User level: Level 1 (8 points)I am missing documents saved on my Mac Desktop, running OS Tahoe 26.6.2. Everything apparently saves to my iCloud. I have searched there, in my trash bin, my documents folder, my entire computer and they are not found. I notice they are usually documents I have not opened in a while. My iCloud has recently synced today.
Posted on Oct 12, 2026 7:29 AM
User level: Level 7 (25,466 points)Oct 16, 2026 8:51 AM in response to annfromgallatin
Do you keep Time Machine backups? Since iCloud is not intended as a backup service, we do have to keep our own.
Macs actually do keep automatic backups for the last few days. Since you're using a Mac, you might be able to take advantage of Tahoe's automatic Time Machine backups. If you open the Disk Utility app, you can go to your drive's Data volume and look into a recent auto-backup.
Find one before the deletion and double click on it: you can navigate to your User's folder and Documents or Desktop, and restore your files to the Mac.
If you use Optimize Storage, or if you've chosen to keep those missing files off-loaded, then this Time Machine backup may not include those files.
My automatic backups go back one week.
By the way-- you don't have to have all your documents saved to iCloud. That's all under your control.
Understanding iCloud Drive - Apple Community
Originally posted at discussions.apple.com/thread/256374830