Invisible files - VERY weird

[DanL]

This is one of the most bizarre things I have ever seen in decades of using Macs.

I'm on ComputerA (Mountain Lion) with a couple of small jpegs. I want to put them on ComputerB (Monterey). No sweat, right? Same network. I connect to B from A with Network->B->my account->Desktop , and plunk them in. On A, looking at B, I see them sitting there in the Desktop window for B!

I go over to B, and, um, no files. No icons for them on the Desktop, and when I go to terminal and "ls" the Desktop, they aren't there. Huuuuh?

On A, I GetInfo on those files on B. They look perfectly normal. Just like other files on B that are visible.

Yes, there are tricks to seeing hidden files. Like these.

How to show hidden files on Mac

Apple hides certain files for a reason — tinkering with hidden files may interfere with your Mac's performance. But if you know what you're looking for, finding the folders is easy. Check out our tutorials on finding hidden files on a Mac.

nordlocker.com

Tried them all. No luck.

I should say that I usually don't do file transfers from A to B, so this may not be a new problem.

Oh yes, if I do a network connection from C (High Sierra) to B I can also see them just fine. So the issue is with B.

What the @#$%^&*( is going on? I can see these files when networked in from other machines, but I can't see them on the machine they're sitting on.

 

[Cory Cooper]

Hello,

• Are you using iCloud Drive > Desktop & Documents on Computer B (Monterey)?
• So it works from Computer C (High Sierra) but not Computer A (Mountain Lion), correct?

Honestly Mountain Lion is pretty old in comparison to even High Sierra, so I would expect it may have issues with the much newer versions of macOS, even for simply things like file transfers.

C

 

[DanL]

I am using iCloud drive just on B (Monterey).

I can, via Network, move files to B from both A and C. Looking at B from both A and C I see them there. But looking at B from B I DON'T see them there. That is, if I sit down in front of B, those files aren't visible in the windows, and don't appear in the "ls" terminal listing. So this is a Monterey issue. I know iCloud drive can do weird things,but this is exceptionally weird. The files are there, but if you are there, you can't see them.