Moving Documents from iCloud One by One? Get Quick Methods Now

"I tried to update my MacBook from macOS high sierra to macOS Big Sur. After the update finished, I found that all my documents and folders are moved to iCloud drive folder. I tried to drag them back, but it failed. Those are important documents and files, and I am really worried about they will be deleted mistakenly. How can I get them back?"

Sometimes documents will be also moved to iCloud when you disable documents option in iCloud. Under these circumstances, you may want to restore them back to your Mac. Luckily, we are about to offer you quick solutions in this post. So, never worry about it. What you need to do is to read on and move documents from iCloud to Mac.

• Part 1. Where Are iCloud Documents Stored on Mac
• Part 2. How to Access and Move Documents on Mac
• Part 3. How to Download Documents from iCloud.com
• Part 4. How to Save Documents from iCloud on iPhone

Part 1. Where Are iCloud Documents Stored on Mac

If you are running macOS Sierra or higher version, Desktop & Documents Folders will sync to iCloud Drive automatically. Make sure you have updated your Mac to the latest operation system, like macOS Ventura, Monterey, Big Sur. With iCloud Sync, you can save all your desktop files on Mac to iCloud Drive, and access them on your iPhone or iPad.

Firstly, you can view and access iCloud document in the first part. Just open Finder, find and click iCloud Drive, and view the document files under Desktop and Documents folders.

Part 2. How to Access and Move Documents on Mac

Can't find documents in Mac Finder? Perhaps you have disabled Optimize Mac Storageoption in iCloud Drive. Here are steps to help you get documents back on your Mac.

Disable Desktop & Documents Folders

Just go to "Apple menu" > "System Preference", find "iCloud Drive" and click "Options...". Then, uncheck "Desktop & Documents Folders". A pop-up window will warn you that the documents on desktop and in Documents folder will only appear in iCloud Drive. Those documents on desktop will be removed.

At this time, some users may mistakenly think they lost the files. Not really? Actually, this is a good chance to get the documents back from iCloud drive.

Get All Documents from iCloud Back to Local Mac

Step 1 Open Finder and click "iCloud Drive", and locate "Documents" folder in iCloud Drive.

Step 2 Click "File" in the menu, select "New Finder Window", and navigate to your local "Documents" folder.

Step 3 Select all the files in iCloud Drive Documents folder, drag and drop these files to your local Mac Documents folder.

Step 4 You can follow the same process to migrate all files from iCloud "Desktop" to your "Desktop" on your local Mac.

You may need: How to Recover Unsaved Word Document

Part 3. How to Download Documents from iCloud.com

iCloud.com lets you access and download documents on web browser. After logging in iCloud with Apple ID and password, it is easy to find, organize and download documents from iCloud Drive. After signing in, you can go to iCloud Drive, and double click Desktop or Documents folder. Then, choose the document files to download and save to your Mac.

Part 4. How to Save Documents from iCloud on iPhone

If you have enabled iCloud drive on your iPhone running iOS 11 or later, it is easy to access and edit document files directly. Just open Files app and browse files in Desktop or Documents folders.

Here, we recommend you a useful tool – Apeaksoft iPhone Data Recovery for Mac to migrate app documents from iCloud to Mac. It helps you recover deleted/lost data from iPhone, iTunes backup and iCloud backup. More data can be recovered like photos, contacts, WhatsApp messages, notes, call logs and more with this program.

iPhone Data Recovery for Mac

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How to restore app document from iCloud backup

Step 1 After free downloading the program, install and launch it on your Mac. Connect your iPhone to Mac via a USB cable. Enter "iPhone Data Recovery" and select "Recover from iCloud Backup File" in the left bar.

And you need to input you Apple ID and the password blank area.

Step 2 After entering the iCloud, you can see all the iCloud backups. Select one and click "Download" button, all kinds of data will show up. You can select "App Document" and tick "Next".

Step 3 Tap the app document you want to restore, and click "Recover" to save the app documents to your local Mac.

Don't miss: How to Delete Documents and Data on iPhone

Conclusion

We mainly show you 3 solutions to move documents from iCloud to Mac. You can move documents from Mac directly, or restore them from web browser. If you have some important files get lost, you can use iPhone Data Recovery for Mac to get the deleted app document back from iCloud backup. Leave your comments if you have any better ideas.