iCloud Drive is using a lot of space > 200GB on my HDD. How to remove?

icloud drive is using > 200GB on my HDD. Left 600MB only.

Have removed download on all iCloud files on HDD but still > 200GB in use...

How can I remove the 200GB icloud drive files...



MacBook Air 13″, macOS 11.2

Posted on Jan 23, 2022 4:48 AM

Reply
Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Posted on Jan 24, 2022 1:36 PM

Dear Matthew,


I read the articles your are referring to before and all recommendations I applied already.

The problem is dat iOS is not making free space which I need to download other files.

As I need HDD space I solved it in another way by removing the iCloud Drive from this machine.


  1. Go to the  Apple menu and choose 'System Preferences'
  2. Select 'Apple ID' or 'iCloud' settings (depending on MacOS version)
  3. Uncheck the box next to “iCloud Drive”


After deleting the files, I enabled iCloud Drive again and got my space.


Kind regards







3 replies
Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Jan 24, 2022 1:36 PM in response to Matthew.S81

Dear Matthew,


I read the articles your are referring to before and all recommendations I applied already.

The problem is dat iOS is not making free space which I need to download other files.

As I need HDD space I solved it in another way by removing the iCloud Drive from this machine.


  1. Go to the  Apple menu and choose 'System Preferences'
  2. Select 'Apple ID' or 'iCloud' settings (depending on MacOS version)
  3. Uncheck the box next to “iCloud Drive”


After deleting the files, I enabled iCloud Drive again and got my space.


Kind regards







Jan 24, 2022 8:50 AM in response to Frank_R

Hello Frank_R,


We see your iCloud Drive is taking up most of the storage on your Mac. We'd be happy to help you with this.


your iCloud Drive allows you to access your files across your Apple devices. We'd recommend reviewing the following article to help manage you files: Access and manage your files in iCloud Drive.


Additionally, you can see how to Free up storage space on your Mac.


We hope this helps.


Thanks for using Apple Support Communities. Have a good one!

This thread has been closed by the system or the community team. You may vote for any posts you find helpful, or search the Community for additional answers.

iCloud Drive is using a lot of space > 200GB on my HDD. How to remove?

Welcome to Apple Support Community
A forum where Apple customers help each other with their products. Get started with your Apple Account.