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RobinTracy

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Oct 30, 2018
7
0
My cursor was changing sizes and jumping around yesterday, and I found that resetting the PRAM and NVRAM might cure the problem. I performed the reset, and a folder I had named "Documents2" disappeared. I had used to folder to avoid using iCloud. The folder was very important, and I really need it back. (The trashcan appears to be empty.)
 
same thing (resetting pram/nvram); and you sure you didn't have System Preferences>Accessibility>Display>Shake mouse pointer to locate turned on?

where was Documents2? desktop? documents? and is it something you can restore from time machine?
 
same thing (resetting pram/nvram); and you sure you didn't have System Preferences>Accessibility>Display>Shake mouse pointer to locate turned on?

where was Documents2? desktop? documents? and is it something you can restore from time machine?

Thanks for responding,

Yes, I had "Shake mouse pointer to locate" turned on. (How might that have messed me up?)

As far as I could tell, the folder was in the home directory. I know that it wasn't in either Desktop or Documents.
 
so, on the root level of the home folder? ie Desktop, Documents, Documents2...? have you searched for 'documents2'? and checked the icloud drive options (in Settings>iCloud)? last... are your other files & folders where they should be?

a single folder shouldn't just disappear...
 
Might be a silly question but just in case... did you definitely log in under the same account? Had you been using the guest account?
 
Thanks for responding,

Yes, I had "Shake mouse pointer to locate" turned on. (How might that have messed me up?)

As far as I could tell, the folder was in the home directory. I know that it wasn't in either Desktop or Documents.
so, on the root level of the home folder? ie Desktop, Documents, Documents2...? have you searched for 'documents2'? and checked the icloud drive options (in Settings>iCloud)? last... are your other files & folders where they should be?

a single folder shouldn't just disappear...

I've looked everywhere for Documents2, including iCloud. I've also tried to ascertain whether other folders are missing, but I haven't become aware of any.

And yes, my other files and folders appear to be as I left them.

I also agree that a single folder shouldn't just disappear. Maybe because I had it listed in the folders that automatically come up to search in Finder...? Maybe I had too many files in the folder - about 500.
[doublepost=1542406774][/doublepost]
Might be a silly question but just in case... did you definitely log in under the same account? Had you been using the guest account?

No, I wasn't in the guest account. (I never use it.) But I wish it could've been that easy!
 
you've searched for it in spotlight?? no reason 500 files would be 'too many'. you might go to the app store, download 'easyfind'... it can find files even spotlight can't.

do you have it backed up with time machine? you could, at least, restore it from the last save.
 
you've searched for it in spotlight?? no reason 500 files would be 'too many'. you might go to the app store, download 'easyfind'... it can find files even spotlight can't.

do you have it backed up with time machine? you could, at least, restore it from the last save.

I didn't have sense enough to back up using time machine or anything else. My own fault!!! I'm headed to download 'easyfind' right now. I'll let you know if it works for me.

Thanks
[doublepost=1542409192][/doublepost]I just downloaded and used EasyFind (searching for folders that end en the numeral 2), and found nothing.

And yes, I used Spotlight first.
 
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besides the obvious point about backing up (& honestly, it's hard to understand why anyone wouldn't have a backup plan)... can you confirm that your other files & folders are still there? because, again, a single folder shouldn't just vanish...

did you select Macintosh HD in easyfind to search? (not just your user or home folder)... and try searching 'files and folders'. and perhaps turn on 'invisible files & folders'...
 
besides the obvious point about backing up (& honestly, it's hard to understand why anyone wouldn't have a backup plan)... can you confirm that your other files & folders are still there? because, again, a single folder shouldn't just vanish...

did you select Macintosh HD in easyfind to search? (not just your user or home folder)... and try searching 'files and folders'. and perhaps turn on 'invisible files & folders'...

I hadn't selected Macintosh HD for "files and folders" in EasyFind, specifying "invisible files and folders", so I went back and searched once more. Still no luck. Unfortunately, I will probably never be able to confirm whether anything else was lost because I'm not sure enough of what my file structure looked like and what files were present at the time of the glitch. All I can say is that it looks like everything else is still there.
 
did you have files on the desktop, and (i guess) those are still there? it's hard to figure out what happened from here, but... are there files in your documents folder? otherwise, it's time for someone else to chime in (or perhaps, a call to apple). there has to be some explanation for this.

good luck!
 
Yes, there are files in my documents folder and on my desktop.

I really appreciate your time and effort on this problem. :) I, too, am about ready to throw in the towel. :(
 
next step: a 1 or 2TB external drive; format it for your mac, setup time machine. (plus, if it were me, i'd keep looking. or call apple. or something).
 
next step: a 1 or 2TB external drive; format it for your mac, setup time machine. (plus, if it were me, i'd keep looking. or call apple. or something).

You got that right! I'll be getting one tomorrow, and I'll have no problem formatting it correctly. I've never used time machine before, so I'll be sure to RTM.
 
Yes, there are files in my documents folder and on my desktop.

I really appreciate your time and effort on this problem. :) I, too, am about ready to throw in the towel. :(
I suspect you added a period to the beginning of the folder name by accident which turned it into a hidden folder.

Go into finder and look for the option to view hidden files and folders. You can also use terminal to view hidden folders by executing ls -la in the last known location of your Documents2 folder.
 
I suspect you added a period to the beginning of the folder name by accident which turned it into a hidden folder.

Go into finder and look for the option to view hidden files and folders. You can also use terminal to view hidden folders by executing ls -la in the last known location of your Documents2 folder.

that was the point of using easyfind to search for invisible folders & files... but, yes, wondered about that too...
 
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