iCloud files not showing up in Finder

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iCloud files not showing up in Finder

I have a lot of files stored on my iCloud Drive. I have recently noticed that when I navigate to some folders through the Finder the files within are not visible. If I login to iCloud via Safari and navigate to the same folder the files are actually still there.

This seems to happen with older files that I have not used for some time but also appears to a bit random. Some older files are visible and some are not so it doesn't seem to be consistent in terms of age of the files.

I have tried turning off and on the 'Sync Desktop & Document Folder' in Finder Settings but that hasn't fixed the issue.

I have a 2018 MacBook Pro running Sequoia 15.3.2

How can I re-sync everything without losing any files?

MacBook Pro 15″, macOS 15.3

Posted on Mar 14, 2025 11:17 AM

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Answer 1

Mar 14, 2025 12:13 PM in response to MrMotman

I hunted up some folders containing older files that I've not looked at in a while -- maybe since I moved them to iCloud Drive. Like you, I went to iCloud.com to compare, and I haven't seen any missing files (well, I should say, I haven't seen that any files were missing…)

Have you designated any files to "Keep Downloaded" or to "Remove Download?" Are they behaving differently? I think I looked at all kinds. I looked for the status at iCloud.com, but the only thing the info can say is that they're in iCloud, since their status could be different on different devices, I guess. This one seems to say iCloud Only:

but that's because that's all it knows about.

Have you restarted the Mac?

Do you have an iPhone connected to iCloud that you could cross check on?

Another thing that would be worth a try is to make a new user and sign that in to your Apple ID, and check there.

Let us know what you find…

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Answer 2

MrMotman Author

Level 1

5 points

Mar 14, 2025 2:33 PM in response to Richard.Taylor

I've not designated any files to be 'keep' or 'remove'. I've clicked the iCloud icon on the folder but the contents when viewed in Finder are still not showing even though I know there are 4 files in there.

I can see all files via iCloud.com on a browser and on my iPhone.

I've restarted the Mac multiple times and still the same outcome.

I've just clicked on the iCloud icon on the parent folder to see if that makes any difference, will take a while to download.

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iCloud files not showing up in Finder

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