"Sorry, this recording has missing files since iCloud Drive 'Optimize Mac Storage'" is enabled
ScreenPal stores your video projects in a default folder on your Mac. Older versions of ScreenPal store video projects in the Documents folder, in either a ScreenPal sub-folder, or a Screencast-O-Matic folder (if you used ScreenPal prior to the rebrand).
Each video project is made up of several different files. Mac users may find that some of their video projects are missing due to the use of iCloud's Optimize Mac Storage feature. This feature will randomly backup and remove some of the files that make up a video project, making it impossible for ScreenPal to use the files.
Newer versions of ScreenPal (version 3.4.0 and above), automatically store video projects in your Mac's Home folder to avoid this issue.
What can I do to fix my video projects?
If your projects are still being stored in the Documents folder, to access them again, you will need to tell iCloud to return them to your computer.
1. Open the Mac Finder.
2. Click Documents and look for a ScreenPal (or Screencast-O-Matic) folder. Inside the ScreenPal folder is a Video Projects folder.
If iCloud has removed files from any recordings, you will see cloud icons next to the recording folder name as shown in the image below.
3. Click the 
icon next to the video project name to tell iCloud that you want that recording back on your computer.
Once you click on the icon a circle will appear showing you the progress while the video project files are recovered from iCloud. When the recording is ready, the icon will disappear.
Info: After the recording is recovered from iCloud, you must quit and restart the ScreenPal app to access your recordings again.
What can I do to stop this from happening in the future?
To stop this from happening in the future then you can:
- Install the latest version of ScreenPal for Mac, which will store your video and image files in the Home folder, rather than the Documents folder.
- Turn off the Optimize Mac Storage feature. To learn more about the Optimize Mac Storage feature, see this Apple Support article.
- Manually select a different folder to store your recordings. For more information, see this article.
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