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iCloud Drive doesn't free up space on my macbook, as it says it should. How can I make it actually free up space and store things in the cloud, and not on my macbook?
MacBook Pro 2018 latest macOS.
[Re-Titled by Moderator]
Which system version is running on your Mac? "latest System" could mean the last system version compatible with your Mac and not the most recent release.
Assuming you are having macOS 10.15 Catalina or macOS 11 Big Sur installed, you can save storage on your Mac by doing two things:
For example - removing a local downloaded folder from iCloud Drive, but keeping it in iCloud:
The "Remove Download" command is not available for folders, that have been partially downloaded. In that case open the folder and remove the items inside individually.
This method is working very well for me. My main Mac has a 2TB internal SSD, and there I can keep all iCloud Drive files mirrored locally, so I can always access them, even when I have no internet connection. But one of the Macs I am using at work has just a tiny 256 GB system volume. And there I could remove all downloads completely this way. iCloud Drive is just showing the filenames and a download arrow, so I can access all files, when I need them, and then remove them when I am done with them.
Which system version is running on your Mac? "latest System" could mean the last system version compatible with your Mac and not the most recent release.
Assuming you are having macOS 10.15 Catalina or macOS 11 Big Sur installed, you can save storage on your Mac by doing two things:
For example - removing a local downloaded folder from iCloud Drive, but keeping it in iCloud:
The "Remove Download" command is not available for folders, that have been partially downloaded. In that case open the folder and remove the items inside individually.
This method is working very well for me. My main Mac has a 2TB internal SSD, and there I can keep all iCloud Drive files mirrored locally, so I can always access them, even when I have no internet connection. But one of the Macs I am using at work has just a tiny 256 GB system volume. And there I could remove all downloads completely this way. iCloud Drive is just showing the filenames and a download arrow, so I can access all files, when I need them, and then remove them when I am done with them.
Thank you for the answer. But why does icloud save a backup on the device? My macbook is full and it says the documents take 250gb or so, and icloud drive takes 200gb. Is there any way to save this space? Cuz it doesn’t delete old files from the backup, atleast I feel like that
MarkusAV Said:
"iCloud Drive doesn't free up space on my macbook, as it says it should. How can I make it actually free up space and store things in the cloud, and not on my MacBook? MacBook Pro 2018 latest macOS."
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It is taking up space because it is syncing with iCloud. So, upload them to iCloud, and then delete them from your Mac.
Disable Files in iCloud Settings:
On your Mac...
Screenshot of what to Uncheck:
MarkusAV Said:
"iCloud Drive doesn't free up space on my macbook, as it says it should. How can I make it actually free up space and store things in the cloud, and not on my MacBook? MacBook Pro 2018 latest macOS."
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Enable Files in iCloud Settings:
On your Mac...
iCloud is external storage - it is not internal storage. What is on your Mac, is on your Mac - it cannot be upgraded, nor can it be downgraded.
Right. But I want my files in iCloud, and I want to keep syncing between my devices.
Here is a photo of my storage, that shows my documents taking up alotta space (i din’t understand how they take up this much, because my documents folder is actually just about 100gb)
And then there is the iCloud Drive. It seems like it’s storing an entire backup of my things in my icloud drive on my computer, so then I suddently have twice the amount of files on my computer? I don’t understand why, and is there any way to free up that space, while keeping my files synced?
iCloud is not archival storage, it is a syncing mechanism to make anything available on all of your devices. If you want to actually store data somewhere other than your computer (and be able to delete it from your Mac) either get an external hard drive or pay for something like dropbox online. Note that with iCloud, if you delete something on your computer, it will disappear from iCloud and will no longer be available there or on other devices.
Unfortunately, I only know the basics about iCloud since I do not use it at all, so you will need to wait for someone else to chime in. And, again, not being all that familiar with it, I do not believe that it "weeds out" old files, but I could be mistaken. I do not use it because I like my (real) backups on external hard drives I can control and I would not trust my personal information/data to some nameless online server which can be hacked into.
And, as far as I know, if you delete an item from your Mac, it will also be deleted from the cloud. So, you best check to make sure. Choose a file you don't really need and that is being synced to iCloud. Delete it from your Mac. Restart the Mac and check your cloud to see if it is still there.
And, never ever let your storage space on your device get full; the disk not only contains storage space, it also has your OS, system files and all of your files on it. The OS need plenty of empty space to function properly - always have an absolute minimum of 15 - 20 GB of empty space at all times. If you fill it up completely, the computer will simply stop functioning and it will be very difficult to deal with it then.
Thank you for the answer, yes I do have the latest macOS Big Sur.
I’ve tried to optimize storage but it doesn’t seem to work for me, and actually it just says «It’s already turned on» whenever i try to activate it?
I’ll try the remove download option, thank you for suggesting that:) but then i will still have all the files? cuz i have all the files on that mac already, and only share it with my iphone really
iCloud Drive doesn't free up space on my MacBook
