Restore files from your backup

Updated

Your backup has to be connected to restore from it. If the Restore screen says Destination Not Connected, click Reconnect. See If your NAS or drive disconnects.

Restore files

  1. Open Restore in the sidebar. It shows Current Backup: everything in your backup now.
  2. Go to the files you want. Double-click a folder to open it, and click a folder name in the path above the list to go back up. Type in Filter this folder to find something in the folder you're in. Click a column heading to sort by Name, Size, Files or Modified.
  3. Select the files or folders, then click Restore…. You can also Control-click them and choose Restore….
  4. Choose where they go:
    • Where they came from in iCloud Drive
    • A folder you choose. Click Choose… and pick the folder. macOS asks you to pick it so that CloudBak is allowed to save files there, and CloudBak remembers it for next time.
  5. Choose what happens If a file is already there:
    • Keep both: the restored file gets a new name, such as Report (Restored).pages
    • Replace it: the current file moves to the Trash
    • Skip it
  6. Click Restore.

Files that are already there and unchanged are skipped, so restoring the same thing twice doesn't copy it again. When it's done, click Show in Finder to see what was restored, or Done.

Documents such as Pages files and GarageBand projects show as a single item, as they do in Finder, and are restored whole.

Restoring to iCloud Drive

Files you restore to where they came from are added back to iCloud Drive and upload to iCloud again. They take up space on your Mac until Optimize Mac Storage frees it. If there isn't enough free space for everything you selected, CloudBak warns you before you start.

Restoring is the only time CloudBak writes to iCloud Drive. It never overwrites a file unless you choose Replace it.

How restored files are checked

Each file is copied to a temporary file and checked, and only then moved into place. A failed restore never leaves part of a file behind, or touches the file that was already there.

  • From Current Backup: the copy is checked against the checksum recorded when it was backed up. A copy that doesn't match isn't restored, and the restore says so. Copies made by an earlier version of CloudBak may have no checksum yet, so only their size is checked.
  • From the Archive, or an archived copy in Versions: no checksum is recorded for archived copies, so only the size is checked. A copy that isn't the size it should be is discarded.

Restored files keep the dates of their originals, when they were created and last changed.

Restore an older version

To restore a file as it was before it changed, or a file you deleted, see Restore an earlier version or a deleted file.