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seadub64 Author

Level 1

11 points

iCloud Drive

Why does iCloud Drive count against my computer's storage?

I pay $2.99/month for the extra storage on iCloud Drive, but it's using about 112 GB of storage.

I thought I was supposed to save space by using iCloud to store items that I didn't want to use space to store on my computer.

iMac 21.5″, macOS 10.13

Posted on Jul 6, 2020 12:36 PM

Top-ranking reply

FoxFifth

Level 10

472,149 points

Posted on Jul 6, 2020 12:55 PM

By default iCloud Drive keeps a local copy on your Mac but you can turn on the Optimize Mac Storage option. See the following from Add your Desktop and Documents files to iCloud Drive - Apple Support

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.

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iCloud Drive

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