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trying to switch from onedrive to icloud drive and i see on my 128GB macbook that icloud is taking up storage on the device
why is this the case ? ... it is basically an external drive
i want to store on it like i did on onedrive, just have files kept off the computer that i might need later
but i want to maintain space on the macbook for other projects that come and go
don't understand why it is showing in blue as on my drive
i don't really want to have documents and desktop in the cloud, don't need to
i just want to store things like backed up audiobooks and some catalogues that i won't even look at for months at a time
i want to keep about 40-50gb free (on my 128gb macbook) and store about 150gb in the cloud, including photos (i have the 200gb storage plan) ?
how would i do that
i don't really want to have documents and desktop in the cloud, don't need to
i just want to store things like backed up audiobooks and some catalogues that i won't even look at for months at a time
i want to keep about 40-50gb free (on my 128gb macbook) and store about 150gb in the cloud, including photos (i have the 200gb storage plan) ?
how would i do that
iCloud Drive is a syncing service and by default keeps a local copy on your Mac drive.
To reduce the space needed on the drive, turn on the Optimize storage option. See the information below from Add your Desktop and Documents files to iCloud Drive - Apple Support
(and note that while the information is in the Desktop and Documents support article, the Optimize option is available even if you are using iCloud Drive without turning on Desktop and Documents option)
Store your files in iCloud and save space on your device
The files that you keep in iCloud Drive use your iCloud storage. And as long as you have enough space in iCloud and on your device, you can store as many files as you like.
If you need more space on your device, iCloud Drive can help. On your Mac, choose Apple menu > System Preferences. Click Apple ID, then click iCloud. On macOS Mojave or earlier, choose Apple menu > System Preferences, then click iCloud. Turn on Optimize Mac Storage. Then your Mac keeps all of your recent files on your computer, but keeps your older ones only in iCloud, ready for you to download when you need them again. If you want to free up more space on your Mac, follow these steps. On your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch, you can search and browse files from all of your devices and download them only as you need them.
You can also free up space on your device and in iCloud Drive when you delete files. Then go to your Recently Deleted folder in the Files app or on iCloud.com and delete the files there. Before you delete anything, make sure that you back up the files that you still want. When you use iCloud Drive and delete a file on one device, it deletes on your other devices too. iCloud removes the files from every device that you're signed in to with the same Apple ID.
i prefer the design to icloud which i still can't grasp
onedrive is like a hard drive in the cloud, you can easily designate any file to be 1) only on onedrive and not on your mac or 2) on both your mac and onedrive ... you can stash files there and quit the onedrive app and they just sit there for when you need them
icloud seems to force you to have your latest files on mac and your oldest files on icloud, it doesn't let you choose, i don't get the design at all, why doesn't it let you choose what files to sync and what files not to sync and why can't you just close the drive and pretend it isn't there ?
anyway, on reflection i realized that a plain old external drive will be a better solution and will save me money as well
i will miss word and excel though which were actually acceptable though not snappy on a macbook air 2019
Or you may want to consider continuing to use OneDrive. It has more flexible options for cloud-only storage.
ok, reading more i see i can turn on "optimize storage" but that mixes by date giving me the newest on my device and the oldest on icloud, but i want to access by kind not date, like if i take a look in a catalogue, it will download to the mac i assume when i want it to just remain in the cloud and be in the "older" group
hmm, i think maybe an external drive might work better
thanks for the reply and help
i do use time machine and just wanted another option, thanks for the help, onedrive is just too finicky to use with the mac finder, files that you want to keep just on onedrive start to download at the drop of a hat, it is really frustrating, plus, i'd like to save the money now
If you want a complete backup solution go back to OneDrive, or use Time Machine, or make a bootable clone, or preferably all of the above.
Yes, I've heard the same reports about OneDrive plus that it is a bit of a resource hog.
Why Does iCloud Drive Take up Space on My Macbook ?
