m0thr4
Level 1 (117 points)
Apple Watch

Q: iCloud Documents sync - can I exclude directories from this?

Is there a way to exclude certain files/directories from this?  I'm thinking mostly of the stuff 3rd party apps dump in Documents that may not work on more than one Mac.

 

  • Binary data files from Microsoft Office
  • Other apps that store binary files, license files, files encrypted using something machine-specific as the salt, etc.
  • Game save files
  • Virtual Machine images in Parallels Desktop and/or VMWare Fusion (previously, copying these files manually to a new machine generates warnings.

iMac with Retina 5K display, OS X Yosemite (10.10.5), 4GHz Intel i7, 32GB RAM, 3TB Fusion

Posted on Sep 22, 2016 3:14 PM

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m0thr4

Q: iCloud Documents sync - can I exclude directories from this?

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  • Helpful answers

  • by zinacef,

    zinacef zinacef Sep 22, 2016 4:09 PM in response to m0thr4
    Level 5 (4,635 points)
    Applications
    Sep 22, 2016 4:09 PM in response to m0thr4

    What're you're asking is well above my knowledge base.  Perhaps if you reach out to Apple Support for answers to those questions.

  • by FoxFifth,Helpful

    FoxFifth FoxFifth Sep 23, 2016 9:28 AM in response to m0thr4
    Level 7 (26,727 points)
    iPhone
    Sep 23, 2016 9:28 AM in response to m0thr4

    No there isn't. It is all or nothing. In MacOS Sierra, the only control is Apple menu > System Preferences > iCloud > iCloud Drive Options > Desktop & Documents Folders - on or off.

  • by zinacef,

    zinacef zinacef Sep 22, 2016 4:41 PM in response to FoxFifth
    Level 5 (4,635 points)
    Applications
    Sep 22, 2016 4:41 PM in response to FoxFifth

    Thanks FoxFifth....if it wasn't for you!  lol

  • by jd0p,Helpful

    jd0p jd0p Sep 24, 2016 12:23 AM in response to m0thr4
    Level 1 (9 points)
    Sep 24, 2016 12:23 AM in response to m0thr4

    I think there IS a way to do this, probably through a CLI command.  I've noticed that my "Documents/Microsoft User Data" has a cloud with a slash through it and it does not appear in my iCloud Drive even after being fully synchronized.

  • by m0thr4,

    m0thr4 m0thr4 Sep 24, 2016 12:24 AM in response to jd0p
    Level 1 (117 points)
    Apple Watch
    Sep 24, 2016 12:24 AM in response to jd0p

    Hmm... so perhaps an ACL could exempt certain directories?

  • by jusvuori,

    jusvuori jusvuori Sep 24, 2016 4:07 AM in response to m0thr4
    Level 1 (18 points)
    iCloud
    Sep 24, 2016 4:07 AM in response to m0thr4

    As others mentioned, it might not be possible to exclude certain folders. What I did to avoid uploading unnecessary stuff to iCloud Drive is that I created another "Local Documents" folder under my user folder and then I pinned it under Favorites in Finder.

     

    So, in Finder, I have now "Local Documents" under Favorites and "Documents" under iCloud and that gives me some control to decide what files I want to be synched to iCloud. Obviously, it is not a perfect solution as you don't always have full control to where different apps store their data.

  • by LACAllen,

    LACAllen LACAllen Sep 24, 2016 6:20 AM in response to m0thr4
    Level 5 (5,087 points)
    iCloud
    Sep 24, 2016 6:20 AM in response to m0thr4

    IMO, I would not tinker with this unless you accept the risk of data los.

     

    Maybe not today, and maybe not tomorrow. But maybe one day.

     

    Not an Apple fanboy, but let's face it, OSX is not Linux. We get the level of control we get.

     

    I see lots of chatter here when a user tries to outsmart the system and pays a price.

     

    Just my 2 cents CAD. (maybe 1.4 cents USD)

  • by jd0p,

    jd0p jd0p Sep 24, 2016 6:32 AM in response to m0thr4
    Level 1 (9 points)
    Sep 24, 2016 6:32 AM in response to m0thr4

    It would seem that way.  I have no idea how the directory was excluded but I find it hard to believe this is hard coded.