My drive is filling up quickly with icloud files and I can't stop it

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Level 1

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My drive is filling up quickly with icloud files and I can't stop it

Hi,

When I setup an old machine of mine with a Catalina (it doesn't support any newer OS), it immediately fills up the drive (I boot from an external 250gb ssd) with iCloud files (up to 80mb spare free space!) even if I tick the "optimise storage" button:

I notice however that the button does not remain ticked. If I close the System Preferences window and immediately re-open it. It's unticked again.

I've also tried restarting the computer.

I've also tried the "Optimise Storage" button from the notification:

Any ideas what could be going wrong? Is there a way to NOT download ANY icloud files until I request it to?

I could do that after I completely disconnecting from iCloud, deleting everything then re-connecting.

Thanks,

Christoph

iMac 27″, macOS 10.12

Posted on Feb 28, 2021 11:32 PM

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Answer 1

Top-ranking reply

léonie

Level 10

197,147 points

Mar 1, 2021 2:30 AM in response to cburgdorfer

Do not delete the downloaded files, as this will delete them from iCloud as well.

You can try to remove the iCloud Download instead, if the "optimise Storage" checkmark does not stay selected.

To remove a download, select a folder on iCloud Drive, then ctrl-click it or right-click it, the use the command "Remove Download" from the menu that will appear. After that, you should be seeing a cloud with a download arrow to the right of the folder or item you removed:

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Answer 2

léonie

Level 10

197,147 points

Mar 1, 2021 3:10 AM in response to cburgdorfer

The "optimise Mac Storage" option should automatically stop downloads from iCloud, if you are running low on storage. It is strange that this option is not working. There may be problem with the preferences files in your user library.

Have you tried to restart your Mac? Or restart it in Save Mode to clear some caches?If not, try this and try to set the "Optimise" flag in Safe mode, then restart normally.

How to use safe mode on your Mac - Apple Support

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Answer 3

cburgdorfer Author

Level 1

24 points

Mar 1, 2021 2:56 AM in response to léonie

Hi Léonie, thanks so much for your tip, that's amazing and seems to work!

Do you know if there's a way to disable download per default? I have 100s of files which I'd have to "remove download" and I can't seem to do it folder-wise (unless the whole folder is downloaded?)

Especially if the hdd seems to download files up until I have 80mb free, everything gets very slow, to a point it takes me 2-3 minutes just to open a folder.

Thanks again!

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My drive is filling up quickly with icloud files and I can't stop it

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