After a power outage, all the icons, folders, photos, screenshots etc have disappeared from my desktop. I have a late 2013, 21.5-inch iMac running Catalina 10.15.7. The documents are apparently still on my computer - for example, I was able to find one spreadsheet through the Numbers app on the dock. But the desktop is blank except for the default wallpaper photo. How do I get my desktop back to normal?
Earlier Mac models
StoutBoy2015- (Author)
Perhaps try to restart in Safe mode; this may require you
to try more than once, since it does attempt to repair the
Mac's boot drive. (kinda like running Disk Utility etc too)
Start up your Mac in safe mode - Apple Support
//support.apple.com/en-us/116946?displayMode=headless
"If you can't start up in safe mode."
If you're not sure whether your Mac started up in safe
mode, press and hold the Option key while choosing
System Information from the Apple menu . Click Software
in the sidebar of the System Information window, then look
for "Boot Mode: Safe" information on the right in.. Finder"
Startup differs in hardware Mac with Intel, vs new Apple Silicon.
Learn about the Mac features and tools that you can access by
holding down one or more keys during startup.
Mac startup key combinations - Apple Support (other startups)
Your older Mac doesn't use newer hardware on Catalina 10.15.7.
Go to your TM backup and go back that shows the desktop icons and restore from there.
Icons disappeared from desktop
