Storing my app folders in a folder doesn't work?

Hi there, thanks for reading.

I'm having trouble understanding what's going on here. (See screenshots)

I used to create my new app folders on my desktop but I want to be more organized so I put them all in a folder in my documents folder. Now I can't create Git repositories because it says there is already one in the folder.

Also when I'm looking at the version control tab it shows the enclosing folder as well. Why is it doing this?

I wiped my computer and reinstalled macOS 12.6 and moved my project folder back to my Mac from my hard drive and now I can't even open the projects. I'm getting so discouraged.

This all started when I wanted to upload my projects to Github and organize my computer and to be honest it's been super frustrating and I'm just getting more and more confused. Any help would be greatly appreciated

Accepted Answer

Well, is there a git repo in the "AppsByMe" folder? Open that folder in Terminal and do ls -al to see if there's a .git folder.

As a rule I never use the Documents folder for coding if I have iCloud syncing my Documents & Desktop because iCloud will occasionally delete local files from the folder and leave them in iCloud. When that happens they cannot be used until they are downloaded again. Your best bet is to move the AppsByMe folder to the root of your user folder, i.e. /Users/username/AppsByMe/ rather than /Users/username/Documents/AppsByMe/. Do that and be sure to have a backup running in case your local drive dies, or zip up your work when you're finished for the day and copy that to iCloud Drive so you have a backup somewhere.

Thanks for the tips! I moved the folder to my hard disk.

I think I'm having a hard time understanding what a git repo is exactly or how it all works, despite the 20 YouTube videos I've watched :(. Every time I think I understand it it's I get confused again. I really wish I had some friends in the industry that I could turn to for answers so I appreciate your help.

Even with this printout I don't understand it enough to answer your question. I do see the fourth line down that says .git but I can't find that exact file or know what it means. I feel like I keep digging a bigger hole with this and don't know how to get myself out. Lol.

Thanks again. Please help

small update: I was able to launch my old projects successfully after moving them to the disk instead of icloud drive and opening the project file in the project folder. I also launched the simulator and ran the application with relative ease. Phew what a relief! I was starting to think my work was all lost. :)

The .git folder isn't visible in the Finder because files and folders that start with a dot are hidden by default. Press Cmd-Shift-Dot to show hidden files, like the .git folder, in the Finder.

Storing my app folders in a folder doesn't work?
 
 
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