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Misled by iCloud to delete my data

Hi, so I was trying to get my calendars to sync via iCloud but I had to free up storage. I was doing all this through my MacBook Pro on finder. The device itself had instructed me that to delete anything in my iCloud storage that I would have to enable it on my device. I did so, went to the iCloud folder and proceeded to delete the contents. For some reason it took all my documents and desktop folders and permanently deleted them. I went to apple advisors via chat and phone and they were unable to help. I’ve lost a lot of ableton and pro tools sessions I desperately need back. Nothing is in the iCloud data recovery, even though I followed an advisors instructions to pay for more iCloud storage (a waste of my money). How can apple allow items in the iCloud folder to affect the entire local device? This is not okay and apple is denying accountability. I understand I may have made some user mistakes, however the device instructions were painfully misleading. I have resorted to 3rd per data recovery software but it seems it cannot find my recently deleted files, even though my local hard drive space has not been freed up. How do I retrieve my files?

Posted on May 2, 2023 9:39 AM

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Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Posted on May 3, 2023 3:00 PM

It said to edit iCloud storage that I must first enable iCloud Drive on my device. So I did that, unchecked the option that syncs my desktop and documents folder. I went into the iCloud folder and in my attempt to clear it, it permanently deleted all my work. After speaking with apple support multiple times and even attempting to use Macs terminal to retrieve the data I turned to a 3rd part data recovery tool. All solutions led to the same result, complete loss of data and corruption of an any retrievable files. Retrospectively I learned that iCloud can be accessed at iCloud.com and that would have been the ideal way to clear storage. Your question to post the device instructions will not lead to a solution. We can chalk this up to user error, but regardless I was misled by the device. I was in the iCloud folder and yet it deleted items that had not even uploaded to the cloud. Thanks for the attempt but I have exhausted all possible options.

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4 replies
Question marked as Top-ranking reply

May 3, 2023 3:00 PM in response to razmee209

It said to edit iCloud storage that I must first enable iCloud Drive on my device. So I did that, unchecked the option that syncs my desktop and documents folder. I went into the iCloud folder and in my attempt to clear it, it permanently deleted all my work. After speaking with apple support multiple times and even attempting to use Macs terminal to retrieve the data I turned to a 3rd part data recovery tool. All solutions led to the same result, complete loss of data and corruption of an any retrievable files. Retrospectively I learned that iCloud can be accessed at iCloud.com and that would have been the ideal way to clear storage. Your question to post the device instructions will not lead to a solution. We can chalk this up to user error, but regardless I was misled by the device. I was in the iCloud folder and yet it deleted items that had not even uploaded to the cloud. Thanks for the attempt but I have exhausted all possible options.

May 2, 2023 10:09 AM in response to A_rav

A_rav wrote:

Hi, so I was trying to get my calendars to sync via iCloud but I had to free up storage. I was doing all this through my MacBook Pro on finder. The device itself had instructed me that to delete anything in my iCloud storage that I would have to enable it on my device. I did so, went to the iCloud folder and proceeded to delete the contents. For some reason it took all my documents and desktop folders and permanently deleted them. I went to apple advisors via chat and phone and they were unable to help. I’ve lost a lot of ableton and pro tools sessions I desperately need back. Nothing is in the iCloud data recovery, even though I followed an advisors instructions to pay for more iCloud storage (a waste of my money). How can apple allow items in the iCloud folder to affect the entire local device? This is not okay and apple is denying accountability. I understand I may have made some user mistakes, however the device instructions were painfully misleading. I have resorted to 3rd per data recovery software but it seems it cannot find my recently deleted files, even though my local hard drive space has not been freed up. How do I retrieve my files?

Please post the device instruction that you followed.

Misled by iCloud to delete my data

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