Many Mac users are unable to access FaceTime. The error message accompanies by “An error occurred during activation”.

Mind you, FaceTime takes 24 hours to get activated. But the problem occurs when FaceTime still not able to activate within 24 hours. If that’s the case, you could miss an important meeting or video calls with friends.

In this article, we’ll be discussing How to Fix FaceTime Activation Error. Follow the troubleshooting guide till the end that we’ve managed to prepared for you. Without further delay, let’s get started.

Also read: Fix FaceTime or iMessage Waiting for Activation issue

Troubleshooting FaceTime Activation Error

To fix FaceTime Activation errors, the user needs to do the following:

Check Apple’s system status

It might possible that the FaceTime server is under maintenance. To check that, visit Apple’s System Status page.

A green dot indicates that the service has no issue, Yellow dot indicates that the server is down. If that’s the case, we can do nothing but wait for the server to work again.

Check Settings

• Switch to Cellular Data, if Wi-Fi is out of the internet.
• Visit Settings > General > Date & Time, and keep on Set Automatic.
• Reset network settings, visit Settings > General > Reset and choose Reset Network Settings. This will remove the Wi-Fi password and wipe all network settings.

Apple ID

Check if you’ve entered the correct Apple ID and password. FaceTime on iPod Touch requires Apple ID formatted in the email address (for eg, no @ sign in it).

If you have Apple ID in a different format then change it to the email address or make a new Apple ID for FaceTime. Also, make sure to verify your Apple ID.

Sign Out and Back In

Just sign out and sign in back to see if this works. Here’s how to do that:

For iDevice

Step 1: Visit Settings > FaceTime and toggle it OFF.

Step 2: Restart your iDevice and visit again in Settings > FaceTime and toggle it On again.

For Macs

Step 1: Visit faceTime > Preferences > Settings.

Step 2: Click on Sign Out.

Step 3: Restart your Mac and visit again in FaceTime > Preferences > Settings and click on Sign in.

Use different DNS

Some Apple users have noticed that changing the DNS setting to Google’s public DNS has resolved the FaceTime Activation error.

Google Public DNS IP address: 8.8.8.8 and 8.8.4.4.

Once you’ve changed the DNS settings, power off and then turn on your device, check if the issue is fixed.

Account block or throttle

If Apple finds that someone was making its way to get into your account is throttle or block. If you suspect something similar like that, just contact Apple, that’s the smartest thing you can do.

Turn On Location service

Ensure to turn on your location service, visit Settings > Privacy > Location Services > and Turn on.

For Macs: Visit System Preferences > Security Preferences > Security and Privacy > Privacy tab and a checkbox for Enable Location Services.

Keychain

1. Disable the iCloud Keychain, visit System Preferences > iClouds and untick the Keychain option to disable, check if this works.
2. Visit Application > Utilities, search for any items contains “ids” which is listed under Kind as application passwords.
   1. Remove or delete those items via keychain.
   2. Find the items that contain FaceTime and delete them, also do the same for iMessages.
      1. Additionally, find the following keychain mentioned below:
         • iMessage Signing key & iMessage Encryption Key, delete these keys (there are possibilities of multiple keys present on your system).
      2. Delete them all.
3. Restart your Mac. Once done, macOS will ask and generate new key pairs for iMessage encryption.
   1. Now, try to get sign in to iMessage or FaceTime.
4. Also, try to reset your keychain, for that visit Finder > Utilities > Keychain Access > keychain Access Menu > Preferences > Reset My Default Keychain, an/d then reboot your computer.

Terminal

It is always better to create a backup using Time Machine or iTunes. If you’ve clear some previous and unwanted data using Terminal, this could help to get iMessage and FaceTime working back again.

Step 1: Open the terminal.

Step 2: Type the command: sudo rm /Library/Preferences/com.apple.apsd.plist

Step 3: Press Return to execute the required command.

Step 4: Exit Terminal.

Step 5: Now, try to use FaceTime.

Quick additional workaround for FaceTime on Macs

• Disable firewall, third-party firewall, or malware software.
• Try to reset your NVRAM, turn off your Mac, then turn it on and press Option + Command + P and R. Hold the keys till the system restart.

• Reset your SMC:
  1. For Desktop: Turn off mac and unplug the power cables and wait for 20-25 seconds, now turn on Mac.
  2. For MacBooks: Turn off and unplug the power cables from the system. Press Shift + Control + Option along with power button simultaneously. Hold the buttons for 10-15 seconds. Connect the power adapters, and press the power button to turn on your MacBook.
• Disable Peer Guardian running in the background, this has worked for many users.
• Visit over different locations and try to activate FaceTime, as this also worked for many users, try using VPN if that’s required.

Conclusion

By this time, the FaceTime error should get resolved. But as mentioned, you might need to wait for at least 24 hours to activate your FaceTime.
If the FaceTime error has still not resolved then it’s time to contact Apple Support.

That’s it for now, hope this helps! If you have queries, you can mention them in the comment section below.

Read next: FaceTime Not Working? Here’s how to fix it.