Older iCloud Links for Sharing Shortcuts Have Suddenly Stopped Working [Updated]

Sharing Shortcuts via iCloud appears to be severely affected by an issue that is stopping older links from working.

shortcut not found
All older ‌iCloud‌ links for sharing Shortcuts appear to no longer be functional, rendering it impossible to add shared Shortcuts from links that were created a while ago. It is not yet clear exactly when the cut-off date for created Shortcuts links is, but broadly, links created within the past week seem to be unaffected and continue to work correctly. Apple's own in-app gallery for downloading Shortcuts is also still working as expected.

When attempting to add a Shortcut from an affected ‌iCloud‌ link, users are now presented with an error message in the Shortcuts app that reads "Shortcut Not Found: The shortcut link may be invalid, or it may have been deleted." The change has since been flagged by users on Reddit and Twitter.

It is as yet unclear if the error is an intentional change on Apple's part, as it could have added an expiry period to the ‌iCloud‌ links to prevent them from working after a certain amount of time, or if it is simply a server-side error that has invalidated all links created prior to an internal change.

Either way, the fact that the majority of links to Shortcuts are now defunct is highly problematic for sites such as MacStories or the subreddit r/shortcuts, which are heavily reliant on ‌iCloud‌ links for sharing previously-created Shortcuts.

Update: Apple has now provided a statement to Federico Viticci of MacStories, explaining that it is aware of the problem and is working to restore the previously shared Shortcuts:

There are also now early indications that the problematic ‌iCloud‌ links to Shortcuts have started to be restored.

Popular Stories

apple oct 2024 mac tease

Apple Expected to Announce These Two to Three Products 'This Week'

Sunday October 12, 2025 7:05 am PDT by
Apple plans to announce new products "this week," according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman. Apple's "Mac Your Calendars" teaser last October In his Power On newsletter today, Gurman said the products set to be updated this week include the iPad Pro, Vision Pro, and "likely" the base 14-inch MacBook Pro, with all three likely to receive a spec bump with Apple's next-generation M5 chip. Gurman...
iOS 26 Feature

Apple Preparing iOS 26.0.2 Update for iPhones

Saturday October 11, 2025 6:59 pm PDT by
Apple's software engineers are internally testing iOS 26.0.2, according to MacRumors logs, which have been a reliable indicator of upcoming iOS versions. iOS 26.0.2 will likely be a minor update that addresses bugs and/or security vulnerabilities, but we do not know any specific details yet. The update will likely be released within the next few weeks. Last month, Apple released iOS...
Apple TV Plus Feature 2 Magenta and Blue

Apple TV+ Being Rebranded as Apple TV

Monday October 13, 2025 8:25 am PDT by
Buried in its announcement about "F1: The Movie" making its streaming debut on December 12, Apple has also announced that Apple TV+ is being rebranded as simply Apple TV. A single line near the end of the press release states "Apple TV+ is now simply Apple TV, with a vibrant new identity," though Apple's website has yet to be updated with any changes, so we're unsure on the details of the...
iPhone 17 Pro Colors

iPhone 18 Pro Already Rumored to Have These 6 New Features

Saturday October 11, 2025 10:10 am PDT by
While the iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max are still nearly a year away, a handful of new features and changes have already been rumored for the devices. Below, we have recapped some of the early iPhone 18 Pro rumors so far. Smaller Dynamic Island The standard iPhone 18, iPhone 18 Pro, and iPhone 18 Pro Max will be equipped with a slightly smaller Dynamic Island, but the devices will...
All AirPods 2025

Apple Reportedly Working on New AirPods Pro, AirPods 5, and H3 Chip

Sunday October 12, 2025 9:24 am PDT by
After releasing AirPods Pro 3 last month, Apple is already working on the next AirPods Pro, according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman. It is unclear if the new AirPods Pro would be branded as AirPods Pro 4, or if they would be considered an updated version of AirPods Pro 3. Gurman did not take a position, opting to describe them as a "new version" of the "high-end in-ear buds." AirPods Pro 2...
joz macbook tease

Apple Teases Upcoming M5 MacBook Pro Launch: 'Something Powerful is Coming'

Tuesday October 14, 2025 11:59 am PDT by
Apple marketing chief Greg Joswiak today teased the launch of an upcoming product, saying "something powerful is coming" on social media. Subscribe to the MacRumors YouTube channel for more videos. A short animation accompanying Joswiak's teaser reveals a brief glimpse of a MacBook Pro along with the words "coming soon." The shape of the MacBook Pro is a V, which is the Roman numeral...
Meta Ray Ban Glasses

Apple's Smart Glasses With In-Lens Display May Feature Two Modes

Sunday October 12, 2025 9:43 am PDT by
Apple's second-generation smart glasses with an in-lens display may have two modes, depending on which device they are connected to. Meta Ray-Bans without an in-lens display In his Power On newsletter today, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman said he was told a future version of Apple's smart glasses may be able to run a full version of the visionOS operating system when they are paired with a Mac, and...
10

Apple to Launch New Products Starting Next Week, Claims Dubious Leak [Updated]

Friday October 10, 2025 5:57 am PDT by
Update: the Naver account appears to be referencing a speculative post on X by Vadim Yuryev, dated October 6. The original article follows. Apple will announce new products through a series of press releases beginning as soon as next week, according to a dubious claim posted on the Korean blog Naver. The Naver blog account yeux1122, which aggregates rather than originates Apple...
Tim Cook MacBook

Apple's Next CEO Identified

Wednesday October 8, 2025 12:30 pm PDT by
Apple's hardware engineering chief John Ternus remains the "leading contender" to become the company's next CEO, according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman. Ternus is 50 years old, so he is still young enough to have a long run at the helm of Apple, after current CEO Tim Cook retires. He is already a key decision-maker at Apple, according to Gurman, and he appears to have a charismatic...

Top Rated Comments

goonie4life9 Avatar
60 months ago
Not to worry folks, for the Senior Advisor I spoke to assured me this is not an issue. He stated that Apple talks to millions of customers an hour and if this was an issue, Apple would know about it before any customer knew about it. The current guidance is for customers to erase and re-install iCloudShareOS. This should be done through iTunes. If that doesn't resolve the issue, it will need to be escalated to Engineering after conducting Diagnostics, with Mail Logging enabled. Engineering will respond in 48 hr and because this is a known issue, Apple's Official Position on the matter is to keep your iCloudShareOS up to date.
Score: 16 Votes (Like | Disagree)
nvmls Avatar
60 months ago
iCloud is annoying at so many levels its mind bending.

When trying to share several pictures it tends to send iCloud links also which are extremely inconvenient making the receiver leave the conversation to see them on a browser, for such a basic sharing interaction, even whatsapp has it right.

Also, how Apple is currently managing moving massive amounts of photos through iCloud is anything but "simple" (which sooner or later ends up leading to cloud storage issues anyways)
Score: 9 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Brandon42 Avatar
60 months ago

WTF is this? I mean, you can ask your users to keep their iOS, iPadOS and macOS updated, but asking your users to keep this... iCloudShareOS up to date??? What is this operating system to begin with? An OS inside iOS? Then, you say users must update it through iTunes, a software that is deprecated for more than a year.

Honestly all this **** shouldn’t be necessary, and you cannot ask your customers to have this level of t
technical knowledge.
I’m pretty sure the original poster is being sarcastic.
Score: 6 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Populus Avatar
60 months ago

Not to worry folks, for the Senior Advisor I spoke to assured me this is not an issue. He stated that Apple talks to millions of customers an hour and if this was an issue, Apple would know about it before any customer knew about it. The current guidance is for customers to erase and re-install iCloudShareOS. This should be done through iTunes. If that doesn't resolve the issue, it will need to be escalated to Engineering after conducting Diagnostics, with Mail Logging enabled. Engineering will respond in 48 hr and because this is a known issue, Apple's Official Position on the matter is to keep your iCloudShareOS up to date.
WTF is this? I mean, you can ask your users to keep their iOS, iPadOS and macOS updated, but asking your users to keep this... iCloudShareOS up to date??? What is this operating system to begin with? An OS inside iOS? Then, you say users must update it through iTunes, a software that is deprecated for more than a year.

Honestly all this **** shouldn’t be necessary, and you cannot ask your customers to have this level of t
technical knowledge.
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)
macsareveryinteresting Avatar
60 months ago
Apple will fix it by iOS 14.5.
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)
jfunker Avatar
60 months ago
Wrong database selected, 83884092049 rows affected. Poor intern!
Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)