iCloud Drive loses files

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Level 1

5 points

iCloud Drive loses files

I copied all my folders to iCloud drive from my macbook pro running Yosemite. The folders contained all my documents (word, pdf, excel, powerpoint etc) in various subfolders. Since there were a large number of files, I copied them in stages, one folder at a time, although each of these folders contained a number of subfolders. In total, all the files amounted to about 20GB (I purchased 200GB of space) The uploads took a long time, but I waited till the progress bar against files in the top level folder showed that it upload was complete. I then went into Finder and deleted the original copies in my Documents folder on my local hard drive. I have now discovered that random files are missing from iCloud drive. Subfolders are either empty or contain only a fraction of the total number of files they are supposed to contain. The files that are missing are not only large files, many were under 100KB in size. Clicking on Get Info shows that only 8.12GB of data exist on iCloud Drive.

I work away from home a lot and had planned to access my files through iCloud drive. It is impossible to rely on it, if random files are lost (or fail to upload) with no notification at all. It is impossible to know which files are missing until I need them and then discover they no longer exist. My files were safer when i simply travelled with multiple hard drive back ups.

My question is - have I done something wrong or is this an inherent fault with iCloud drive? If it is the latter then I will simply have to avoid using it (and would value advice on reliable alternative options), because I cannot take such a risk with my data.

Thanks for your help

MacBook Pro (Retina, 13-inch, Late 2012), OS X Yosemite (10.10.2)

Posted on May 2, 2015 2:48 AM

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Answer 1

Ziatron

Level 5

4,186 points

May 2, 2015 8:59 AM in response to trewq321

I then went into Finder and deleted the original copies in my Documents folder on my local hard drive.

NO !!!

I work away from home a lot and had planned to access my files through iCloud drive. It is impossible to rely on it,

Cloud = Your stuff on someone else's hard drive. ANY data that is remotely important to you should be backed up in multiple locations, (the cloud can be one of those locations assuming you are not too worried about your files being compromised.)

>> My question is - have I done something wrong or is this an inherent fault with iCloud drive? <<

Any cloud system is subject to data loss or a complete malfunction. Apple's system is probably more reliable than others but still can fail.

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Answer 2

trewq321 Author

Level 1

5 points

May 2, 2015 9:32 AM in response to Ziatron

thank you for your reply. Maybe I should have been clearer. I don't use iCloud for backup - i have multiple other backups and wouldn't risk trusting iCloud as my only backup. All i wanted to do was to keep files i am currently using, on iCloud drive, thereby (theoretically at least) having an easier way of syncing them between my multiple laptops. It therefore makes no sense to keep two copies of any document on my laptop (one in iCloud drive and one in the documents folder), since there would then be a risk I may edit the one in the local hard drive, which would then not sync to my other laptop.

All I need to do, is to be able to reliably upload files and subfolders to iCloud drive.

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Answer 3

Ziatron

Level 5

4,186 points

May 2, 2015 9:39 AM in response to trewq321

All I need to do, is to be able to reliably upload files and subfolders to iCloud drive.

It sounds like you are using iCloud in the manner it was intended. I will encourage you though to have a local backup. You can indeed use the cloud to keep current copies of everything. However, be mindful of the fact that the cloud, (any cloud) can fail.

As you know, some people set up their own cloud systems for increased security.

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Answer 4

trewq321 Author

Level 1

5 points

May 2, 2015 9:47 AM in response to Ziatron

I am attempting to use iCloud drive, but it clearly does not work as described. Looking online, I note that i am not alone in paying for a service that simply fails to deliver. iCloud drive appears vastly inferior to and more unreliable than other options such as Dropbox. While nothing is perfect, it is reasonable to expect that services that are provided are fit for purpose and work as described - unfortunately, this is not the case with iCloud.

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Answer 5

May 9, 2015 3:31 AM in response to trewq321

All my files is stored on my Mac locally. That is presentations, wordfiles etc. I would like to have a syncronised copy in icloud so I can access them and use them when I am away from home.

How do I do that?

When I edit a document in Icloud, will the changes then alter my file on my Mac?

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