All desktop files hidden after Monterey update

Check to see if you have iCloud Drive enabled and Desktop & Documents also. That would be in the System/Apple ID preference pane and then in the iCloud Drive Options pane.

Sometimes it gets enabled during a system upgrade or update.

If you can see the documents in the iCloud then you must have iCloud Drive enabled. Check the Finder view preferences and check the iCloud Drove checkbox if it's available. Then you should be able to access the documents via a Finder window:

If you don't want the drive activated Boot into Safe Mode according to How to use safe mode on your Mac and uncheck iCloud Drive again. Reboot normally.

It happened to me.

I installed UnDistracted and asked to HIDE and then SHOW the Table icons.

https://d.pr/i/0qX7Vd

It's solved it!

Just updated to 12.2.1 and I am having the same issue with nothing appearing on my desktop itself for easy access I see the files in my folders inside of finder but the desktop is just barren. I am unsure of what was done with the update or how to correct that.Mind you that even this screen shot shows up in the actual desktop folder as well so I know that the desktop is active and is being updated.

Since iCloud drive is just a syncing feature any file on the drive will be mirrored on your Mac. It will be located in the Home/Library/Mobile Documents folder.

If you click on the iCloud Drive icon in the sidebar does't you see what's in the drive, i.e. the Desktop folder. Or you can double click on the Mobile Documents folder in the Library and see what's in there.

everything is already mirrored in my finder folder I can see everything that was put on my desktop in the finder folder as you can see in the screenshot, but the actual desktop itself has no icons all of the were erased from it, so I have no folders out in the open any longer. I also see everything that is a 1 for 1 of my desktop layout in the Icloud folder so I know that it has synched and was downloaded after the update. I am just lost on why the folders were deleted from the physical desktop, and how to get them to reappear short of dragging them back out onto it.

The disk access I have hasnt changed either since I have had the Macbook, I looked into it and everything that needs disk access is granted it, I have no external drives for this machine with me either, it is just PDF files that I have and some work related stuff that is on my desktop.

Found the item below using an online search. It may be worth a try.

In Monterey OS 12, I was able to solve this sync issue under: Apple> About this MAC> Storage tab> Manage> Recommendations> Store in iCloud... it synced up on my computer to my iCloud. I struggled and thought I would share this information because I had the iCloud set correctly in iCloud preferences and it did not sync. This is under System Information when you click the apple icon. It seemed to be what pushed the computer to show my files!

So I tried that as I got home today and still nothing, it gives me an error saying that it is already synched with photos even though I have both photos and desktop turned on. I am at a little bit of a los so I am just going to try and copy the folder onto the desktop again.

I have had the same problem happen to me. Did you find a resolution? When attempting to update, I downloaded the installation file to an ssd drive (that contains all of my files I work with regularly) and everything worked until it tried to install. It restarted once, then one more time before booting up like normal... except now, all of my files were hidden like you said and I only found them by searching for a folder name I remembered. The installation failed and the reason given was that there was only a partial installation file found on the drive and I have to wipe the drive clean and start over to resolve. I'm currently trying to move all of my files (1.2 terabytes) onto another location and try the whole wipe, then reattempt.

Thank you for the CMD Shift (.) command to view hidden files. I forgot that one a long time ago. Upgraded to Monterey and couldn't find my local Documents folder, just the iCloud. Now I know it's there but, Apple needs to fix this. If internet is down, I don't need any additional keystrokes just to view and access my docs!

Yes of course. I appreciate this but maybe I'm missing something.

If my internet is down or I'm remote with no available service, I want to easily see my computer's Document folder, associated with my User profile. Why should this basic item have been removed from the OS?

Thank you all,

Bob

If you have iCloud Drive enabled then you always have a copy of all Document and Desktop files on your computer. Just setup iCloud Drive in the Finder preferences as I showed in my previous post.

iCloud Drive is designed to sync files between devices that are logged into the same iCloud ID account and have iCloud Drive enabled. It's also designed that you always have a recent copy of any file on your hard drive even if there's no internet connection available.

Hi, All my desktop files disappeared after the Monterey 12.1 update. I am trying to understand how to find them and put them back on the desktop by reading these responses, but I am an old lady and can't always follow. I went into Finder and I see that the "iCloudDrive" is checked. However no other screens drop down on my desktop computer. Would it be possible to share step by step instructions on how to get my desktop files back on my desktop? (I tried to set up an appointment with Apple and after going through all the steps they said that they couldn't do it.)

Grrr. Thank you!