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incredibly slow iCloud handling of Desktop docs

A number of docs [& folders] on my desktop are stuck there -- it says "waiting to upload" under them = and some are as small as 41k -- that's on my iMac [Mojave & plenty of room on it and iCloud] -- I'm now on my laptop [MBPro/Mojave] and there's a screenshot of 89kb which won't open at all and only the usual Preview icon shows - and I tried to move a different screenshot to the Downloads folder [taking it off the desktop] and while it is larger [5.7mb] it has been "preparing to move.." for the past 3 hours. I'll run a test with a smaller screenshot but this is concerning.

iMac 27″ 5K, macOS 10.14

Posted on May 22, 2021 1:59 PM

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Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Posted on May 23, 2021 12:12 AM

Hey Victoria Herring!


Is this an M1 Mac?


Does this happen for data in other locations than Desktop and Documents? Likewise, is other iCloud data syncing fine? And finally, does it matter what network you’re connected to? If you’ve already tested all that, and given iCloud Drive enough time to do its thing relevant to the amount of files it’s supporting, try this, (From my own experience in this matter):


In the hopes of saving you some time and energy, (Which I’ve spent much on this). If you have your data backed up already, and especially if your iCloud Drive data hasn’t fully downloaded to this Mac yet, but is in iCloud, try this:


Move this folder “CloudDocs” to the Desktop (Just as a backup). Restart the Mac, wait for the data to start downloading.


~/Library/Application Support/CloudDocs


Hopefully that does it!


To get there if you’re not sure, open Finder.

While holding Option on your keyboard click Go.

Then click Library, (Hold Option for the Library to show up as its hidden).


Then open Application Support, and you should see CloudDocs there. Move this to the trash or another location as a backup, restart.



If, after the restart, after a few minutes, the data doesn’t show:


Open Finder > Go > Utilities > Activity Monitor:

Search “bird” double click on the process and select “Quit”.


If the data still doesn’t show up:

Click the Apple logo > Force Quit > Finder > Relaunch.


Hope that does it! This maybe a different issue, so further testing and isolating maybe a good idea. But if you get in a rut, give it a shot!

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3 replies
Question marked as Top-ranking reply

May 23, 2021 12:12 AM in response to Victoria Herring

Hey Victoria Herring!


Is this an M1 Mac?


Does this happen for data in other locations than Desktop and Documents? Likewise, is other iCloud data syncing fine? And finally, does it matter what network you’re connected to? If you’ve already tested all that, and given iCloud Drive enough time to do its thing relevant to the amount of files it’s supporting, try this, (From my own experience in this matter):


In the hopes of saving you some time and energy, (Which I’ve spent much on this). If you have your data backed up already, and especially if your iCloud Drive data hasn’t fully downloaded to this Mac yet, but is in iCloud, try this:


Move this folder “CloudDocs” to the Desktop (Just as a backup). Restart the Mac, wait for the data to start downloading.


~/Library/Application Support/CloudDocs


Hopefully that does it!


To get there if you’re not sure, open Finder.

While holding Option on your keyboard click Go.

Then click Library, (Hold Option for the Library to show up as its hidden).


Then open Application Support, and you should see CloudDocs there. Move this to the trash or another location as a backup, restart.



If, after the restart, after a few minutes, the data doesn’t show:


Open Finder > Go > Utilities > Activity Monitor:

Search “bird” double click on the process and select “Quit”.


If the data still doesn’t show up:

Click the Apple logo > Force Quit > Finder > Relaunch.


Hope that does it! This maybe a different issue, so further testing and isolating maybe a good idea. But if you get in a rut, give it a shot!

incredibly slow iCloud handling of Desktop docs

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