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How do I back up my Apple laptop and iPad to iCloud

i need to know how to back up my Mac laptop to iCloud to free space.



MacBook Pro 15″, macOS 10.12

Posted on Sep 10, 2021 11:21 AM

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Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Posted on Sep 10, 2021 11:34 AM

To backup the iPad, see instructions in How to back up your iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch with iCloud - Apple Support

Apple offers iCloud Backup for iPhones and iPads but not for Mac computers.


A backup does not free up space on a device. It creates a second copy of the information on the device and saves it somewhere other than on the device so that you can recover in the event of a problem.


You can potentially free up some space on a Mac by using the Optimize Photos option of iCloud Photos and the Optimize Mac Storage option of iCloud Drive. See below for more information.


It is possible to sync data from a Mac to iCloud if you turn on those options (e.g., iCloud Photos, iCloud Drive including the Desktop & Documents option). Syncing has some of the benefits of a backup (and the benefit of being offsite) but is not the same as a backup. Major differences include the fact that not everything on your Mac can be synced and the fact that if you delete something, accidentally or otherwise, there is only a limited time period (30 days in most cases) during which it can be recovered.


Also see: https://support.apple.com/mac-backup


And more information on syncing in:

Set up and use iCloud Photos - Apple Support

and

Access and manage files in your iCloud Drive - Apple Support

and

Add your Desktop and Documents files to iCloud Drive - Apple Support

6 replies
Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Sep 10, 2021 11:34 AM in response to SaeGomez1

To backup the iPad, see instructions in How to back up your iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch with iCloud - Apple Support

Apple offers iCloud Backup for iPhones and iPads but not for Mac computers.


A backup does not free up space on a device. It creates a second copy of the information on the device and saves it somewhere other than on the device so that you can recover in the event of a problem.


You can potentially free up some space on a Mac by using the Optimize Photos option of iCloud Photos and the Optimize Mac Storage option of iCloud Drive. See below for more information.


It is possible to sync data from a Mac to iCloud if you turn on those options (e.g., iCloud Photos, iCloud Drive including the Desktop & Documents option). Syncing has some of the benefits of a backup (and the benefit of being offsite) but is not the same as a backup. Major differences include the fact that not everything on your Mac can be synced and the fact that if you delete something, accidentally or otherwise, there is only a limited time period (30 days in most cases) during which it can be recovered.


Also see: https://support.apple.com/mac-backup


And more information on syncing in:

Set up and use iCloud Photos - Apple Support

and

Access and manage files in your iCloud Drive - Apple Support

and

Add your Desktop and Documents files to iCloud Drive - Apple Support

Sep 20, 2021 10:43 AM in response to SaeGomez1

I'm not sure I understand your question. Be aware that any file that you delete on your Mac will also be deleted from iCloud (assuming that they were synced to iCloud).


But other than that, I don't know how I could give any advice about deleting files on your Mac as I have no idea what you have on it and what you want to keep. However there may be something in the following that will help: Free up storage space on your Mac - Apple Support My first thought from that link would be to: "Move files to an external storage device".



Sep 20, 2021 10:35 AM in response to FoxFifth

Thank you for your reply!

I do have another question, how do I know which files to delete on my laptop without having to click each file - they are not labeled and it will take considerable amount of time to go through each file to delete and free space- I must free up space because my computer will not even backup to iCloud because my laptop is so full.

How do I back up my Apple laptop and iPad to iCloud

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