iCloud completely fills my Mac HD

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iCloud completely fills my Mac HD

I just installed a new 1 TB SSD in my 2015 MBP, installed macOS 11.4, and set up iCloud, which began automatically downloading files to my Mac. But it has downloaded so much that I have less than 30 megabytes of space left on my Mac. I can't save files, Mail can't function, etc. "Optimize Mac Storage" is checked in the iCloud preferences. How do I keep iCloud from filling up the drive completely? It should be smart enough not to do this—the preference pane says "Older Documents will be stored only in iCloud when space is needed." I'd say space is needed.

MacBook Pro 15″, macOS 11.4

Posted on Jul 10, 2021 12:58 PM

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Answer 1

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a brody

Level 10

83,281 points

Jul 10, 2021 1:34 PM in response to Ogham

That is a bug I've seen before. It often stores it in an iCloud folder at the "root" level of the hard drive. Double click the drive after using the Finder to add the hard drive to your desktop.

Keep in mind, you'll want a larger external hard drive to copy those items onto before attempting to manage the iCloud backup, and while the internet is turned off.

Make sure before you turn back on the internet, to free up at least 150 GB of space if not more depending on how large you iCloud drive is.

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Answer 2

Ogham Author

Level 1

40 points

Jul 12, 2021 11:02 AM in response to a brody

This seems to have stopped the issue with iCloud filling my HD. I had other problems with iCloud syncing (such as Notes not syncing the iCloud account, etc.) so I eventually did the following scorched earth procedure:

I logged out of iCloud on my Mac, logged out of my Mac user account, logged back in via a temporary admin account I created, deleted the original user account, deleted the entire original account home folder (leftover after I deleted the user account), restarted, recreated a new admin user account (same name as the one I deleted), logged into that account and turned on iCloud. Now iCloud has properly synced the Desktop and Documents folders, other iCloud folders show up as they should (but are not downloaded to the Mac), my HD is not being filled to capacity, and Notes is working again.

This, along with the fresh install of macOS on a new SSD, required reinstalling apps, printers, mail accounts and more, but I think after trying less drastic measures this has finally made everything work.

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iCloud completely fills my Mac HD

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