iCloud confusion

[apolk]

I have been an ableton Live user for over 20 years and have many old files. For the past several years, with my use of iCloud storage, many of my files disappear from the Live browser. Although saved songs can be accessed from outside Live by selecting them from my iCloud drive and waiting for them to download, this is inconvenient.

However, the real problem is with Live files and assets that are stored in the Live library. This includes things like the Grooves in the User Library, all of my downloaded Packs from years past (e.g., Loopmasters Excite Pack201 (one of many)). This problem seems to only occur on files that I have not used for a while and that have been automatically saved to the cloud. Anyone have any experience with this? How can I get these files back? and How can I prevent this in the future?

[[jur]]

It’s not recommended to stream audio from internet to be played real-time by a sequencer.
Just think about an internet connection speed vs real-time DAW requirements...
Download your Live related files back to your hard drive, restore Live’s library, and never use iCloud or similar ever for anything else than safety cloning of anything DAW related.

[Shift Gorden]

If storage is an issue, snag and external hard drive or SSD. They’re relatively inexpensive these days

[[bge]]

Sounds like you may have either Optimised storage enabled which deletes unused files:
https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT206996

You need to follow the steps here to restore deleted files to your computer (scroll down to the last point):
http://osxdaily.com/2017/07/06/disable- ... ments-mac/

[apolk]

Thanks to all. I'll be taking your collective advices.