Recently, I discovered that my Metagrid Pro daily backups to iCloud Drive are being deleted by from the active iCloud Drive window if the files are not interacted with. The only way to access them is to use Time Machine to restore them, otherwise they’re removed from the active iCloud Drive as part of Apple’s aggressive “storage optimization” features.
I’m using Tahoe 26.7.1 and I’d say it’s about time to allow MGP to send automatic backups to Dropbox or Google Drive as Apple keeps changing their iCloud and Time Machine storage and security protocols to lead people to buying more space and nuking data they believe isn’t important. That’s not their choice to make. It’s infuriating.
I understand the frustration—backups need to be dependable and easy to find.
iCloud storage optimisation normally removes a file’s local download while keeping the file in iCloud. If your backups disappear entirely, we need to establish whether this is a download, visibility or deletion issue.
Could you check whether the missing backups are visible in iCloud Drive at iCloud.com? Also, are they missing from Finder itself, MetaGrid Pro’s restore browser, or both?
Please let us know whether MetaGrid Pro on your Mac or iPad creates these daily backups, and which version/build it uses.
For backups still visible in Finder, you can right-click the backup folder and select “Keep Downloaded” to retain local copies. Please also keep a separate copy of any backups recovered through Time Machine while this is investigated.
We understand the request for automatic backups to Dropbox or Google Drive. We don’t have a release commitment for those destinations to announce, but the immediate priority is understanding why your existing backups are disappearing.