iCloud and cloud storage
The sidebar entry may be switched off or collapsed, or iCloud Drive itself may be off on this Mac. Open it from the Go menu now, then work through the checks below in order.
In Finder, choose Go > iCloud Drive, or press ⇧⌘I (Shift-Command-I). Apple's list of Finder shortcuts gives that shortcut as "Open iCloud Drive". If a window with your iCloud folders opens, iCloud Drive is working and only the sidebar entry is hidden. If nothing opens, iCloud Drive is probably off for this Mac; an empty window has its own check below.
To put it back in the sidebar, open Finder > Settings, click Sidebar, and tick iCloud Drive under the list headed Show these items in the sidebar. To switch iCloud Drive on for this Mac, go to System Settings, click your name at the top of the sidebar, click iCloud, click Drive (iCloud Drive in macOS 13 and 14), and turn on Sync this Mac.
If neither of those brings it back, work through the checks below.
Apple's guide to Finder settings describes the Sidebar tab as the place to choose which items appear, and the same list controls what appears in Open and Save dialogs. Dragging iCloud Drive out of the sidebar also unticks it, so check the box even if you have never opened Finder Settings. Tick iCloud Drive and it returns.
If the box is ticked and the entry is still missing, look at the iCloud heading in the sidebar. Apple's guide explains that each sidebar section can be collapsed: hold the pointer over the heading and click the arrow that appears to show its items again.
Open System Settings > your name > iCloud > Drive and check that Sync this Mac is on. Apple's guide gives these steps for macOS Sequoia 15 and for later versions. In macOS 13 and 14 the entry is called iCloud Drive, and in macOS 13, if Sync this Mac isn't shown, Apple says to click Turn On.
With it off, the sidebar entry may not appear, and files that are in iCloud will not be on your Mac.
If you don't see your name at the top of System Settings, you are signed out. Apple's guide says to click Sign in and enter your Apple Account email address or phone number (macOS 13 and 14 call it an Apple ID). If you are signed in, check the name is the account that holds your files. A different account has different files.
Items that are in iCloud but not yet downloaded still appear in the window, marked with a download icon. To bring one down, click iCloud Drive in the sidebar, Control-click the item and choose Download Now. Keep Downloaded stops macOS removing the copy later, and Remove Download frees the space again. All three names are in Finder's menus on macOS 15.6.
If the window is truly empty, especially just after you signed in or turned on Sync this Mac, check the sync status: Apple's tip is to hold the pointer over iCloud Drive in the sidebar, then click the status or information icon that appears. Apple also notes that iCloud Drive contains folders made automatically for apps that support it, such as Preview, TextEdit, Pages, Numbers and Keynote, so an iCloud Drive without any of them may not have finished setting up on this Mac.
iCloud Drive's local copy lives in your Library folder, in a path that Finder hides:
~/Library/Mobile Documents/com~apple~CloudDocsTo open it, choose Go > Go to Folder… in Finder, paste the path and press Return. If that folder is there and has your files, iCloud Drive is set up on this Mac and the sidebar is the only thing missing. Our post on where iCloud Drive files live explains the other folders next to it. If the files exist but changes aren't reaching your other devices, that is a sync problem, covered in iCloud Drive not syncing.
Files in iCloud Drive that aren't downloaded are a special case for search; the post on searching iCloud Drive explains what Spotlight can and cannot see. Everywhere indexes the names in iCloud Drive once you give it Full Disk Access. On the Mac used for this guide (macOS 15.6), files that weren't downloaded were still on disk under their own names, so path:CloudDocs report finds them in iCloud Drive's own folders, and path:Mobile report also takes in the app folders, which sit beside it.
The sidebar item may be switched off. Open Finder > Settings > Sidebar and tick iCloud Drive. If it was already ticked, check that iCloud Drive is on in System Settings.
Open System Settings, click your name, click iCloud, click Drive (iCloud Drive in macOS 13 and 14), and turn on Sync this Mac. You need to be signed in with your Apple Account.
Press Shift-Command-I in Finder, or choose Go > iCloud Drive from the menu bar.
iCloud Drive may be off for this Mac, signed in with another Apple Account, or still setting up. Check Sync this Mac in System Settings, then hold the pointer over iCloud Drive in the Finder sidebar and click the status icon to see its sync state.
Everywhere keeps track of every file on your Mac, including the folders Spotlight hides and drives you have unplugged. Free for a day, then $19 once.
Version 2.20.3 · macOS 13+ · 4.7 MB · notarised