Cannot delete iCloudDrive (Archive) folder

I recently have some issues with iCloud sync, so think maybe giving it a shot to turn it off and on.

It turns out it will create a folder named iCloudDrive (Archive). However, I can not seem to delete it anyway.


Error msg pops up: This operations can't be completed because "iCloudDrive (Archive)" needs to be downloaded.


I think it might have sth to do with me stopping iCloud creating its archive folder in the first place. So I ran again - turning off and on immediately and it created "iCloudDrive (Archive) 2". For the third time, I left my Mac the entire night for it to finish download and moving the files. This time it created "iCloudDrive (Archive) 3".


Wired is that I can delete specific file in the folder but cannot seem to delete the folder directory.

Sooooooo, I looked into the permission a little bit. It gives me:


drwxrwxrwx@  18 lincliu  staff    576 Aug 16 19:49 iCloudDrive (Archive)


com.apple.file-provider-domain-id#PN   -1 


drwx---rwx@   4 lincliu  staff    128 Aug 19 09:25 iCloudDrive (Archive) 2


com.apple.file-provider-domain-id#PN   -1 


drwx------@  17 lincliu  staff    544 Aug 20 00:48 iCloudDrive (Archive) 3


com.apple.file-provider-domain-id#PN   -1 


com.apple.fileprovider.pinned#P   -1 


I tried some ways I found online to remove the extended attributes (the @ sign), but currently nothing has worked....


Anyone has idea what should I do to get rid of those folders? they eat up a lot of space.....


Thanks!! T_T

MacBook Pro with Touch Bar

Posted on Aug 19, 2019 8:58 PM

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Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Posted on Aug 20, 2019 5:16 AM

Guys if you are stuck deleting the archive folder... and fail using xttar, etc. command to remove the @ attributes. I found a solution here to force delete: 1. locate the folder; 2. Option + Click 'File' in the menu bar above; 3. choose 'Delete Immediately'.

OR use the combination: Opt+Cmd+Del on the folder.

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3 replies
Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Aug 20, 2019 5:16 AM in response to lincliu

Guys if you are stuck deleting the archive folder... and fail using xttar, etc. command to remove the @ attributes. I found a solution here to force delete: 1. locate the folder; 2. Option + Click 'File' in the menu bar above; 3. choose 'Delete Immediately'.

OR use the combination: Opt+Cmd+Del on the folder.

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Cannot delete iCloudDrive (Archive) folder

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