pie chart (iCloud sync indicator) not showing in finder and iCloud Drive archive problems

Hi there eyesnow,

Thanks for using Apple Support Communities. It sounds like you turned off iCloud and then turned it back on a couple of minutes later and want to know how to get your files back and if you can delete the archive folders.

When you turn off iCloud Drive a copy of the files stored on iCloud are saved on the Mac in the archive folder. When you turn iCloud Drive back on, iCloud then needs to sync with your Mac, which can take some time.

Have you gotten your iCloud Drive files back on the Mac? If so, you can safely remove the archived files.

These articles might help:

Use iCloud Drive to store documents on your Mac, iPhone, and iPad

iCloud Drive FAQ

We hope this helps!

The pie chart is shown when files are syncing from iCloud.com it moves in clockwise direction slowly and fills up slowly the circle ( the speed depends upon the the amount of data stored ) completes and is saturated after sometime .

Once the complete data is synced it doesn't show in finder .

See the article https://support.apple.com/en-gb/guide/mac-help/mchlp1774/10.14/mac/10.14

In your picture that is posted , in finder under documents you are seeing the pie chart , can you view it in the documents ( second column ) if the horizontal bar is still loading , if that is also completed the pie chart will not be shown , sometimes few files are yet to be synced , sometimes they are in process of syncing , some have not yet started syncing ..etc , some are ineligible files ...

Hi again eyesnow,

Thanks for reaching back out. When you say your pie chart did't come back, what are you referring to exactly? The more details you can provide, the easier we can help resolve this issue.

We look forward to hearing back from you.

Is external hard drive still connected to Mac and you have uploaded items , they will take time hours to download , depends upon the network speed .

Coming to your original question did you followed these steps .

you open system preferences > iCloud and uncheck the box of iCloud Drive a pop up window appears , showing to keep a copy of documents , and remove from the Mac .

( a ) if you had clicked on keep a copy , they will be archived in home folder that can be viewed by clicking on finder in the dock , take cursor on top menu bar > Go > Home > your user name > iCloud Drive ( Archive ) .

Double click on empty iCloud Drive box it will show setting up ( you have not to click on cancel in the screen shot ) , click on keep a copy .