MacBook – Renamed an icloud drive folder with the .tmp extension and files have disappeared

finderfoldersicloudmacmacbook pro

I read that I could rename a folder to have the..tmp extension to prevent it syncing over. I did this to a folder that had some confidential files, but I renamed the folder in my icloud drive and the files have all disappeared.

I found a copy of the folder on the desktop, but that was also empty. Any idea where I could locate these files or are they lost?

Best Answer

You try to restore previous files on iCloud.com:

  • First, in iCloud.com > iCloud Drive, check if the files are present in the iCloud.com web view. If they are present here, download a copy first and foremost - and then you can decide how to proceed once you've secured a copy.
  • If that doesn't work, then again in iCloud.com > iCloud Drive, click "recently deleted" in the bottom right hand corner.
  • If neither of these work, you can try reaching out to Apple - they may be able to restore an account-level backup if the files are especially important.
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