sierra upgrade moved docs to icloud how to restore

[etaf]

a recent upgrade to sierra has moved all my friends Mac documents and desktop onto icloud
I can see how to switch that off

But how do i copy them back onto the mac - what location do I use for documents and desktop

i'm used to windows and usually its under user

i can find a folder called Mac Documents under user
is this where they go
and how will desktop work and be the right one on reboot

thanks

 

[chscag]

You definitely have to copy them back to a separate folder on the Mac before changing that setting to off. If you don't, the documents will be deleted and possibly lost. Don't copy them to the user documents folder as they will be duplicated back to the cloud. They need to be copied to a temporary folder first, then turn off the iCloud setting. After the iCloud setting has been turned off you can copy the documents to his Documents folder.

 

[Rod]

Chscag has covered all the bases on this one. The option to store Documents and Desktop is part of the installation of Sierra and will probably be included in other upgrades. It is part of Apples push to have more and more of our data stored and or backed up to icloud. Not a bad thing in itself especially for those with limited storage but as usual it assumes we all have access to broadband all the time.

 

[etaf]

Thanks for the fast replies
He does not have a user documents folder
so will that return when I switch off the sharing
OR
do i need to recreate the documents folder and if so is it just a case of going to the user and creating a new folder

To copy from the icloud - do I just use copy or will i need to use another key, i read things like "option" copy

what about the desktop folder is that the same ?

just not sure on the path and if its some sort of system folder like windows

 

[etaf]

Thanks - sorted out this afternoon

I copied the files from icloud drive documents onto a new folder on the mac as suggested
then turned OFF icloud drive
and the mac automatically added the desktop and documents folder back onto the Mac - BUT as you said they were empty and so i had to copy all the files back into documents to recover completely

thanks for all the advice and help

Can be marked solved now

 

[chscag]

OK, glad you solved it. We usually advise folks not to allow iCloud to store your documents folder. It causes confusion and more problems than it supposedly helps with.

 

[etaf]

Yes, i'm not sure its clear to the non-tech that during the upgrade it defaulted to using icloud drive

also it would appear it turned on icloud photo library on the Mac as well. As before the upgrade we had been discussing using this option on her iphone/ipad and mac in the future

however , thanks for all the help and advice and quick responses