How to safely get my documents from iCloud back to the Desktop on my HD

Go to www.icloud.com using your Web Browser of choice

Download ALL the Documents in any and all categories to a location of your choice on your computer

The follow the information is this like to Turn OFF / Disable " Desktop and Documents in iCloud "

Add your Desktop and Documents files to iCloud Drive

At this point I’m not sure if either or both backups hold “originals” - or the files are connected to the parallel-named files in the Cloud.

I've stated that a few times, now. The files in iCloud and what you see in your home folder are the same file. They exist in the same storage space on your drive. A hard link is like a shortcut that points to the same storage space. A hard link cannot be discerned from the original file. It is the same file.

barrieberkshire wrote:

After a Ventura OS update from OS Catalina, my documents defaulted to Cloud storage.

How do I safely get them back from the Cloud without deleting them all?

For a long time my 2019 MacBook Air was running OS Catalina and I had to update the OS as some Applications like Safari couldn't be updated.

After updating to OS Ventura my Documents are now in iCloud. I didn't select that option.

I want them back in my HD on my Desktop and not residing in the Cloud.

Has anyone else experienced this? Thanks

See if there is any more insight here—

iCloud drive missing desktop and documents

Add your Desktop and Documents files to iCloud Drive - Apple Support

How to Restore Your Desktop and Documents After Disabling ...

https://www.howtogeek.com/273629/how-to-restore-your-desktop-and-documents-after-disabling-icloud-sync-in-macos-sierra/

How to find your Documents and Desktop folder contents after disabling ...

https://www.macworld.com/article/3396119/how-to-find-your-documents-and-desktop-folder-contents-after-disabling-icloud-sync.html

Finder>Go>Go to Folder>copy & paste:

~/iCloud Drive (Archive)

iCloud Drive (Archive) - here you should find all your files

barrieberkshire wrote:

Thank you. What feature gets turned off? It looks to me that you’re saying not to turn off iCloud syncing. I agree - I’d lose my documents.

Not true. The documents have never moved. The storage they occupy on your drive still contains those documents. The Finder hides them in your home, and hard links are created in ~/Library/iCloud Drive so that they appear in iCloud Drive, not in your home.

When you disable syncing, it asks what you want to do with the documents.

If you leave them in iCloud Drive, the hard links in your home are deleted, but remain in iCloud Drive. When you move from iCloud Drive back to your home folder, the hard links are created in your home folders and deleted from iCloud Drive.

If you choose the archive option, the hard links in your home

are still removed, but new ones are created in the iCloud (Archive) folder in your Home folder.

In all of this process, not a single bit of the file storage is moved.

Add your Desktop and Documents files to iCloud Drive - Apple Support

Do you not have a backup?

When you turn off Desktop & Documents syncing in iCloud Settings, it will off the choice of leaving them in iCloud or saving them to an archive folder. Since the files have never actually moved on disk, I would leave them as they are in iCloud. Then, once the feature is off, copy them from the folders in iCloud Drive back to the folders in your home.

Since the files have never moved anywhere, the copy back will be almost instant.

barrieberkshire wrote:

Thank you. What feature gets turned off? It looks to me that you’re saying not to turn off iCloud syncing. I agree - I’d lose my documents.

For example, a file now sits in its place within my desktop HD - but is connected to the file in the Cloud.

If I try a drag and drop to an external disk the document file in the HD disappears.

Seems I’d have to export from the cloud hundreds of files.

Ventura is so different from Catalina - I’m not understanding how to maneuver around the Cloud.

Maybe a visit to an Apple Store?

As you are replying to yourself, it is best if I do not interrupt this conversation.

barrieberkshire wrote:

Thanks. I’ll check into it.

I'm not missing documents. It’s that I believe the “original” files are now in the Cloud - because when I drag and drop to an external drive the docs disappear from my HD. This is new with Ventura. Some docs need to be only in my HD independent if the Cloud.

Dragging a file out of iCloud will remove it from iCloud. It should warn that it will do this.