Hardware :: How Does Time Capsule Store User Data

I got the original 1 TB Time Capsule when it first came out, and set it up with user accounts so that everyone in my house would have their own individual space as well as a shared space that everyone could use.

When I turned off accounts mode and switched back to using the Time Capsule password to access a single shared volume, I got a look at how the Time Capsule organized its files (or so I thought).

There were two folders in the root of the drive, Shared and Users. Within Shared was all the shared data on the Time Capsule that everyone could access, and within Users were a set of subfolders, one for each user account I had set up. Within each of those was the data for that user.

However I recently decided to revisit the way my Time Capsule was set up, so I switched back to Time Capsule password mode to affect changes to the layout of the drive. (In the past, I had been able to shuffle files between users this way, and even between the private and public areas of the drive, then simply switch back to accounts mode and my changes would stick.)

But it seems Apple has changed the way the Time Capsule does this, probably with a recent firmware update. I turned off accounts and switched back to Time Capsule password mode today, and saw the expected folder structure. However I then removed all the user data (including account folders) and left the Users folder empty. Then I went into AirPort Utility, removed all the accounts, and recreated them. When I checked Time Capsule password mode, there were no account folders. I figured maybe you had to connect as the user once before the folder would be created, but no dice. I even put some files in there then checked Time Capsule password mode, but there was no user folder and I have no idea where it's keeping the data. It's not under Shared nor is it anywhere that I can see under Users.