissions on Windows

  1. Right-click the affected folder in iCloud Drive > Properties > Security tab
  2. Click Edit and ensure your user account has Full Control
:: Reset permissions on iCloud Drive folder
icacls "%UserProfile%\iCloudDrive" /reset /t /c
icacls "%UserProfile%\iCloudDrive" /grant "%USERNAME%":F /t

Check Controlled Folder Access:

  1. Open Windows Security > Virus & threat protection > Ransomware protection
  2. If enabled, add iCloudDrive.exe and iCloudServices.exe to the allowed list

Step 4: Resolve Shared Folder Access Issues

If error 4035 affects a shared iCloud Drive folder, permissions are controlled by the owner.

  1. Right-click the shared folder in Finder > Manage Shared Folder
  2. Check your permission level — it may be set to View Only
  3. Contact the owner and ask them to change your access to Can Make Changes

If you are the owner:

  1. Right-click the shared folder > Manage Shared Folder
  2. Click each participant’s name and select Can Make Changes
  3. For link-shared folders, change the link permission from view-only to edit

Step 5: Reset iCloud Drive and Rebuild Permissions

As a last resort, reset iCloud Drive to force a clean permission rebuild.

On macOS:

  1. Open System Settings > Apple ID > iCloud and uncheck iCloud Drive
  2. Choose Keep on Mac when prompted
rm -rf ~/Library/Application\ Support/CloudDocs/
rm -rf ~/Library/Caches/CloudKit/
killall bird && killall cloudd
  1. Restart your Mac and re-enable iCloud Drive

On Windows:

  1. Uncheck iCloud Drive in iCloud for Windows > Apply
  2. Clear the cache: rd /s /q "%LocalAppData%\Apple Inc\iCloudDrive"
  3. Restart, re-check iCloud Drive, and click Apply

Tip: Avoid using terminal commands to change ownership of files inside iCloud Drive. iCloud expects specific permission structures, and manual ownership changes can cause persistent sync failures.