How do I undo “Store in iCloud” for Desktop & Documents on macOS?

Question

How do I undo “Store in iCloud” for Desktop & Documents on macOS?

I accidentally enabled “Sync Desktop and Documents folder” for my Desktop and Documents, then quickly turned it off. But iCloud still uploaded everything, and now I can’t find a Desktop or Documents folder in iCloud Drive.

How can I restore all my files back to my MacBook Pro without messing up their original created/modified dates?

What’s the best practice for reversing this and getting everything off iCloud and back onto local storage?

!! By the way, I noticed I ran out of storage so I paid for an increased capacity, and iCloud started syncing again. I wanted to do this to assure all my local files actually made it to iCloud before I brought them back and turned of synching.

Thank you

MacBook Pro 13″, macOS 15.7

Posted on Dec 14, 2025 10:27 AM

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Answer 1

Dec 14, 2025 10:51 AM in response to frankfromsouth pasadena

frankfromsouth pasadena wrote: … iCloud still uploaded everything, and now I can’t find a Desktop or Documents folder in iCloud Drive.

I don't understand this. If everything was uploaded, where is it uploaded to if not in the Desktop and Documents folders in iCloud Drive? If you go to iCloud.com and look in the iCloud Drive there, do you not see the Desktop and Documents folders? If you do see them, then they should be visible in iCloud Drive on your Mac.

What is supposed to happen when you turn off Desktop and Documents is that the folders remain, but they no longer operate like Desktop and Documents folders-- the Desktop folder contents no longer appear on your Desktop, for instance. New Desktop and Documents folders appear in your User's folder, and those work normally-- but they're empty! You can drag the contents of the iCloud Desktop folder to the User's Desktop folder, so they disappear from iCloud and begin showing up on your computer's Desktop.

How exactly is your situation different?

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Answer 2

Dec 14, 2025 11:43 AM in response to Richard.Taylor

@Richard.Taylor

Sorry but your response is not clear. Can you try again?

I thought my question was very straightforward - click sync by mistake. Docs and Desktop does not show in iCloud. I turned off. Docs still in iCloud. Do I just copy them back, but will that alter the created modified dates of the files.

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Answer 3

Dec 14, 2025 11:55 AM in response to frankfromsouth pasadena

frankfromsouth pasadena wrote: …I thought my question was very straightforward

I thought so, too, but apparenlty not.

I asked, "How exactly is your situation different?"

I asked, "If everything was uploaded, where is it uploaded to if not in the Desktop and Documents folders in iCloud Drive?"

Are you saying that there is no difference between my description of what happens and what you saw happen?

See: Understanding iCloud Drive - Apple Community

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Answer 4

Dec 14, 2025 9:20 PM in response to Richard.Taylor

I see Documents and Desktop in the right hand nav of the finder, or via iCloud Drive. However, there's zero files in the Desktop (iCloud) folder - where are they? I hope they've not disappeared into the ether.

And the sync has been in limbo for about a day. This is what I see:

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Answer 5

Dec 15, 2025 7:19 AM in response to frankfromsouth pasadena

I asked, "How exactly is your situation different?" By "different,' I meant different from what I descried hapeening. So,

when you look at iCloud Drive, does it have Desktop and Documents folders?
…What do they contain, if they're there?
When you look in your user's folder, does it have Desktop and Documents folders?
…What do they contain, if they're there?

When I asked, "If everything was uploaded, where is it uploaded to if not in the Desktop and Documents folders in iCloud Drive?" I meant,

where did you find these files?
In what way were they uploaded
Where the Desktop and Documents folders there, too?

When you look at iCloud.com iCloud Drive, do you see Desktop and Documents folders there?
Do you see your files there?

If you find these questions confusing, let me know how. Try to keep in mind that I can't see your computer.

To speed up loading, keep the MacBook plugged in and turned on. Don't shut it down at night. If you have it set to automatically shut down after a period of inactivity, turn on "Prevent automatic sleeping" at System Settings>Battery>Options.

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