Are you tired of having your desktop and documents folders synced to iCloud and running out of storage space? Did you accidentally turn on iCloud drive and lose all your files? Don’t worry, you can turn off iCloud drive without losing your files and we are here to show you how.
First, go to System Preferences and click on Apple ID. Under iCloud Drive and Options, if you see the desktop and documents folders checked, everything on your desktop and in your documents will be synced to iCloud. If you want to turn off syncing completely, uncheck the box. If you want to remove just the desktop and documents from syncing, uncheck those boxes.
Once you turn off syncing, everything on your desktop will disappear. But don’t worry, your files are not lost. If you click on “Show in Finder” or go to iCloud Drive, you will see that everything has been moved to an archive folder.
To move your files back to your system folders, create a new Finder window and go to your home folder. You will see a new desktop and documents folder that are empty. Open the archive folder and select all the contents of your desktop and drop it into the new desktop folder. You will get a confirmation to move these items from iCloud to your system. Repeat the same steps for your documents folder.
Now that your files are back on your system, you can turn on syncing again if you choose to. If you do, everything on your desktop and in your documents will be synced to iCloud again.
We hope this was helpful and saved you from any frustration. Have a wonderful day!