Why is uploading to iCloud drive so slow?

Question

Level 1

9 points

Why is uploading to iCloud drive so slow?

I finally decided to back all my files from my MacBook Air to iCloud drive instead of continuing to use an external hard drive (time machine).

It seems like one of the worst mistakes I've ever made. I did not realize that a) it would take so long to back up my files and b) that one cannot pause the upload. I have upgraded to the latest OS. I have a good internet connection, but at the current rate it looks like it will take close to a week to back up my files (400+ GB). In the meantime, I am not able to do much else, since, despite the glacial pace of the backup, it also seems to be taking up an awful lot of bandwidth. This is impacting work where I need to access Zoom etc.

Is there any way to check if something has gone wrong and/or speed up the process?

Thanks for any assistance.

MacBook Air 13″, macOS 10.15

Posted on Nov 18, 2021 7:17 PM

Reply

Answer 1

bruno75

Community Specialist

Nov 19, 2021 1:25 PM in response to camowens

Hi camowens,

We'd like to help answer your questions regarding syncing with iCloud.

For your question about howling it's taking, it depends on a few things: internet speed, amount of devices using the same internet connection, what else you're doing while it's syncing with iCloud, etc. As you mentioned it's over 400GB of content, it can take a while regardless of the aforementioned details to check.

For your other question about your other internet based apps beings slower than normal while iCloud is syncing, this sounds like expected behavior. As iCloud is using internet bandwidth to determine how fast it'll sync, along with the aforementioned details regarding your first question, we recommend letting it stay powered on overnight while connected to the charger. That way, you can see if it's progressed any with iCloud, and when it's finished, you can test for this same issue in your other internet based apps.

If the issue remains, after trying the above steps, including possibly contacting your internet provider, that's when we recommend contacting Apple Support here: Get Support

Take care!

Reply

Why is uploading to iCloud drive so slow?

Similar questions