WTF has iCloud Drive done with all my files?

[Rob.G]

Last year I upgraded my iCloud storage and decided to move a bunch of files there from Dropbox, after Dropbox decided to limit their free account to only three systems.

Not long after, I changed my mind because it was a PITA to deal with, so I coped the files back down and deleted the stuff of of iCloud.

Or so I thought.

Today I went looking for some old files that I NEED VERY BADLY and have found that when I copied them back locally, they weren't actually copied. No, Apple for some unknown reason thought it'd be a good idea to copy POINTERS to the files rather than the files themselves. But worse, it LIES ABOUT IT. If you look at the files in Finder, they look normal. They have a normal size. But if you try to open the, they don't open. If you go into Terminal you see that the files are ACTUALLY named something like .myfile.icloud and if you look inside them, there's some garbage that sorta looks like a pointer.

So WHAT THE HELL DID APPLE DO WITH MY FILES? It had no problem deleting them from iCloud drive, but sure as hell wouldn't let me have them back when I needed them. I have now lost YEARS of important files thanks to this crap.

This is enough to make it abandon Apple entirely (after eleven years) and go back to Windows.

 

[Smith288]

Perhaps contact Apple?

 

[Fishrrman]

The OP's plight is why I have NEVER trusted "the cloud" (Apple's iCloud or anybody else's cloud) for important files that I value highly.

If you don't have 'em on a disk that you can hold in your hand (with a backup, as well)...
... you don't have 'em.

 

[NoBoMac]

Well, if you are still within 30 days of deleting the files, there is a possibility of getting them/some back.

In iCloud.com > iCloud Drive, lower right is "Restore Deleted". Will get a list of what might be recoverable.

As to the pointers, I would not go as far as saying they lie about it. They do document this in their manual pages. Eg.

System Information User Guide for Mac

In System Information on your Mac, create a system report.

support.apple.com

When space is needed, it keeps files, photos and videos, Apple TV movies and shows, and email attachments in iCloud and makes them available on demand. Files don’t take up space on your Mac, and you can download the original files when you need them. Recent files and optimized versions of your photos are always on your Mac.

And they mention it in Settings > Apple ID > iCloud.

Hard to say what went wrong, since do not know what steps were done to download the files, and how many GB of files you have vs. size of the internal drive.

But to sorta echo @Fishrrman, one needs to keep the important/archival stuff backed up, not rely on a single point of failure to foul everything up. Where we do diverge is I have no problem with cloud storage for important files, just that I have copies in three different cloud services. And limited use of cloud services for active/for-reference/limited editing documents when away from home.

 

[circatee]

Not to detract from providing an answer.
But, you do have another copy on a drive or alternate cloud storage somewhere, no?

 

[Apple_Robert]

Not to detract from providing an answer.
But, you do have another copy on a drive or alternate cloud storage somewhere, no?

You would be shocked how many Apple veterans don't backup properly like they should.

 

[kaardowiq]

You would be shocked how many Apple veterans don't backup properly like they should.

Yep, me. Stopped any local backups, just cloud and its recovery features. Fine with it, it just works. Probably only until a sudden foul-up. But I trust a cloud backup strategy more than my own… or better said, my backup strategy I can afford

 

[Apple_Robert]

Yep, me. Stopped any local backups, just cloud and its recovery features. Fine with it, it just works. Probably only until a sudden foul-up. But I trust a cloud backup strategy more than my own… or better said, my backup strategy I can afford

Do you use more than one cloud storage provider for backups? If not, strongly consider it as it is very economical to have two providers these days.

 

[0128672]

It almost sounds like you had iCloud Documents & Desktop enabled. A few years ago, I experienced the same thing after turning it off, not realizing how it worked. I had other backups, but I swore off using D&D again.

Here’s Apple’s description about it:

”What happens when you turn off Desktop and Documents
When you turn off Desktop & Documents Folders, your files stay in iCloud Drive and a new Desktop and Documents folder is created on your Mac in the home folder. You can move files from iCloud Drive to your Mac as you need them, or select all of your files and drag them to the place you want to keep them.”

Add your Desktop and Documents files to iCloud Drive - Apple Support

Learn how to share your files from your Mac Desktop and Documents folders to all of your devices with iCloud Drive.

support.apple.com

 

[kaardowiq]

Do you use more than one cloud storage provider for backups? If not, strongly consider it as it is very economical to have two providers these days.

No, only iCloud (just migrated two weeks ago). Was using G before, but without unlimited storage I had to pay, therefore I switched to iCloud. First time I’m using iCloud services except of iMessage - I’m not disappointed.

 

[Apple_Robert]

No, only iCloud (just migrated two weeks ago). Was using G before, but without unlimited storage I had to pay, therefore I switched to iCloud. First time I’m using iCloud services except of iMessage - I’m not disappointed.

Take a look at the following cloud backup providers. You really should have a least 2 different providers, in my opinion.
1) Sync.com - Not S3 compatible but, excellent security and privacy with 5GB free. Good Mac app offered.
2) Wasabi - S3 compatible offering quick cloud file availability. You are charged $6.95 / tb / month.

 

[kaardowiq]

Would prefer Google, had 8,4TB used and stripped it down by deleting src videos to 1,3TB with only final shots/pics. The reason for cloud is that I can access all files on all devices from everywhere. But maybe I create a local backup on an external drive. Then it will be interesting regarding the initial problem of the original thread owner since I do not have fullversions on my system (only 256GB).

 

[planteater]

For years you haven't maintained backups of important data?

 

[kaardowiq]

For years you haven't maintained backups of important data?

Only cloud, where they’re backed up.

 

[alisalem]

Well, if you are still within 30 days of deleting the files, there is a possibility of getting them/some back.

In iCloud.com > iCloud Drive, lower right is "Restore Deleted". Will get a list of what might be recoverable.

This only works if you haven't emptied your local trash. If you did, your files are gone and you won't be able to see them on iCloud.com. It's one of my biggest gripes with iCloud Drive.

 

[alisalem]

This is likely what happened.. you didn't have your iCloud files downloaded locally — because you probably had "Optimize Mac Storage" turned on in settings. All major cloud storage services have a similar feature to save local disk space.

You then ended up copying pointers to cloud files, and not the actual files to your Dropbox. When you delete those pointers, you tell iCloud to delete the file, otherwise things would be out of sync between your device and the cloud. Again, nothing special here — all major cloud storage services do that.

The biggest issue with iCloud, however, is that it also syncs your local trash bin. So if you clear your trash, your files are gone from iCloud.com.

Other than that, it's entirely your fault, even though it was accidental. It's always better to have at least two backups of important files.

 

[Nhwhazup]

When I save to the iCloud drive, I also save to the Google My Drive and to a portable hard drive - at least I try to remember the 2nd two places. My first and "go to" place is the files in iCloud.

 

[planteater]

Only cloud, where they’re backed up.

So maybe Apple could do a better job educating users of iCloud Drive, as to what it is and is not. It is a sync service. It is not a backup service.

 

[Nhwhazup]

So maybe Apple could do a better job educating users of iCloud Drive, as to what it is and is not. It is a sync service. It is not a backup service.

I use the files system on iCloud and have had no issues.

 

[planteater]

I use the files system on iCloud and have had no issues.

I do too. For me it’s been reliable and a great means of keeping files in sync between my MacBook and iPhone. But using a separate backup methodology is prudent.

 

[Nhwhazup]

I do too. For me it’s been reliable and a great means of keeping files in sync between my MacBook and iPhone. But using a separate backup methodology is prudent.

Yes, definitely need to always have at least one backup and preferably two.

 

[synicalx1]

I feel like this thread is a great opportunity to remind everyone of a very simple and easy to remember backup rule that will save you from situations exactly like this. Always remember "3 2 1";

3 Total copies of your data
On at least 2 different kinds of storage
And at least 1 of them is stored in a totally different location to the rest.

A very simple example of this would be 1 copy on your Mac, 1 copy on Time Machine, and 1 in iCloud. Unfortunately that's also a bad example as it puts two of them in the same failure domain (your iCloud account), so I'd suggest putting at least one copy entirely outside of the Apple Ecosystem.