Files on the Desktop Disappeared After Reinstalling macOS

data recovery
1

After I reinstalled the OS and logged in to my Mac, I found my desktop showed no files. Where are they, and how to get them back onto the desktop?

2

I guess that you probably enabled iCloud to sync your desktop folder. When you reinstall macOS and sign back into iCloud, iCloud may sync an empty Desktop from the cloud to your Mac, making it look like the files disappeared.

You can open Finder and check if there’s a iCloud Drive listed on the sidebar. Then, click the Desktop folder and see if your files are there. If there’s no iCloud Drive on your Finder sidebar, search for iCloud.com on your browser and log into it. Then, click Drive > Desktop and check if the files are there.

3

I have encountered the same experience. I have never turned on iCloud, but my files are lost after a system reinstall. Finally, I use iBoysoft Data Recovery for Mac to scan my Mac and finally find my missing desktop files.

  1. Simply download iBoysoft Data Recovery for Mac, install it, and open it.
  2. Select Macintosh HD - Data (Your user data volume) and click Search for Lost Data.
  3. After scanning, check, preview, and select the found desktop files.
  4. Click Recover to save them to a different destination.