It's quite ridiculous that when anyone wants to stop syncing the Desktop & Documents to the iCloud Drive that Apple don't provide for some easy means of downloading the whole of the files to the Mac from where they were uploaded in the first instance. The above wasn't too bad but I hate to think how much work there would be in downloading all the Document files from where there are subfolders going down many levels. I agree that I have too much on my Desktop! Each folder had to be opened in turn and the files then selected for download, and I had to keep changing the default download folder so that the files were downloaded into the correct subfolders. However the major problem was the folders I had on the Desktop. The wasn't too bad as I could change that default folder to be the Desktop. I found that I could only select for download just the files there, and not the folders, and that these files were all downloaded individually into the default Safari download folder. Well yesterday I reset my iCloud Drive options so that Desktop & Documents were not syncing with the Drive and started to download all the Desktop files that were stored in. In that case, they will have to be downloaded. The copy will be relatively instantaneous unless some of the files were 'optimized' and are only available on iCloud Drive (not applicable in your case since you didn't optimize). When you copy the files back over, it doesn't really copy them (or move them), it just creates new hard links in your home folders. When you disable the feature, it makes hard links* to the files in iCloud Drive's local storage location and then deletes the files from the now-visible Desktop and Documents.

Finder just makes it look like they are not there and in iCloud Drive instead. Your Desktop & Documents folders still reside where they were with the files in them.

When you attempt to do that, it will warn you that you will be removing the files from iCloud Drive and they will only be available on your Mac.Īll of that moving is just obfuscation.

It will also tell you that you can then move the files from iCloud Drive back into the Folders in your Home.

It will warn you that if you disable it, the files will remain on iCloud Drive, but you will have Empty Desktop and Documents folders in your Home folder.

The only way to get your Desktop and Documents folders showing again in your Home folder is to disable Desktop & Documents in iCloud Drive. If you are not seeing them in the iCloud Drive section in the Sidebar, that is another matter that needs to be investigated (as others are trying to do). The Desktop & Documents folders now 'appear' in iCloud Drive.

You've enable Desktop & Documents in iCloud Drive.

Logout of dropbox on mac