Hornbymac Author

Level 1

4 points

Files missing in Time Machine backup

I tried to help a friend with their 2015 Macbook Pro. I made a Time Machine backup, erased the drive, did a clean install of Mac OS Monterey, and then migrated the data back from Time Machine. Unfortunately something didn't work and the Documents and Downloads folders are missing. Also the Desktop items are missing. These folders appear as a page icon in the Finder sidebar and do not open. When I look for the missing folders in the Time Machine backup, they don't appear as folders either.

Any help with this would be greatly appreciated!

Thank you.

Posted on Mar 27, 2024 6:41 PM

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5 replies

Hornbymac Author

Level 1

4 points

Mar 29, 2024 4:26 PM in response to Grant Bennet-Alder

This was fixed by creating a new user account. The missing folders reappeared on both the new account and the original.

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Mar 28, 2024 5:02 AM in response to Hornbymac

You can't look inside Time machine backups using Finder.

what does Time machine app say?

post a screenshot of the Documents folder according to Time machine.app

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Mar 27, 2024 6:52 PM in response to Hornbymac

You can't look inside Time machine backups using Finder. What you will see is only the files backed up on that particular date, and nothing more.

To see time machine files in detail use Time Machine.app (not to be confused with time machine control panel).

you will get a display of the current folder, wth a view of older views receding back into time, like this older one:

...

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Hornbymac Author

Level 1

4 points

Mar 27, 2024 8:01 PM in response to Grant Bennet-Alder

This was the first and only Time Machine backup of this system. Any idea why the Documents and Downloads are missing?

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Mar 29, 2024 6:51 PM in response to Hornbymac

Good work staying on it, and seeing it through to a solution!

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Files missing in Time Machine backup

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