macOS Sonoma 14.4 Bug 'Destroys Saved Versions in iCloud Drive' - MacRumorsOpen MenuShow RoundupsShow Forums menuVisit ForumsOpen Sidebar
Skip to Content

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

by

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

Popular Stories

imac video apple feature

Apple Released Yet Another New Product Today

Friday March 20, 2026 2:39 pm PDT by
Apple has unveiled a whopping nine new products so far this March, including an iPhone 17e, iPad Air models with the M4 chip, MacBook Air models with the M5 chip, MacBook Pro models with M5 Pro and M5 Max chips, the all-new MacBook Neo, an updated Studio Display, a higher-end Studio Display XDR, AirPods Max 2, and now the Nike Powerbeats Pro 2. iPhone 17e features the same overall design as...
Read Full Article
iPhone 18 Pro Deep Red Feature

iPhone 18 Pro Launching Later This Year With These 12 New Features

Wednesday March 18, 2026 7:39 am PDT by
While the iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max are not expected to launch for another six months or so, there are already plenty of rumors about the devices. It was initially reported that the iPhone 18 Pro models would have fully under-screen Face ID, with only a front camera visible in the top-left corner of the screen. However, the latest rumors indicate that only one Face ID component...
Read Full Article • 80 comments
ios 26 4 pastel

iOS 26.4: Top 10 New Features Coming to Your iPhone

Friday March 20, 2026 2:44 pm PDT by
iOS 26.4 isn't the major update with new Siri features that we hoped for, but there are some useful quality of life improvements, and a little bit of fun with an AI playlist generator and new emoji characters. Playlist Playground - Apple Music has a Playlist Playground option that lets you generate playlists from text-based descriptions. You can include moods, feelings, activities, or...
Read Full Article • 51 comments

Top Rated Comments

A
abatabia
26 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)
S
StuBeck
26 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
26 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)
A
Account25476
26 months ago
This is absurd.
Score: 24 Votes (Like | Disagree)
phenste Avatar
phenste
26 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)
S
Skyuser
26 months ago

According to The Electric Light Company's Howard Oakley ('https://eclecticlight.co/2024/03/18/serious-bug-in-sonoma-14-4-will-destroy-saved-versions-in-icloud-drive/')
To digress for a moment: it is "The Eclectic Light Company", not "Electric" as in the news story. I personally would strongly recommend those who are interested in technical aspects of Macs to take a look at Mr Hoakley's fantastic articles, written with incredible expertise and valuable insights that'll appeal to a wide audience.
Score: 17 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Read All Comments
Related Apple News: Entertainment | South Africa | Ipad | Travel | Mac