Problem accessing iCloud Drive on my iMac

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Level 1

20 points

Problem accessing iCloud Drive on my iMac

Just reinstalled Catalina and tried to enable iCloud Drive. When I look at my finder window I can see a file/folder? called "iCloud Drive". However, when I click on it I just get 2 empty folders, one called Documents and the other "Desktop". However, if I look at my iCloud account all my folders are shown. I'd like to access my folders via iCloud Drive on my computer so I've tried the following these instructions I found on the internet:

Click on Apple menu

Click on System preferences

Click on Apple ID

Tick the box for iCloud Drive to enable it.

When I tried to do this I found that the box for iCloud Drive was already ticked and yet iCloud Drive on my computer remains with only 2 empty folder.

Any ideas on how to get my documents currently in iCloud on to the iCloud Drive on my iMac?

iMac 21.5″, macOS 10.15

Posted on Apr 27, 2022 1:30 AM

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Answer 1

Best reply

tygb

Level 9

64,628 points

Apr 27, 2022 8:45 AM in response to CONFUSEDOAP

If an iPhone / iPad was used and documents were saved in them , when Mac is signed in with same Apple ID and password on the same network and the steps were followed using these articles Set up iCloud on all your devices - Apple Support

Use iCloud Drive to store documents on your Mac and iOS devices - Apple Support

Click on finder > iCloud Drive , drag and drop single personal document say " English " to Documents folder in finder side bar , if there are multiple personal documents , select and copy them and paste over it Mac keyboard shortcuts - Apple Support

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Answer 2

CONFUSEDOAP Author

Level 1

20 points

Apr 27, 2022 3:09 AM in response to picas

Thanks Picas but if I left click on iCloud Drive I just get empty documents and desktop folders. If I right click the only options I get are:

Open in New Tab

Get Info

Remove from Side Bar

I can't find any where offering the facility to tick Desktop and Documents.

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Answer 3

CONFUSEDOAP Author

Level 1

20 points

Apr 30, 2022 7:16 AM in response to tygb

Thanks tvgb for your advice but the solution to this and other iMac problems was to junk the iMac as it was diagnosed with a failing hard disc and invest in a Mac mini. I've now got a raft of problems setting up my Mac mini. One day in the distant future all my tech stuff will work as intended.

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