Catalina/iCloud problems

[Tom H.]

Bought a late 2012 iMac which had been wiped clean and had Catalina installed. Hate it! Got a phone upgrade and since (I guess) it was tied to my computer, I lost all my new desktop folders stored in iCloud. I have tried to follow directions to sync. or confirm my computer using my iPhone and all efforts have failed. I have spent hour on this.

I have used Macs for over 25 years.

Is it possible for me to uninstall Catalina and go back toOS Sierra? Or do I just throw the phone and the computer in the trash and go android/PC?
I'm really tired of Apple trying to control my life.

 

[Cory Cooper]

Hello,

I haven't heard of that kind of interaction between an iPhone and Mac. It shouldn't have deleted iCloud information in that way.

-Are you logged into iCloud on the Catalina iMac, and have iCloud Drive > Options... > Documents > Desktop & Documents Folders checked?
-If you login to icloud.com, go to iCloud Drive, do you see the files in the Desktop and Documents folders there?
-Do you have a current/recent Time Machine or other backup of your iMac's data?

There are ways to downgrade to Sierra if you really want to. Here is a nice article that outlines the steps: How to downgrade from macOS Catalina to Mojave or earlier.

C

 

[Tom H.]

Wow! I have been working with a nephew who is well versed in iMacs. We now have my files back on the desktop but I am still getting a drop down message "Update Apple ID settings. Some account services will not be available till you sign in again." Since I feel like I have all of my services back at this point, I am going to ignore the drop down message for the time being. I checked the article. you mentioned and copied, saved it, but it sounds way to complicated for my level of expertise. We will see. Cory, thank you for responding. I appreciate it. I'll come squealing back if I have further issues.