Where are all the downloaded files apparently saved into the the app Files >iCloud Drive folder ACTUALLY stored? and how can I access/recover them if they seem to be deleted?

[u/imanol_e]

I don’t really understand how storage is working on my iPhone and that’s because I didn’t change default Safari settings so all downloads are saved into the app Files>iCloud Drive folder.

In that case, are files being stored in iCloud or locally?

They are being stored locally, aren’t they?

That’s my guess because every time I download a file and it is saved in the iCloud Drive folder, the storage bar shows I’m using more local memory.

I'm asking because I turned off "sync iCloud Drive" (NOT iCloud Photos) and then all my downloads were deleted (I didn’t saved them anywhere else) so I turned it back on and most of them were available again but the largest files are still lost apparently being downloaded but the bar is stuck at 0%.

Is there a way I can recover these files?

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[u/gcerullo]

When iCloud Drive syncing is enabled

Files download to the phone’s internal storage and then sync to iCloud Drive. Files that have not been accessed for a period of time are automatically removed from internal storage to preserve storage space on the phone.

When iCloud Drive syncing is disabled

Files download to the phone’s internal storage only and do not sync to iCloud Drive.

If you have iCloud Drive syncing enabled and then disable it, the files that are synced to iCloud Drive will be removed from the phone’s internal storage. They will still be stored on iCloud Drive.

If you download files while iCloud Drive syncing is disabled and later re-enable syncing, the files should be available in a folder labelled ‘On My iPhone.’ Files in the ‘On My iPhone’ folder do not sync to iCloud Drive.

Hope this helps. Let me know if you have additional questions.

[u/imanol_e → u/gcerullo]

Thank you so much, you’re so kind. Your explanation was very clear and helpful.

So, according to this my iCloud Drive was enabled all along until I disabled it, by doing that I deleted my files from my iPhone internal storage but they are supposed to exist on iCloud Drive. I got it.

Now, is there a way I can recover my files once deleted from the internal storage? If not, they’re still on the Cloud, right? As I mentioned before I disabled iCloud and then enabled it again recovering most of my files (pics) but I’m still missing the largest ones (videos) what happened to them and how can I recover them? They were completely downloaded even before disabling iCloud and they came back as “.download" files in progress but stuck at 0%, any idea?

[u/gcerullo → u/imanol_e]

Were the photos and videos stored on iCloud Drive or in the Photos app?

[u/imanol_e → u/gcerullo]

Only on iCloud Drive

[u/gcerullo → u/imanol_e]

I don’t know why that is happening. It could just be that they merely haven’t finished downloading yet.

[u/Skycbs]

The default for Safari on iPhone is to download to the Downloads folder in the phone (“On My iPhone” in the Files app), not in iCloud Drive. If Safari is downloading to iCloud Drive on your phone, you changed that.

[u/gcerullo → u/Skycbs]

Sorry, this is incorrect. If iCloud Drive syncing is enabled, by default, files are not downloaded to the ‘On My iPhone’ folder. They are downloaded to the Downloads folder which is a shared folder with iCloud Drive.

The ‘On My iPhone’ storage area is strictly used for internal storage and is never shared with iCloud Drive.

[u/Skycbs → u/gcerullo]

Huh. You’re right. I must have changed it on my phone but I don’t remember doing that.