Accidentally deleted important documents from iCloud

Question

Accidentally deleted important documents from iCloud

Hi there, I'm desperate as I have lost all my key documents because of iCloud (something that was supposed to be there to help!).

-Bought a new laptop so transferred everything to new computer

-Dragged all my documents in Old Computer to BIN to get it ready for my daughter to use.

-No pop ups, no notifications given at all. It turns out I was deleting my documents from EVERYWHERE PERMANENTLY as they were synced to iCloud.

-Apple Support couldn't find any solution - spoke to someone based in Cork over the phone.

-Obviously nothing was in the Recently Deleted or Data Recovery folders in iCloud.

Is there any way I can get any documents back? Should I try with other Apple advisers?

It's really unimpressive to see how there's no notifications or warnings about permanently deleting documents. Very poor design by Apple.

Please help.

[Re-Titled by Moderator]

Original Title: Lost all my documents because of iCloud

MacBook Pro 13″, macOS 11.7

Posted on Sep 11, 2025 4:09 AM

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Answer 1

Top-ranking reply

muguy

Level 10

91,172 points

Sep 11, 2025 4:31 AM in response to ElisaLostEverything

No, you deleted the documents. If you then emptied the trash, you permanently deleted the documents (and there is a warning that pops up as part of emptying trash). That's how deleting trash has always worked. iCloud is a syncing service, not a backup. When you delete, add or modify a document in one location, the states changes everywhere. You can, of course, recover from your Time Machine (or similar) backup.

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Answer 2

Sep 11, 2025 9:27 AM in response to ElisaLostEverything

I think we men get it; it's just that this business is well documented. Did you check this out?

What to do before you sell, give away, trade in, or recycle your Mac - Apple Support

One of the steps is:

3. Sign out of iCloud

Did you do that before emptying the trash?

I can verify that both muguy and I have said the same things to posters whose gender or gender preferences were unknown to us.

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Answer 3

muguy

Level 10

91,172 points

Sep 11, 2025 7:10 AM in response to ElisaLostEverything

I understand. You deleted the documents and then emptied trash permanently deleting the documents. You were presented a warning message before emptying your trash. When you trash a document synced to iCloud, it is trashed everywhere. That's simply how iCloud works to synchronize your documents.

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Answer 4

Sep 11, 2025 6:09 AM in response to muguy

I deleted the documents from my old computer but they all had been copied to my new computer. So I thought I was deleting the documents only from that old computer. Do you understand what I say? I'm talking about a warning about deleting permanently documents from iCloud, as not all users are IT managers and don't have this knowledge. Do you think we don't know what deleting from a trash means? Tons of documents being copied in my new computer disappeared. Just because I was reseting my old one. And now they're gone.

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Answer 5

Sep 11, 2025 7:23 AM in response to muguy

Warning message for the trash in that laptop about the documents on that desktop - the warning message didn't state the documents would be deleted permanently across all my devices. My post was about recovering my data not having a patronising message from a male, but thanks, hopefully someone can offer a useful advice.

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