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Where did my Documents and Desktop folders go?

I'm quite confused. I want my Documents to be on my OWN HARD DRIVE and also on iCloud. But I absolutely want all my documents on my hard drive. Both folders have disappeared from the hard drive. The Downloads folder is still on my OWN HARD DRIVE, but not those other two.

Posted on Mar 26, 2023 7:32 AM

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Posted on Mar 26, 2023 6:53 PM

Click on finder and open its preferences > under side bar section check mark documents and desktops box Change preferences in the Finder on Mac - Apple Support

By default these two folders are in iCloud section Folders that come with your Mac - Apple Support

Important: Your home folder and certain other folders can’t be renamed. It’s best not to rename or move folders that came with your Mac. Many of these folders have special uses and are necessary for your Mac to function correctly.

And not under Macintosh HD , however you can follow the steps to move some of files to other locations Work with folders and files in iCloud Drive - Apple Support


4 replies
Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Mar 26, 2023 6:53 PM in response to Pamela Mullen2

Click on finder and open its preferences > under side bar section check mark documents and desktops box Change preferences in the Finder on Mac - Apple Support

By default these two folders are in iCloud section Folders that come with your Mac - Apple Support

Important: Your home folder and certain other folders can’t be renamed. It’s best not to rename or move folders that came with your Mac. Many of these folders have special uses and are necessary for your Mac to function correctly.

And not under Macintosh HD , however you can follow the steps to move some of files to other locations Work with folders and files in iCloud Drive - Apple Support


Mar 26, 2023 7:34 AM in response to Pamela Mullen2

Anything in iCloud is also on your Mac (unless you elect to optimize in which case some files may be offloaded to the cloud only).


If you turn on Desktop and Documents, those folders are then uploaded to iCloud for synchronization. Nothing is removed from your Mac. Your folders have not disappeared, they have simply been moved under iCloud Drive.

Where did my Documents and Desktop folders go?

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