Files app favourites disappearing
Hi! This is a major issue that urgently needs to be addressed by Apple. I’ve seen it posted elsewhere but have found no fix. It has existed since the Files app was first introduced in 2017 / iOS 11 and persists in iOS 13.1 as well as iPad OS. I’ve experienced it across devices and iOS versions. Quite simply:
- Folders which are marked as favourite disappear from the favourites list after a while
- It is impossible to bring them back — they may or may not reappear, completely at random
- If a folder has been marked as favourite and then disappears, a long-tap on it will still offer to ‘unfavourite’ it, suggesting iOS still considers it favourited even though it does not show up in the list
- It seems that this most often applies to folders from services such as Google Drive and Dropbox, but I’ve experienced it with iCloud folders and even local iPad folders, too
- Rebooting the iPad does NOT fix the problem. Toggling the respective service off in the files app, then rebooting, then turning the service back on does NOT fix the problem. A force reboot does NOT fix the problem. Some of the above may or may not sometimes result in folders reappearing, although this may very well be pure coincidence. Any success cannot be repeated once the issue returns, which it inevitably will
- Given that this behaviour applies to folders stored across different cloud storage services (I’ve experienced it with Google Drive, Dropbox, iCloud, and local folders on iPadOS), it is NOT a Dropbox or Google Drive-specific issue; their support cannot help.
It’s been 3 years and 2 versions of iOS since this erroneous behaviour first appeared, and this app still does not work properly. There is a major error in a fundamentally basic feature. Given that this is extremely unlike Apple and that this app is absolutely fundamental to any productive work — on iPad in particular — I would very much appreciate if Apple could please address and acknowledge this issue. I cannot imagine that Apple is unaware of this. Thank you.
iPad Pro 12.9-inch Wi-Fi, Cellular
