I pressed optimise storage in the middle of trying to get an assignment completed.

Ive now spent more than an hour trying to get access to my files to upload them. There are clouds, arrows, circles next to the files and none of the fixes work. So I clicked turn off optimisation and the files COMPLETELY DISAPPEARED from my computer. Is there a better computer system that anyone knows of. Please help or at least commiserate.



[Edited by Moderator]

MacBook Air 13″, macOS 15.6

Posted on Sep 3, 2025 06:52 AM

Reply
1 reply

Sep 3, 2025 07:55 AM in response to Brindieye

Brindieye wrote: … Is there a better computer system that anyone knows of.

For pretty much any computer system, it pays to read the directions before doing something new that you are unfamiliar with. Even when I'm just messing around trying to figure something out on my own, I try not to put anything valuable at risk. But, even so, most of us have managed to do something stupid and lose important stuff.


It sounds like there is little hope in knowing exactly what you did. Have you looked at the iCloud Drive at iCloud.com? If you gave it some time, some of your stuff might have made it there.

I pressed optimise storage in the middle of trying to get an assignment completed.

Welcome to Apple Support Community
A forum where Apple customers help each other with their products. Get started with your Apple Account.