Does Time Machine Backup My iCloud Drive if I have
1) turned on Optomize Mac Storage
and 2) the contents of my iCloud drive are larger than my Mac HD?
A similar question was asked here in 2017 but that thread had an ambiguous conclusion.
Thanks for your response.
Simply stated, Time Machine backs up the entire contents of your Mac.
That applies to the iCloud Drive folder as much as it does anything else. In other words if a file is stored on your Mac, Time Machine will back it up. If the file is stored on iCloud Drive but no longer resides on your Mac because Optimize Storage removed it, it will remain available on iCloud Drive to be downloaded whenever you require it.
Refer to Optimize storage space on your Mac - Apple Support.
Simply stated, Time Machine backs up the entire contents of your Mac.
That applies to the iCloud Drive folder as much as it does anything else. In other words if a file is stored on your Mac, Time Machine will back it up. If the file is stored on iCloud Drive but no longer resides on your Mac because Optimize Storage removed it, it will remain available on iCloud Drive to be downloaded whenever you require it.
Refer to Optimize storage space on your Mac - Apple Support.
Yes. Examine the iCloud Drive folder on your Mac. The meanings of the respective icons are explained here: Get file, folder, and disk information on Mac - Apple Support.
If there is an "in iCloud" icon associated with a file, then it exists only in iCloud and is not on your Mac. If it's not on your Mac Time Machine doesn't back it up. The file attributes (metadata if you prefer) indicate its status. That information resides on the Mac, and Time Machine backs it up along with everything else.
I appreciate how someone accustomed to the way local file storage works might rebel at such a simple concept, but that's all there is to it.
If you remain morbidly curious Time Machine maintains a database of files (including them) it backed up including a "changed" attribute. I hesitate to encourage rooting around in there because people cannot resist the urge to tamper with its contents which reliably breaks TM. Look but don't touch.
The Finder's conveniently named iCloud Drive folder happens to be a shortcut to the normally hidden ~/Library/Mobile Documents folder. Time Machine's database will show that path for those files... and they're on your Mac.
dallasmacguy wrote:
... If so, one could hope that Time Machine would simply ask that a file be added to the backup set and the filesystem would make the data available regardless of where it resides.
One more thing... it would not be possible for Time Machine to do that if for no other reason that iCloud can easily contain files whose total size exceeds the capacity of the source volume. Indeed you wrote that describes your installation. If a Time Machine backup contained them in addition to the source volume's contents, it would not be possible to restore that source volume to its precise state that existed at a specific date and time that you can choose—a fundamental TM feature.
The filesystem including its TM backup does make the data available by recording where it's stored. If it existed only in iCloud at the time that backup was created, it can be downloaded from iCloud at any subsequent time. Restoring a TM backup doesn't change that.
John Galt,
I appreciate your response. The article you link to is silent with regard to Time Machine behavior. While the "data" of an "optimized" file might not be present on the local hard drive, I assume that all the metadata Time Machine would use to make a backup - don't backup decision _is_ present. If so, one could hope that Time Machine would simply ask that a file be added to the backup set and the filesystem would make the data available regardless of where it resides.
In the older thread that I mentioned above, one poster indicated that when Time Machine was active they saw lots of unexplained iCloud file downloads in the Finder.
I see that you are a Level 9 with many points and so must know a great deal. Are you aware of any documentation that explicitly says "optimized" files will not be backed up via Time Machine?
Thanks again.
Does Time Machine Backup My iCloud Drive?
