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PC2711 Author

Level 1

4 points

Why does my MacBook hard drive storage decrease when I copy files from an external hard drive on to the icloud drive?

Posted on Jan 24, 2021 11:49 AM

Top-ranking reply

FoxFifth

Level 10

472,467 points

Posted on Jan 24, 2021 11:56 AM

The files are being synced back to your Mac hard drive from iCloud. There isn't a way to prevent that if you have Apple menu > System Preferences > Apple ID > iCloud > iCloud Drive turned on in your Mac.

You can potentially reduce the storage space used on your Mac by turning on Optimize Mac Storage. See the "Store your files in iCloud and save space on your device: section of Add your Desktop and Documents files to iCloud Drive - Apple Support

(Note that section is applicable even if you don't turn on the Desktop & Documents option in iCloud Drive)

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Why does my MacBook hard drive storage decrease when I copy files from an external hard drive on to the icloud drive?

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