Just when Mac users thought they had seen it all with the troubled macOS Sonoma 14.4 release, a new and particularly frustrating bug came to light. This latest issue, which affects those who save documents to iCloud Drive, has left many users feeling exasperated and concerned about potential data loss.

On Monday, the Eclectic Light Company, a well-respected name in the Apple community, raised the alarm about a bug that appears to be wiping out saved versions of files stored on iCloud Drive. Many applications offer the handy capability to save earlier iterations of a document, allowing users to revert to a previous state if needed. However, for those who have updated to macOS Sonoma 14.4 and have their documents synced to iCloud Drive, this vital functionality seems to have been broken.

According to the Eclectic Light Company‘s findings, users who have enabled the “Optimize Mac Storage” feature are at particular risk. Typically, when a file is removed from the local version of iCloud Drive using the “Remove Download” option in the contextual menu, the file is deleted locally, but any previously saved versions remain intact. When the file is subsequently re-downloaded from iCloud Drive, those saved versions will still be accessible.

However, since the macOS 14.4 update, this process has been disrupted. Now, when a user removes a downloaded file from their local iCloud Drive, not only is the main file deleted, but any previously saved versions are also wiped out. Worse still, these versions cannot be recovered after re-downloading the file from iCloud Drive, as was possible before the update.

While a permanent fix is undoubtedly in the works, the Eclectic Light Company has recommended that users disable the “Optimize Mac Storage” feature for the time being. This should prevent documents stored in the local iCloud Drive from being automatically removed, thereby preventing the bug from occurring.

The issue has been duly reported to Apple, and the company is likely already working on a solution. However, the timeline for a fix remains unclear, leaving users in a precarious position until then.

This latest iCloud Drive bug is just one in a series of issues that have plagued the macOS Sonoma 14.4 release. On March 12, it was discovered that USB hubs embedded in monitors were no longer functioning correctly under the new operating system version. Just two days later, on March 14, problems with printer drivers and corruption were uncovered.

As if the situation wasn’t already concerning enough, on March 16, Oracle, the company behind the widely used Java platform, advised users who need to run Java applications to avoid updating to macOS Sonoma 14.4 for the time being. The reason? The new macOS version was causing Java to unexpectedly terminate.

With each new issue that comes to light, it becomes increasingly clear that the macOS Sonoma 14.4 release has been a challenging one for Apple. The company, known for its commitment to seamless user experiences, will undoubtedly be working around the clock to address these problems and restore confidence in its flagship operating system.

For now, users are left to navigate these troubled waters, either by implementing workarounds or by holding off on the update until the issues have been resolved.