Good afternoon, I went to my iCloud drive to upload folders and there was a message that said that uploading folders from my computer (new McBook Air) is not possible. Is that a joke?? I have many folders and sub-folders. Or is there a trick to make it happen on iCloud Drive? Please help. Thank you!
MacBook Air 13″, macOS 11.3
Hello! Desktop/documents from System Preferences is off, I simply copied the folders/documents from the Mac to the iCloud Drive.
The situation now is that I still have the originals on the computer (I want them there in order to work, I do not want to work from inside the cloud) + the same documents on the iCloud Drive (which show up on the iCloud Drive folder on the computer), therefore I have the same documents twice on the computer, taking up space twice.
What I want to achieve is simply to have my files backed up on the Cloud (keeping the originals on my computer). With other Clouds such as Dropbox, OneDrive, ..., whatever is placed on the Cloud does not stay on the computer under the Cloud folder, it is totally on the Cloud (no space taken twice).
I am sure there is a trick/method to do this on iCloud Drive (backup files on the cloud not staying on the computer, totally separate on the Cloud). I have been using Macs for almost 30 years, would like to be able to use the iCloud Drive as a simple backup (no sync).
Thank you!
I got in touch with Apple Support. Fantastic experience!
For people who may have the same issue now or in the future,, here's what to do to drag and drop folders on iCloud Drive:
open Folder:
go to File and then click on “new Finder window”
Then click on iCloud Drive
move/copy folders/subfolders from Finder to the iCloud Drive on the 2nd Finder that has been created
Refresh iCloud Drive in browser to see the files in iCloud Drive
But now there is another issue happening (I did not know about it when the session was finished): Files placed on iCloud Drive stay on the computer (Folder), meaning I now have the same files twice on the computer (the original files + the same files copied to iCloud Drive). I do not want them twice on the computer (taking up twice the amount of space). The purpose of having files on the cloud is to have a backup. How do I solde this major issue (putting files on the cloud without them staying twice on the computer)? Thanks!
Miami Apple wrote:
It does not work. I opened finder to upload documents: all individual documents can be uploaded, but not folders/sub-folders.
when I try to upload folders from finder, the upload box on finder stays blurry, not possible to click on it. Individual files work.
and If I try directly from the computer to the drive, the message says: uploading folders to iCloud Drive is not supported, only files can be uploaded using your web browser.
so impossible to upload either from folder or from computer!
what can be done?
sorry. that's not what I see on my Mac.
I am using macOS 11.3.
Not sure what to suggest. I think you have another issue at play.
Have you talked to Apple support?
https://support.apple.com/contact
Miami Apple wrote:
Good afternoon, I went to my iCloud drive to upload folders and there was a message that said that uploading folders from my computer (new McBook Air) is not possible. Is that a joke?? I have many folders and sub-folders. Or is there a trick to make it happen on iCloud Drive? Please help. Thank you!
How are you trying to do this?
Via icloud.com is not possible, but using Finder to copy folders to the iCloud Drive works as expected.
I opened iCloud’s website, went to iCloud Drive, then dragged a folder from my computer to drop it in iCloud Drive. That’s when the message appeared. I also have Dropbox and i can drag and drop folders without any issues.
Thank you.
Miami Apple wrote:
I opened iCloud’s website, went to iCloud Drive, then dragged a folder from my computer to drop it in iCloud Drive. That’s when the message appeared. I also have Dropbox and i can drag and drop folders without any issues.
Thank you.
Did you try using Finder as I suggested?
Folders can't be uploaded via a browser. And we're not discussing Dropbox.
Miami Apple wrote:
Thank you for your answers. currently out, will try later.
to be clear, what you are saying is that if I open finder to see my folders, then I can drag a folder from inside finder to iCloud Drive?
Yes. That is what I have tested and am saying.
It does not work. I opened finder to upload documents: all individual documents can be uploaded, but not folders/sub-folders.
when I try to upload folders from finder, the upload box on finder stays blurry, not possible to click on it. Individual files work.
and If I try directly from the computer to the drive, the message says: uploading folders to iCloud Drive is not supported, only files can be uploaded using your web browser.
so impossible to upload either from folder or from computer!
what can be done?
Thank you. Will contact them tomorrow.
No problem to upload individual files from Folder. But impossible to click on upload box when it’s a folder to upload.
I have the same os, I just bought a new MacBook Air M1.
Hey there!
Did you copy/paste the folders from your Mac to iCloud Drive? Or did you turn on Desktop and Documents from System Preferences > Apple ID > iCloud > iCloud Drive > Options?
That may help out, likewise, are you able to take a picture or screen shot of your Finder window showing both copies?
Cheers.
Hey again!
I do believe that the files need to be stored on at least one of your devices, in order to remain in iCloud. If you see the files in Finder > iCloud Drive, on your Mac, then they are not doubling the amount of storage they are using, the same files are simply available on your Mac, as well as in iCloud. You could use the Optimize Storage option, this alleviates some storage on your Mac, by storing some files in iCloud alone, while still making them available to see and download in the Finder. Hope that helps.
Thank you for your answer. If that's the case (files not doubling the amount of storage on the Mac), I'm gonna upload a lot of documents on iCloud Drive, then I will see if it eats up my computer's capacity or not, then will report back. Thanks!
Thank you for your answers. currently out, will try later.
to be clear, what you are saying is that if I open finder to see my folders, then I can drag a folder from inside finder to iCloud Drive?
iCloud drive - not possible to upload folders ??
