iCloud Drive files also on my Mac hard drive?

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Level 1

48 points

iCloud Drive files also on my Mac hard drive?

I've turned on iCloud Drive and 'Desktop & Documents Folders'.

My work is now slowly uploading to iCloud Drive.

I have plenty of space on my hard drive, so I have not turned on 'Optimise Mac Storage'. It states 'the full contents of iCloud Drive will be stored on this Mac if you have enough space.'

So, I presume my work will exist on my Mac hard drive AND be synced up to iCloud Drive. Hence my files will be in two places?

Also, I presume if my files are stored on my Mac, that my Time Machine backups will backup my work? Hence my files will be backed up to an external disk and on iCloud Drive?

I also presume, because my files will be stored on my Mac, that I can work on the files off-line (and they will get sycned when I next have wifi?

MacBook Pro 15″, macOS 11.6

Posted on Feb 15, 2022 5:02 AM

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Answer 1

Sparky Marky Author

Level 1

48 points

Feb 15, 2022 9:00 AM in response to FoxFifth

Thank you.

Two more questions:

My Mac desktop, and the files and folders I have on it, all look exactly the same as before switching on iCloud Drive Desktop and Documents. So iCloud Drive is automatically backing up the files and folders on my Desktop – and I can continue to use my Desktop as before?

I've gone to the Users folder and my User folder – and the Documents folder (which I never used anyway) is no longer there. Nor is the Desktop folder. See attached.

So where is my Documents folder? I have not ticked 'Optimise My Mac' so it should still be on my Mac hard-drive, but where?

In a Finder window I can see my iCloud Drive, and within it the Documents and Desktop folders. But where is the Documents folder on my Mac?

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Answer 2

Sparky Marky Author

Level 1

48 points

Feb 15, 2022 11:08 AM in response to FoxFifth

What are Apple playing at? Most people will keep their documents in their Documents folder, in their User account. Why would Apple move this to a location most people can't find?

So if I want to save a file in an application, to my Documents folder, I have to navigate to Home > Library > Mobile Documents > Documents > ? How do I save a file to my Documents folder (on my Mac hard-disk, to be synched to the cloud)?

Inside the Mobile Documents folder is a folder called Desktop. Will my Time Machine backup, backup this Desktop folder AND my actual Desktop? This seems to be doubling up my Desktop (where I keep 100GB of work files)

Inside the Documents folder, inside the Mobile Documents folder are some folders. There is only one cloud icon and it says 'waiting to upload'. How do I know where the others folders live? In the cloud? On my Mac? Or hopefully both?

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Answer 3

FoxFifth

Level 10

472,575 points

Feb 15, 2022 9:55 AM in response to Sparky Marky

You access it through the Finder sidebar or the Finder "Go" menu; it is on your Mac. The Cloud icon beside each item verifies they are actually on your Mac (hover the cursor over the cloud and you will see the word "Downloaded").

You can also hold down the option key while in the Finder Go menu and the Library will appear; if you click on that and then scroll down to the Mobile Documents folder and click on it, that will also take you to the iCloud Drive folder. Apple obfuscates any access other than that.

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Answer 4

FoxFifth

Level 10

472,575 points

Feb 15, 2022 12:01 PM in response to Sparky Marky

To access your files use the iCloud Drive section of the Finder sidebar or the Finder "Go" menu. Going to the Library is an option but it just gets you back to the same place as the method in the line above.

And you described correctly in your original post, if you don't turn on the Optimize option there is always a local copy on your Mac. The waiting to upload indicates that it hasn't finished uploading some files to iCloud.

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Answer 5

Sparky Marky Author

Level 1

48 points

Feb 15, 2022 12:12 PM in response to FoxFifth

So my Documents folder has been moved out of my User account folder, and into the iCloud Drive / Mobile Documents folder.

And because I have not turned on the Optimize option, this Documents folder is still on my Mac's hard-drive (just in a different place).

Personally I don't use the Finder sidebar or Finder "Go" menu – I like to know where files are and navigate to them (I know this takes extra time, but I just like to know where things live)

Something I don't understand is, inside my Documents folder is a folder called Library. This appears to be zero KB. Why is there a Library folder in my Documents? and can I delete this?

Thanks for all your help. Appreciated

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