iCloud iCloud deleted all the Desktop and Documents files from my iMac. What's the best way to restore them?

[theorist9]

I have a 2019 i9 iMac running MacOS Sequoia 15.5. I'm using a 1.8 TB partition (out of 2 TB). Before installing iCloud, the partition had 700 GB free.

According to Apple Support:

"Store older documents in iCloud when space is needed​

Your Mac can automatically store documents in iCloud when more space is needed. If space is not needed, the full contents of iCloud Drive remain on your Mac." [emphasis mine]

Given I have 700 GB free, I expected it would leave all my locally-stored files as-is, and create copies of my Desktop and Documents folders on Apple's servers, providing me with a remote backup. What it did instead was to move all the files from those folders to the cloud, deleting them from my computer in the process.

I was frankly shocked that Apple would do something so drastic and invasive — deleting all my locally-stored Documents and Desktop files — both without my permission, and seemingly against its stated documentation.

I confirmed the deletion by searching for a random selection of the files after disconnecting the computer from the internet—the search comes up empty.

This has created an enormous headache, since it's broken numerous links and macros I've created that depend on those files being in those folders. It also means when I need to open a big file, it takes much longer than it did when accessing the file from my internal SSD. And if the internet goes down (as it does occasionally), I don't have access to my files.

And it means that iCloud isn't a remote backup at all, thus defeating the whole point of having it. Rather, it's just an alternate place to store my files. To be a backup, it would have to be a copy of the master. If you delete the master, and are left with just a copy, that's not a backup! And note that iCloud isn't foolproof. People have lost access to their iCloud files (glitches do happen).

I do have local backups from before this fiasco, but it will be difficult to merge the last state of my locally-stored files on those backups with the state of my files today.

Thus I'm hoping I will be able to download all the files iCloud has removed, and end my ill-fated relationship with iCloud.

Questions:
1) What is the best way to retrieve my files? There seem to be two ways to do this: R-click each of the Desktop and Documents folders in iCloud Drive and select either "Download Now" and "Keep Downloaded". I'm now trying the latter. Is that the best approach? There is Apple documentation on this, but I've learned not to trust it.

2) Why on earth would Apple design iCloud to work this way? I don't understand why Apple would delete all a customer's Desktop and Document files from their Mac without first being very sure this was what the customer wanted. It simply seems bizarre.


Here are my actual settings. Note that nowhere does it mention removing files from the Mac except in the case when one has run out of local storage—and that certainly doesn't apply when there's 700 GB free space. Further, even if I were out of space, it's supposed to move only the oldest files off my computer, not all of them!

 

[Bigwaff]

And it means that iCloud isn't a remote backup at all, thus defeating the whole point of having it. Rather, it's just an alternate place to store my files. To be a backup, it would have to be a copy of the master. If you delete the master, and are left with just a copy, that's not a backup! And note that iCloud isn't foolproof. People have lost access to their iCloud files (glitches do happen).

Master now iCloud. You understand it now, iCloud is not a backup solution. Never intended to be.

Use Cirrus to discover state of your iCloud files

Cirrus & Bailiff

Cirrus – takes control of iCloud, investigates and diagnoses its problems Updated! Cirrus has four main functions. It can download and evict (from local storage) items stored in iCloud so tha…

eclecticlight.co

 

[theorist9]

Master now iCloud. You understand it now, iCloud is not a backup solution. Never intended to be.

Neither is Time Machine—it's more properly considered a versioning system, rather than a true backup system, since its complexity decreases its robustness. Still, using TM doesn't cause your master to be deleted.

Likewise, the fact that iCloud is a syncing solution rather than a backup solution is no excuse for it deleting the master, particularly when such deletion is in contravention to its own documentation:

Use Cirrus to discover state of your iCloud files

Cirrus & Bailiff

Cirrus – takes control of iCloud, investigates and diagnoses its problems Updated! Cirrus has four main functions. It can download and evict (from local storage) items stored in iCloud so tha…

eclecticlight.co

Thanks for the link. Oakley confirms what I found:

"While the wording displayed might suggest that eviction is only performed when local free space becomes low, that isn’t accurate, and macOS may decide to evict files that haven’t been accessed for a long while, and others seemingly at random."

 

[Bigwaff]

Neither is Time Machine—it's more properly considered a versioning system, rather than a true backup system, since its complexity decreases its robustness.

We'll have to agree to disagree on these points until what constitutes the features of "a true backup system" are enumerated. As for complexity, is not TM's "set it and forget it" easy enough for every user regardless of their level of computing comfort and knowledge?

the fact that iCloud is a syncing solution rather than a backup solution is no excuse for it deleting the master,

If you have multiple Apple devices, all syncing and accessing the files in iCloud, does not iCloud storage implicitly become the "master" and clients just a local cache?

Either way, I sincerely hope you get your iCloud situation addressed to your liking. No doubt iCloud can be finicky which leads to frustration. Its lack of transparency regarding the state of sync certainly contributes.

 

[theorist9]

We'll have to agree to disagree on these points until what constitutes the features of "a true backup system" are enumerated. As for complexity, is not TM's "set it and forget it" easy enough for every user regardless of their level of computing comfort and knowledge?

You've misunderstood my post. I never said its complexity makes it more complex to use. I said its complexity makes it less robust:

its complexity decreases its robustness.

In fact, I think TM is an excellent versioning system, that is easy to use and provides a very nicely-designed interface.

But acheiving that requires complex and sophisticated code. And as a code becomes more complex, it becomes more prone to failure. This is true of any system. I've found that my TM backups occasionally become corrupt and unusuable, forcing me to erase the drive and start over. Many others have reported this as well. By contrast, I've never experienced that with my Carbon Copy Cloner backups.

While anecotal, this tells me that TM is more properly thought of as a versioning system, and shouldn't be relied upon as your primary backup. For that, one should use dedicated backup software.

If you have multiple Apple devices, all syncing and accessing the files in iCloud, does not iCloud storage implicitly become the "master"

That's just semantics. It doesn't matter if you can now call the iCloud the master, since the issue I raised remains: If iCloud deletes the local storage, then you only have one version of your files (not including any secondary backups you may have).

Regardless of what semantics you use, the fact is that by deleting the original master (the local storage), iCloud becomes a version with no backup. That's the fundamental problem.