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Lost files on all platforms

I am using a MacBook Air running Big Sur. I went looking in a very large folder where I keep some important files and found that all of the subfolders in that folder from before 2020 have no files in them. All of the folders, subfolders, etc, are intact, but ALL of the files (with a few random exceptions) are GONE. I looked in iCloud, but the configuration is the same. All files pre-2020 are gone.


This is ONLY true of this one large (but important to me!) folder. And according to the directory, all of the materials in this folder were modified on July 8 of this year - but the materials for the last three years are still there, anything before that is gone.


Any thoughts?

MacBook Air 13″, OS X 10.10

Posted on Jul 28, 2023 3:29 PM

Reply
Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Posted on Jul 28, 2023 6:52 PM

See if you can recover them by using the information in this Apple article:

Recover deleted files on iCloud.com - Apple Support


FYI, you should always have frequent and regular backups of your computer and all external media (including the cloud) which contains important & unique data. Apple provides the Time Machine app with macOS to allow for backing up your computer. iCloud is not a backup. iCloud is only a file syncing service...so any change to a file on one device gets changed on all devices with iCloud syncing turned on.

Back up your Mac with Time Machine - Apple Support


Archive or make copies of the information you store in iCloud - Apple Support





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2 replies
Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Jul 28, 2023 6:52 PM in response to bradfromchapel hill

See if you can recover them by using the information in this Apple article:

Recover deleted files on iCloud.com - Apple Support


FYI, you should always have frequent and regular backups of your computer and all external media (including the cloud) which contains important & unique data. Apple provides the Time Machine app with macOS to allow for backing up your computer. iCloud is not a backup. iCloud is only a file syncing service...so any change to a file on one device gets changed on all devices with iCloud syncing turned on.

Back up your Mac with Time Machine - Apple Support


Archive or make copies of the information you store in iCloud - Apple Support





Lost files on all platforms

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