macOS Sonoma 14.4 Bug 'Destroys Saved Versions in iCloud Drive'

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Apple's latest macOS Sonoma 14.4 software update appears to be guilty of another bug, this time affecting saved versions in iCloud Drive.

iCloud Bug Feature Green
Versions are normally created automatically when users save files using apps that work with the version system in macOS. (To check if your Mac is using the past versions system, look for a "Revert To" option in the app's File menu.)

According to The Eclectic Light Company's Howard Oakley, users running macOS 14.4 that have "Optimize Mac Storage" enabled should be aware that they are at risk of losing all previously saved versions of a file if they opt to remove it from iCloud Drive local storage.

In previous versions of macOS, when a file is evicted from local storage in iCloud Drive [using the Remove Download option in the right-click contextual menu], all its saved versions have been preserved. Download that file again from iCloud Drive, and versions saved on that Mac (but not other Macs or devices) have remained fully accessible. Do that in 14.4, and all previous versions are now removed, and lost forever.

Oakley said his own tests confirmed that this behavior does not happen in macOS Sonoma 14.3 or macOS Ventura, so it is exclusive to macOS 14.4. For users who have already updated, he suggests either not saving files to iCloud Drive at all, or turning off Optimize Mac Storage.

To perform the latter in System Settings, click your Apple ID, select iCloud, and then toggle off the switch next to "Optimize Mac Storage." You may need to perform this action twice – reports suggest it can turn back on by itself. For a more exhaustive account of the problem, see Oakley's subsequent post.

There are several bugs reported in macOS 14.4, and we have recorded some of the most prominent issues in a dedicated article that we have updated since this story was published. Have you been affected by the latest bug? Let us know in the comments.

Tag: iCloud Drive
Related Forum: macOS Sonoma

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Top Rated Comments

abatabia Avatar
abatabia
14 months ago
They’re really asleep at the wheel, software wise. Still waiting on the fix for usb hubs being broken and now this. A major reason why my Apple purchases have dropped dramatically. Hardware may be great, the software is ruining the experience.
Score: 40 Votes (Like | Disagree)
StuBeck Avatar
StuBeck
14 months ago

That seems the right behavior, if I delete the local copy of a file it's not like I want 20 autosaved copies to stay on the local disk. Autosaved copies are not stored on iCloud, so at the moment that's the right behavior imho.
Its a change from what was occurring in the past, and there is no indication this is anything but a bug. This may be what you want, but it is not what Apple intended. If this is intended, then a change note should have occurred stating this was going to happen.
Score: 31 Votes (Like | Disagree)
nortonandreev Avatar
nortonandreev
14 months ago
I had all of my iCloud Drive files corrupted a few years ago and since then I have never relied on iCloud. It's a complex system, but I often give it as a bad example.
Score: 25 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Account25476 Avatar
Account25476
14 months ago
This is absurd.
Score: 24 Votes (Like | Disagree)
phenste Avatar
phenste
14 months ago
christ…so thankful I turned off automatic updates forever ago

That seems the right behavior, if I delete the local copy of a file it's not like I want 20 autosaved copies to stay on the local disk. Autosaved copies are not stored on iCloud, so at the moment that's the right behavior imho.
the issue here is that Apple has found a new way to optimize Mac storage (arguably a good thing), but in the process they’ve destroyed a feature many have come to rely on (autosaving, especially on a local device: makes perfect sense that the copies wouldn’t be stored in iCloud Drive; makes zero sense that copies wouldn’t be stored locally unless you, the user, opted out of that.)

it kinda has the same energy as the whole batterygate situation that’s been discussed to death on this website. Apple put out an update with something that they (ostensibly) consider to be a feature and many others consider to be a bug, without having mentioned it in the release notes. (no, I don’t think this has the same implications as batterygate on ANY level [i.e. an impending class-action], just using it as a comparison)
Score: 22 Votes (Like | Disagree)
HobeSoundDarryl Avatar
HobeSoundDarryl
14 months ago

They’re really asleep at the wheel, software wise. Still waiting on the fix for usb hubs being broken and now this. A major reason why my Apple purchases have dropped dramatically. Hardware may be great, the software is ruining the experience.
I'm still waiting for macOS to address the "unexpected ejections" issue with some- but not all- external drives- both HDD & SSD- which seem to almost randomly eject whether the Mac sleeps or not. This has been an ongoing problem for many- but not all- since Big Sur and is almost certainly bugs in macOS vs. all other possibilities based upon heavy testing I've done myself.

I go into every point update with high hopes that they've finally got around to fixing this one... and then take a key RAID box back out of service- again- when it can't stay connected... UNLESS I hook it to any, pre-Big Sur Mac or any PC using same cable, etc and then it's back to being as stable as a rock.

I miss "just works" Apple. And I miss the U in USB meaning what it is supposed to mean with last few year's Apple stuff.
Score: 17 Votes (Like | Disagree)
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