iCloud took my mac as a hostage-how to get back all my files? Turns out, everything i put inside any folder in my mac, is being uploaded to the cloud, showing me the cloud icon, and files are not available when i need them.(which by itself is a strange UX)

To stop this, i went into iCloud Drive ->options->, and uncheck the Documents and Desktop Folders.

Then i get a mesage saying that all my files in Desktop/Documents folder will disappear from my mac, and will be available in iCloud if i uncheck this box.

I want back my files on my mac. I don't want to go and look for them in iCloud now, but keep my folders structure as it is, with my files not in icloud, but right where i put them in first place. (download all of them)

How to cancel this hostage UX, and get my files where they belong, without removing them from my mac first(as the massage says) ?
.. and files are not available when i need them ..

System Preferences → iCloud → iCloud Drive options → Uncheck Optimise Storage. All files will be found locally, always, as well as on iCloud.

Can I safely uncheck the Optimise Mac Storage check box on the Apple ID - iCloud page?

For the second part,

What may seem counterintuitive is that your files are still stored in the iCloud ( which is perhaps why you thought you lost them).
To retrieve your files, you should open Finder and navigate to iCloud Drive, and then to the Documents folder within iCloud Drive. You should then manually transfer or copy the files from that directory to the local Documents directory on your computer. You should then do that same with your Desktop folder.


How to separate iCloud Drive from Desktop &amp; Documents