Apple devices do a great job of syncing passwords, bookmarks, and apps, but you might have noticed that the files in iCloud Documents and Data are gone. That’s because Apple has sunsetted the legacy syncing service, but fear not—your files aren’t gone forever.
To get them back, you’ll need to turn on iCloud Drive. Apple has announced that as of May 6, iCloud Documents and Data has been discontinued and replaced by iCloud Drive. Accounts that were still using iCloud Documents and Data have been migrated to iCloud Drive, according to an Apple support document.
All you need to do to get your files back again is turn on iCloud Drive. Here’s how to do that:
On Your iPhone or iPad
- Go to Settings > your name.
- Tap iCloud.
- Turn on iCloud Drive.
On your Mac
- Go to System Preferences.
- Click Apple ID (macOS Catalina or later) or iCloud (macOS Mojave or earlier).
- Sign in with your Apple ID if prompted.
- Select iCloud Drive.
Inside your iCloud Drive, you’ll see a folder for all apps that store data, and you can move files into and out of them freely. Apple gives all users 5GB of free iCloud storage, but notes, “When you switch to iCloud Drive, the amount of storage space your saved files use in iCloud doesn’t change.” So basically, if you had enough space before, you have enough space now.
Author: Michael Simon, Executive Editor
Michael Simon has been covering Apple since the iPod was the iWalk. His obsession with technology goes back to his first PC—the IBM Thinkpad with the lift-up keyboard for swapping out the drive. He's still waiting for that to come back in style tbh.