Returning Desktop and Documents from iCloud to Mac...what happened?

Question

pomme-homme Author

Level 2

454 points

Returning Desktop and Documents from iCloud to Mac...what happened?

From Apple Support and a previous post:

Turn off Desktop and Documents

From your Mac, choose Apple menu  > System Settings. In macOS Monterey or earlier, choose Apple menu  > System Preferences.
Click Apple ID, then click iCloud.
Next to iCloud Drive, click Options.
Deselect Desktop & Documents Folders.
Click Done.

What happens when you turn off Desktop and Documents

When you turn off Desktop & Documents Folders, your files stay in iCloud Drive and a new Desktop and Documents folder is created on your Mac in the home folder. You can move files from iCloud Drive to your Mac as you need them, or select all of your files and drag them to the place you want to keep them.

I had inadvertently transferred my Desktop and Documents to iCloud on one of my work Macs (2014 MacMini running Mojave.) I followed the instructions above to return them to my computer.

The new Desktop and Document folders on my Mac are empty. There are still Desktop and Document folders in iCloud but when I try to open them, the screenshot at the end of this post pops up.

When I click on the Desktop folder that I can't open and click "Get Info", it shows that the folder has 51,245,698,588 bytes (Zero bytes on disk) for 114,612 items, created on March 31, 2008 and modified on March 28, 2023 (yesterday, when I unchecked Desktop and Documents in iCloud.)

It also shows that I can read and write and I was able to make myself the owner, but I still "can't open because I don't have permission to see the contents."

I've been using Macs for decades and thought I knew about permissions but I am confused. The stuff on the Desktop was migrated years ago from an older Mac to this computer...but where did those 114,612 items go? Why don't I have permission to see the contents of a folder that I have permissions to read and write to? Why does that folder show "Zero bytes on disk?"

I'm a little concerned that I lost a bunch of stuff that I thought existed in iCloud.

Any suggestions greatly appreciated...thanks in advance!

Mac mini, macOS 10.14

Posted on Mar 30, 2023 7:24 PM

Reply

Answer 1

Vilas_S

Community Specialist

Apr 3, 2023 4:01 PM in response to pomme-homme

Hello pomme-homme,

Thank you for using Apple Support Communities. We understand the importance of being able to access your files and documents that you've synced with iCloud. Allow us to assist. First, you'll want to make sure you're using the same Apple ID that were you using on your old Mac. This will ensure that data properly syncs across your devices, when using iCloud. You can confirm this by going to System Preferences > Apple ID and confirm that you see the correct Apple ID there and that iCloud is enabled.

If everything looks good, you might want to troubleshoot the software by installing any possible updates that might be available for your Mac or even test this issue in safe mode to further isolate software related issues. Resources below can guide you through both steps:

1.) Update macOS on Mac.

2.) How to use safe mode on your Mac.

Ultimately, if your issue continues to occur and you notice data is missing from iCloud, we recommend that you reach out to Apple Support for help. They might need to take a deep dive and investigate this issue further with you. You can use the following link to contact them: Get Support

Thank you for using Apple Support Communities. Take care.

Reply

Returning Desktop and Documents from iCloud to Mac...what happened?

Similar questions