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My new MacBook Air crashed and had to be factory reset. All of my files are in iCloud. I’d like to restore my computer without having to transfer every file manually. Is this possible? Thanks!
MacBook Air (M2, 2022)
If the computer was factory reset, that might not have affected anything that was being synchronized through iCloud. You can see what is in iCloud by logging into the Web interface at: https://www.icloud.com/ .
If your stuff is still there, then once you set up your computer again, and reconnect it to iCloud, it will begin to download local copies of the stuff in iCloud.
Note that iCloud is not a backup for your entire computer. Your photos might be there, and files that you had synchronized through iCloud Drive. (Even possibly Desktop and Documents folder files if you were previously synchronizing those places through iCloud.). But there could be a lot of files on your computer that will be just gone, if you didn't have a real backup.
I don't believe you can restore a computer. iCloud is a syncing mechanism for computers, not a backup and, if you delete something from your laptop, it will delete them in icloud.
I cannot find any information re. a restore for Mac OS using icloud, so back up your stuff to an external hard drive before you do anything else.
Thanks!
How to restore my MacBook air from iCloud?
