Missing desktop files from Mac which were syncing to icloud

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Level 1

4 points

Missing desktop files from Mac which were syncing to icloud

I have lost all the files I had on my MacBook desktop. I didn't realise that all the files I was saving on my desktop would temporarily be on the local SSD and sync to iCloud. I did not renew my iCloud subscription; I thought the data had been saved on the local SSD because it could take up the space. Now I open my laptop I find that all the files are not showing on the desktop. I renewed the subscription, but I can only see the folders in my iCloud drive that were on the desktop with no files in them.

Is anyone aware of how I can recover these files?

MacBook Pro 13″, macOS 14.6

Posted on Oct 2, 2025 3:33 AM

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Answer 1

muguy

Level 10

90,872 points

Oct 2, 2025 4:07 AM in response to clivate

Anything in iCloud is also on your device unless you elected to optimize storage. If you turned off desktop and documents, your files are moved to iCloud only and can be downloaded from iCloud or synced to your iCloud Drive on your Mac. If you see only folders and no files, the files may not have synced to iCloud. You’ll likely need to restore from your Time Machine(or similar) backup.

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