How to recover missing iCloud Drive files after a large restore on macOS Sequoia?

Question

CharlieChia Author

Level 1

4 points

How to recover missing iCloud Drive files after a large restore on macOS Sequoia?

All my iCloud Drive files disappeared across all devices.

Folder structures remain but contents are gone, including on iCloud.com.

This occurred during a very large restore (about 735 GB) on macOS Sequoia.

I believe this is an iCloud Drive backend sync corruption.

I believe Tier-2 iCloud Drive escalation immediately.” Any friend can advise?

[Re-Titled by Moderator]

Original Title: Missing Files in ICloud

MacBook Air 15″, macOS 15.7

Posted on Dec 22, 2025 6:21 PM

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Answer 1

TheLittles

Level 10

203,109 points

Dec 22, 2025 8:58 PM in response to CharlieChia

"How to recover missing iCloud Drive files after a large restore on macOS Sequoia?: All my iCloud Drive files disappeared across all devices. Folder structures remain but contents are gone, including on iCloud.com.[...]"

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Download All of iCloud:

One thought would be to download all of iCloud, and then search through it in Finder on a Mac. You would download it to an external drive, and then open the drive in Finder. Search through it using the search bar on the top-right corner of the Finder window, seeing if you can find these items. Use my user tip: Getting a Quick and Direct "iCloud Drive-to-External Hard Drive" Download - User Tip

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Answer 2

muguy

Level 10

91,214 points

Dec 26, 2025 1:50 PM in response to CharlieChia

You'll want to recover from your Time Machine, or similar, backups.

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