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iCloud storage synching question

Looking at my MacBook Pro 16" 500 GB storage I see 193.89 GB is taken up by iCloud Drive.

But I thought iCloud Drive is actually in iCloud online. I am synching everything (Documents, etc.) to iCloud as I have a 2 TB plan.

So why is it taking up nearly 40% of my hard disk and what can I do to free up more space on my hard disk?

Thank you.



MacBook

Posted on Dec 2, 2020 2:40 AM

Reply
Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Posted on Dec 8, 2020 1:14 PM

Michael Vallance wrote:

Looking at my MacBook Pro 16" 500 GB storage I see 193.89 GB is taken up by iCloud Drive.
But I thought iCloud Drive is actually in iCloud online. I am synching everything (Documents, etc.) to iCloud as I have a 2 TB plan.
So why is it taking up nearly 40% of my hard disk and what can I do to free up more space on my hard disk?
Thank you.



https://discussions.apple.com/content/attachment/8ddff452-ed36-4ec2-96f9-60c587548b05

iCloud Drive is a folder both on iCloud as well as on your device (your MBP, in this case!)


Syncs means that the data will be on both the devices connected to iCloud and on iCloud itself. If you delete from one location, the sync will ensure the data is deleted from the other location too!

4 replies
Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Dec 8, 2020 1:14 PM in response to Michael Vallance

Michael Vallance wrote:

Looking at my MacBook Pro 16" 500 GB storage I see 193.89 GB is taken up by iCloud Drive.
But I thought iCloud Drive is actually in iCloud online. I am synching everything (Documents, etc.) to iCloud as I have a 2 TB plan.
So why is it taking up nearly 40% of my hard disk and what can I do to free up more space on my hard disk?
Thank you.



https://discussions.apple.com/content/attachment/8ddff452-ed36-4ec2-96f9-60c587548b05

iCloud Drive is a folder both on iCloud as well as on your device (your MBP, in this case!)


Syncs means that the data will be on both the devices connected to iCloud and on iCloud itself. If you delete from one location, the sync will ensure the data is deleted from the other location too!

Dec 8, 2020 1:03 PM in response to Michael Vallance

Hello Michael Vallance,


Thanks for reaching out in Apple Support Communities. We understand that you have some questions about iCloud Drive and how documents are stored on your Mac. We're happy to help.


Check out the following support articles:


Add your Desktop and Documents files to iCloud Drive


iCloud Drive FAQ


How to free up storage space on your Mac


Cheers!

iCloud storage synching question

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