iCloud Backup?

[stefanmaine]

Oops.

Looking for how-to as regards backing up stuff on my iMac, I eventually went to System Settings>my name>iCloud>Desktop & Document Folders and turned that ON.

Update: Using it for a while, I want to turn it OFF.

Here's what it says: "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."

My questions:

Am I correct that to undo turning ON "Desktop & Documents Folders", I should go again to System Settings>my name>iCloud>Desktop & Folders and choose OFF (that is, slide the ON/OFF dot to the left).

If I am reading that instruction correctly, it sounds like I will then need to drag my "Desktop" and "Document" folders from iCloud to the iMac hard drive "Desktop" and "Documents".

Is that correct?

As always, I will very much appreciate any suggestions.

 

[IWT]

I'm afraid you are correct, as I understand things.

Turning ON is explained fairly clearly what that means - in fact you have quoted exactly what it does.

And, yes if you turn it OFF, there is a fair bit of work you will have to do if you want to return to the way things were before.

Sadly, you are not anywhere near the first to have become stuck as a consequence of turning it ON. Sorry.

Ian

 

[stefanmaine]

I was afraid of that. Thank you.

As an Apple/Mac fan, I am disappointed that "they" did not anticipate this happening and included a simple "undo" button ... which, ok, expires after, let's say, one day or even one hour.

I will wait a day or two before doing anything, in case there is someone among us who knows of a "magic" solution.

 

[stefanmaine]

Another question(s):

If I now go to Finder>Go>Documents there appears Users/my name/Documents below which are listed all the files (filenames) that were there before I went to System Settings>my name>iCloud>Desktop & Documents Folders and turned on ON.

Am I correct in understanding that all of those files are now not on my iMac, they are on iCloud?

Does that mean that the folders Desktop and Documents that used to be on my iMac no longer actually exist on my iMac?

In which case, if I undo what I have done (that is, if I go to System Settings>my name>iCloud>Desktop & Documents Folders and choose OFF), will the act of choosing System Settings>my name>iCloud>Desktop & Documents Folders>OFF "automatically" create (recreate) those two folders, albeit empty?

Apple instructions say "click the Finder icon in the Dock to open a Finder window, then navigate to where you want to create the folder."

If that is what I need to do, here is how I think I do that:
Click on Dock Finder>Locations>"myname's iMac">Users>myname>right click in the white space - choose "New Folder" (twice - once for "Desktop" and again for "Documents") and then rename the new folders from "New Folder" to "Desktop" and "Documents"?

Is that correct?

Also, does it make any difference that I am pretty sure that "Documents" used to be called "My Documents"? Is that an issue?

And, now, I need to say, Thank you for being here!

 

[MacInWin]

Another question(s):

If I now go to Finder>Go>Documents there appears Users/my name/Documents below which are listed all the files (filenames) that were there before I went to System Settings>my name>iCloud>Desktop & Documents Folders and turned on ON.

Am I correct in understanding that all of those files are now not on my iMac, they are on iCloud?

Does that mean that the folders Desktop and Documents that used to be on my iMac no longer actually exist on my iMac?

In which case, if I undo what I have done (that is, if I go to System Settings>my name>iCloud>Desktop & Documents Folders and choose OFF), will the act of choosing System Settings>my name>iCloud>Desktop & Documents Folders>OFF "automatically" create (recreate) those two folders, albeit empty?

Apple instructions say "click the Finder icon in the Dock to open a Finder window, then navigate to where you want to create the folder."

If that is what I need to do, here is how I think I do that:
Click on Dock Finder>Locations>"myname's iMac">Users>myname>right click in the white space - choose "New Folder" (twice - once for "Desktop" and again for "Documents") and then rename the new folders from "New Folder" to "Desktop" and "Documents"?

Is that correct?

Also, does it make any difference that I am pretty sure that "Documents" used to be called "My Documents"? Is that an issue?

And, now, I need to say, Thank you for being here!

You asked:

Are the documents NOT in Documents but in iCloud? Well, yes and no. If you have opened or looked into them recently they MAY be on the drive and not evicted yet ("evicted" is the term to refer to files moved to iCloud and replaced by small pointer files).

Are the Documents and Desktop that used to be there no longer there? Again, yes and no. Evicted files are not there. Recently used files may well be there.

Will turning off what you turned on recreate those two folders? Yes and no. Yes, they will be recreated. No, the files won't be in them, you'll have to move them there from where they go when the eviction is "undone," which is iCloud Drive.

You said:

Apple instructions say "click the Finder icon in the Dock to open a Finder window, then navigate to where you want to create the folder."

If that is what I need to do, here is how I think I do that:
Click on Dock Finder>Locations>"myname's iMac">Users>myname>right click in the white space - choose "New Folder" (twice - once for "Desktop" and again for "Documents") and then rename the new folders from "New Folder" to "Desktop" and "Documents"?

Is that correct?

You can make a shorter set of steps by opening Finder, then click on your account name in the left sidebar, then on the top menu bar, "File" and "New Folder" and create the two folders that way.

Apple never, as far as I know, called it "My Documents." That was a Windows name. You may have renamed it, but the default was "Documents."

 

[Rod]

Here is what I did;
Turned System Settings>my name>iCloud>Desktop & Documents Folders OFF.
confirm that new Desktop and Documents Folders (empty) have been added in the sidebar of a Finder window.
Open another Finder window.
Open iCloud Drive in that window and select the Documents folder, open that an check your contents are all there.
Now, open the empty Documents folder in the first Finder window.
Select ALL in the iCloud Drive version of your Documents folder and drag the files to the empty folder.

Repeat this for the Desktop Folder, don't overthink it, you are really just moving files from one folder to another.
You will be able to see the files loading in this view.

You may end up with empty Documents and Desktop folders in iCloud drive. I believe you can delete them after the process is complete but I didn't bother.

 

[stefanmaine]

MacInWin and Rod: Thank you both for your "relieving" clear responses! By relieving I mean reassuring me that what I have done I can undo. It is a relief.

Rod, you're right (of course) about "My Documents." I was on Windows for decades (actually, before that, on MS-DOS) and my wife still is, so "My Documents" is stuck in my head. Thanks for shaking it loose.

 

[MacInWin]

Yes, that is step 1. Turn it off. The downloading of the evicted files will start immediately. How long it takes for them to be downloaded depends on your internet connection and how busy the server is. Patience will be needed to let the process complete if the amount of data is large.

 

[stefanmaine]

Done!

Rod and MacInWin: I confirmed that the two of you seemed to agree on the principles, so I printed Rod's "Here is what I did" and did it.

Once again, I love this forum.

My compliments and my thanks to the two of you for being here.