Watch out for the new iCloud document sync in macOS Sierra

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Little by little we are telling you things about the news of the new MacOS Sierra. In a previous article we already talked about the new way of working that can be activated as soon as macOS Sierra is installed. We are talking about the possibility that now exists that you can have access from anywhere with your iOS device or from any Mac where you log in with your Apple ID to the files in the Documents folder and the files you have on your desktop. 

In this way, Apple is including more possibilities of saving in the space that we have contracted in the iCloud cloud. However, after having used this new functionality for a couple of days, We have to warn you of what may happen to you if you activated it and now decide to stop using it.

When you install macOS Sierra, the first thing the new system asks you when it first starts up is if we want to activate the saving of files from the Documents and Desktop folder in the iCloud cloud. The option is selected so if we accept it, all the files will be uploaded to the Apple cloud you have in both locations.

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In that same message, you are informed of the space that these files will occupy in the iCloud cloud. We must take into account what storage plan we have contracted in iCloud so that it does not overflow when we start uploading files. On the other hand we have to take into account What if what we do is have several computers with macOS Sierra And that option activated, what will happen is that the Documents and Desktop folders of both computers will be merged so that in both you will be able to have the same accessible files.

Now, I'm going to tell you what has happened to me. When I did the installation of the system, I accepted this new way of working to test it and the 3,88 GB that at that time I had in those folders that I have already indicated on several occasions began to upload automatically. When all the files finished uploading, I decided to go to System Preferences> iCloud> iCloud Drive and disable the option Desktop and Document Folders and I was surprised that when we decided to deactivate that utility we were informed of that the files will be removed from the computer, both in Documents and on Desktop and that will only remain available in iCloud. The user is also informed that iCloud documents will not be deleted if the user does not delete them from iCloud itself.

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So be careful because if your computer is full of your files and everything is copied to iCloud, if you deactivate the option, it will be removed not from iCloud but from your computer locally. We will continue testing this new way of working, but I think that with the passage of time Apple will have to modify its way of use. 


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  1.   Mikel said

    Ok I read here the answer to my question in the other post 😉 thanks for telling it, greetings

  2.   ines said

    It has happened to me, can it be solved in any way? I have backup copies but they are from several weeks ago so I have new documents that do not appear in those copies and that I need to keep. What a mess 🙁 of course they will have to fix this issue because it is not well raised. I would like to have the files back in their corresponding folders in the finder and not on the iCloud drive. If you know how to fix it please tell me.

    1.    Mikel said

      Ines, in principle you haven't lost anything. It has moved your "Documents" and "Desktop" (with everything they had inside) to the "iCloud" location, but only that, moved. You can find them there. But yes, you are right, in that they have not explained well how it goes and you get a huge scare at first ...

  3.   francis said

    If I install macOS sierra, can I delete all the files if I don't make a backup copy or can I install it without problem as in the software updates?

  4.   mlazarom said

    But can I do anything to get them back in the Finder? I don't want them in iCloud.

    1.    Iñaki said

      If instead of the Finder I use the Path Finder app, I can see the Documents folder on my computer, and not in the cloud, and when I open a file in the cloud, it appears again in the documents folder on the computer, which can only be seen in Path Finder. I don't know if this is a solution or all the documents will end up disappearing from the computer once I close them or don't use them for a while, really.
      I much preferred the old system of having them on my Mac and having them updated in iCloud.

  5.   Emilia said

    Hello! I canceled the upload in the middle and now they do not appear in iCloud or iMac. What I can do?

  6.   Pauli said

    Hello, a question: I updated my Mac to Sierra and now I cannot enter my username because when I put the password .. it starts to load and it stays stuck… what do I do?

  7.   Alejandro Estrada said

    I deactivated ICLOUD and it deleted all my DESKTOP files, I don't have a backup of anything .. what can I do? I need help, they are videos of my work and I am urgent to recover them 🙁

  8.   gleny said

    Good evening, I currently update the system of My MacBook Air to McOS Sierra and I find myself with the surprise that most of my images disappeared, there are only the folders and empty I do not know what to do I do not find anything, you could help me orient me what to do
    agradecere them much
    regards

  9.   Aida said

    What I have done to keep them on the computer and in the cloud is the following (although it may be fewer steps, but that's how I did):
    - Activate synchronization
    - Wait for all the files to download themselves to the computer (The progress is seen in the Finder)
    - Uncheck the box under Optimize storage on Mac, leaving syncing enabled.

    I have been able to access the documents from the computer by turning it on without Wi-Fi, so I assume they are stored there. The snapshot also continues to be saved to iCloud

  10.   Luis said

    Hello .. How do I access the files that I send to iclud, I don't know which application to use to see them

  11.   Ale C said

    Hello! I have had the same problem, now I have OS Catalina. I followed the instructions that I put here (x System Preferences> iCloud> iCloud Drive and deactivate the Desktop and Documents Folders option). I gave OK to the legend that they will be deleted from my computer. Then the Documents and desktop icons were deleted from the finder sidebar and a document folder appeared in that same bar but already on my computer. Then I got the legend that if I wanted to delete the documents from my iCloud I had to drag the folders from my iCloud folder to my Documents folder on my computer. I did so and there was no problem. Nothing was deleted and everything is no longer being automatically uploaded to iCloud. 🙂

  12.   Anna Zamora said

    That happened to me and now all my files are on Icloud. Is there a way to return entire folders to the desktop without having to download each file from iCloud?