(Thanks in advance for suggestions on how I could make my question clearer)
Context:
I have a team that uses a shared folder that we each auto-sync to our local machines. We use Google Drive and Google's Backup And Sync application to manage the syncing, but we could be using Box or Dropbox or any other cloud storage with auto-syncing.
Problem:
Some team members have had iCloud's "Optimize Mac Storage" feature enabled, which over the course of a couple of months has led to files in this shared folder being replaced with .icloud
symlinks that don't work for anyone else on the team.
For example, let's assume shared-team-folder/
contains file1.pptx
, file2.pptx
, and file3.pdf
.
At some point team member Bob's mac replaces syncs all three of those files to iCloud and replaces them with file1.pptx .icloud
, file2.pptx .icloud
, and file3.pdf .icloud
placeholder files instead. Google Drive's Backup And Sync (or Box or Dropbox) shares Bob's changes to the cloud, which then get pulled down onto the computers of team members Alice and Carol.
Questions:
- What procedure can I use to ensure that the files are safely restored back into the folder for all to use?
- Will unchecking "Optimize Mac Storage" put the original files back?
- If Alice, Bob, and Carol all have "Optimize Mac Storage" enabled, does the order in which they disable it matter?
- Are there things we could do wrong in this process that could lead to the files being lost?