How to find files in documents & desktop folders after disabling icloud sync

Since 2016, Apple allows us to synchronize the contents of the Documents folder and the Desktop through iCloud. In this way, all the files on our Mac will always be up-to-date and available in a new folder stored in iCloud Drive. However, what happens when we decide to stop using this function? How can we recover all those files?

Fear not, your files are always safe in iCloud

When we activate this function, in the event that storage space becomes scarce on our Mac, macOS will delete the files from the local storage based on the oldest files with the least use, always making sure that a copy exists in iCloud Drive. Thus, you can find all the contents of the Desktop and Documents folders through iCloud Drive on any Mac where you have enabled the function.

If we choose to stop using syncing in iCloud, all the files in these two locations, Documents and Desktop, disappear from local storage, but remain in iCloud Drive. How then to recover these files and move them to their original locations?

1. Open iCloud Drive on your Mac. Open the Desktop folder in iCloud Drive, select Edit> Select all or press Command + A, and then drag the contents to the desktop so they are copied. Open the Documents folder in iCloud Drive, select Edit> Select all or press Command + A, and then drag the content to the Documents folder on your Mac.

If you want to delete the copy of iCloud Drive while restoring your files, you just have to hold down the Command key while dragging the files. This action is equivalent to "copy to a new location and delete from the previous location" instead of simply "copy to a new location, thus saving you from having to reselect all the files to delete them later.

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