iCloud documents not syncing

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Level 1

12 points

iCloud documents not syncing

I have a MacBook Air, iPhone, and iMac. All of them are set up with iCloud to sync documents folder and all the Apple apps (Notebook, Mail, etc). I was working on my MacBook Air during the whole trip. I came home expecting that all of my document work would update automatically on my iMac, but the documents were the old versions. I consulted all of the help pages and they all say to toggle icloud documents on/off, but I didn't want to do that because it says all of the documents will be removed from the computer (see screenshot...I have no idea why the screenshot is appearing 10x actual size...sorry). So I have started comparing the screens on my MacBook Air and iMac and visually/manually entering all of the document changes that I made during the three weeks away. I have three questions: 1) how do I get icloud document syncing working? 2) once I get it working, what will happen to the changes in the documents on my MacBook Air that were changed during my trip? 3) once I get it working, what will happen to the changes in the documents on my iMac that I manually added after my trip? Thank you

MacBook Air, macOS 13.3

Posted on May 18, 2023 07:38 AM

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Answer 1

tygb

Level 9

64,974 points

May 18, 2023 10:06 AM in response to tturiano

See the articles If document versions conflict in iCloud Drive on Mac - Apple Support

Store files in iCloud Drive on Mac - Apple Support

Store your Desktop and Documents folders in iCloud Drive

You can have all the files in your Desktop and Documents folders stored automatically in iCloud Drive. That way, you can save files right where you usually keep them, and they become available on all your devices and iCloud.com.

On your Mac, choose Apple menu > System Settings, then click [your name] at the top of the sidebar. If you don’t see your name, click Sign in with your Apple ID to enter your Apple ID or to create one.
Click iCloud on the right, click iCloud Drive, then make sure iCloud Drive is turned on.
Turn on Desktop & Documents Folders.
If this option isn’t shown, click Options, then select Desktop & Documents Folders.
Click Done.

After you turn on Desktop & Documents Folders, your Desktop and Documents folders are moved into iCloud Drive. They also appear in the iCloud section of the Finder sidebar on your Mac, and in the Files app on your iPhone or iPad. See the Apple Support article Find files on your iPhone or iPad in the Files app.

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Answer 2

tygb

Level 9

64,974 points

May 18, 2023 08:45 PM in response to tturiano

What you are trying to turn off iCloud Drive or desktops and documents box , this will archive the previous files / documents already stored in iCloud in home folder .

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Answer 3

tturiano Author

Level 1

12 points

May 18, 2023 07:48 AM in response to tturiano

I forgot to mention that Notebook, Mail, Contacts, Passwords, Calendar, etc (all the Apple Apps) synced up as expected when I turned on my iMac upon returning home....

....actually, not everything is syncing. Just Calendar and Contacts, not Notebook or Passwords

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Answer 4

tturiano Author

Level 1

12 points

May 18, 2023 04:06 PM in response to tygb

Thanks...the info on the help page you sent is essentially what I have done, but still helpful to know I did it right. Although, my iMac never presented me with the option to save/delete the conflicted versions. And, I am still having trouble with the syncing. In fact, since I entered the first post above, now all the Notes on my iMac have disappeared. They're still there on my iphone and my MacBook, and these two seem to be syncing just fine. As far as I can see, the settings are correct on my iMac to make things sync properly, and it had always worked fine prior to the trip I just took. I had/have not made any changes to settings. Is there no way to 'force sync' ??

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Answer 5

May 19, 2023 06:53 AM in response to tturiano

I am almost constantly having this issue now. I have a 2018 MacBook Air, iPhone 12, iPad Pro 3rd Generation, all running the latest systems. First the iPad quite syncing documents. I had to sign out and sign back in. The iPad even said I had 6 unsynced documents. No idea what they were but they are lost now.

Everything was fine for awhile and now the Documents folder and Notes are not syncing on the laptop. I am on the road and afraid to try this sign out and sign back in solution. Seems like there is a reasonable chance to either lose everything or have it duplicated. I don't need that in the middle of a job.

I know I am not offering any real solution but hopefully someone in this thread knows why this keeps happening. Personally I wish Apple would quite developing cars and VR headsets and learn to cloud sync or just give it up all together.

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Answer 6

tturiano Author

Level 1

12 points

May 18, 2023 08:04 AM in response to tturiano

...I have double checked the settings on both my MacBook and iMac...iCloud is turned on for all of these apps.

...I'm using 13.3.1 on both my iMac and MacBook

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iCloud documents not syncing

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