icloud deleted all my documents

UPDATE: I just discovered all my files (Documents, Desktop) on my hard drive in a folder named "iCloud Archive." The thing is, the folder isn't visible in the Finder. Not even when I make hidden files visible through the terminal. I can only see it in Adobe Bridge. I am downloading the entire thing to an external hard drive, but I don't know what to do next. Is there a safe way to turn "iCloud Archive" back into my Documents folder? The Documents folder, as I mentioned, still exists, but only as a file folder tree with no documents inside the folders.

Sorry, I know I sounded pretty scattered above, but I was panicking. I've looked in the iCloud drive on my Mac and though the original file structure is there, that's all there is, just file folders. Nothing in them. I'm a graphic designer, so I tried looking for them in Adobe Bridge. At first Bridge said they were there yet hidden, but after a second it switched to "no items to view." This suggests to me that they still exist somewhere on my hard drive. I just don't know how to get them back. At the moment I'm trying Disk Drill, but if there is a better and easier way to get them back, I would be very grateful for suggestions. My external back up drive has a number of things, but I haven't backed it up for a couple of weeks. Ugh.

Not exactly. Here's what happened.

• I noticed that my MacBook fan was running QuickLookSatellite, heating up the laptop, and eating most resources.

• Force quitting did nothing, it just kept reviving and running.

• That's when I figured out that my MacBook Pro was trying to upload every file in my documents and desktop folders to iCloud (256 GB worth).

• I have never wanted my files uploaded to iCloud. I realized that it must have happened when I activated my new iPhone.

• I knew that at the upload speed of 7 meg on my home internet that the syncing process would probably take days, perhaps weeks and wanted to stop it before my laptop burned out.

• I opened up iCloud in System preferences and tried unchecking Documents and Desktop. At that point a progress bar I found looked like it had uploaded only a fraction of the files, maybe 1% or 2%.

• I got the warning dialog box about iCloud deleting all my files if I unchecked the box, but I clicked it anyway. I misunderstood and thought maybe I'd lose only the 1% to 2% of my files that had been uploaded and was willing to take a chance. I could not, in a million years, imagine Apple designing something that would suck away all your files off your computer hard drive and then delete them regardless of whether or not they'd been uploaded.

• Once I clicked, my Documents folder was emptied. No files.

• I then panicked and rechecked the box in ICloud preferences for Documents and Desktop. I was given back what looks like the 1% to 2% of the files it had uploaded. Nothing more.

• I next tried going to iCloud.com to recover my 256 GB of files. iCloud.com reported that I had NO FILES available for recovery.

• I then tried to find the files locally on my laptop in the local iCloud drive. No luck. I turned on hidden files in Terminal, hoping that might be the problem, but the files simply cannot be found in the Finder. Period. They are gone.

• Except they're not. I know the files still exist because when I use the Open Command in Photoshop, I can see them there. I can, in fact, open any of the missing files (Photoshop friendly .psd, .jpg, .png) in that software. I can use the Open Command in MS Word to locate and open the Word docx, etc. I've been doing that since, opening files and saving them off to an external hard drive.

What I would like to know is where does the Finder think they've gone? And is there some way to recover them without the tedium of opening up and re-saving each file using the various software programs?

Thanks, everyone for any suggestions.