Missing Files In Downloads Folder

One moment I was working on my laptop. I downloaded a file from my email. I went to retrieve it from my downloads folder on my dock, and the folder is empty. When I click on it, a window appears stating "Downloads ... Open in Finder." When I open it in finder, it is empty. There were a few hundred files in this folder. How do I recover these?

MacBook Pro

Posted on Aug 22, 2022 6:57 PM

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4 replies

Aug 23, 2022 1:56 PM in response to JoeSexton

Hi JoeSexton,


As you are having trouble seeing where your downloaded files are, here are some resources and steps that might help:


  1. Spotlight search the file name to see if it is located in a different folder Search with Spotlight on Mac.
  2. Go directly to the Downloads folder when in Finder by going to the Menu Bar > Go > Downloads Go directly to a specific folder on Mac.
  3. See if you have another folder when in Finder by going to the Menu Bar > Go > Home.
  4. If you are using Safari, follow "See items you downloaded" in Download items from the web using Safari on Mac.


Hope this helps.


Have a good day.


Aug 25, 2022 9:14 AM in response to JoeSexton

Do you have iCloud syncing enabled on the Downloads folder? I'm not sure how this affects the folder when enabled since I don't use iCloud.


Are you using any anti-virus apps, cleaning apps, or third party security software which may be interfering with the normal operation of macOS?


Have you tried searching for the file name using Spotlight in case the files have been accidentally moved somewhere else?


Does anyone else have access to this Mac and this user account?


Aug 23, 2022 2:15 PM in response to Vero_F1

Thank you for the help. I did all that you suggested, but the files are still completely gone. I can see many of the files in the "downloads" tab of my browser, but they are marked "deleted." Word document files are visible in the "recent" documents tab, but when I try to open one of the documents, I am told the file is unavailable and has been deleted. The odd thing is nothing ever went into my .trash. I have not touched .trash since this happened and it contains no files. I can't understand how this happened. Most of the files have been backed up, but I want to make sure I figure out how to avoid this problem in the future.

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Missing Files In Downloads Folder

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