Storage ; iCloud or iOS device

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Level 3

754 points

Storage ; iCloud or iOS device

I moved a few documents from iCloud Drive to " on my iPhone " with the goal of saving cloud space … docs that I don't need to view on my iPhone , although I would like to use them on my desktop and iPad . I noticed that the iCloud storage remained the same and when I deleted them from iCloud Drive on the iPhone , they go to " recently deleted items " on the iPad .

So , is it possible to keep the syncing between the iPad and desktop without having it all on the iPhone ?

iPad, iPadOS 15

Posted on Mar 10, 2022 12:01 AM

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Answer 1

Top-ranking reply

Ingo2711

Level 9

73,269 points

Mar 10, 2022 1:35 AM in response to SteelCityAnne

iCloud does not work like the usual external drive you would use to store your data.

iCloud "just" keeps the data in sync on every iOS /macOS device that is registered to your Apple ID.

And every device has the iCloud Drive folder, in iOS this is the "Files" folder.

If you drag + drop with the option key on your Mac, you copy the files just to your Mac, not to your iOS device.

Check this article about how to access data from each device:

Access and manage your files in iCloud Drive - Apple Support

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Answer 2

SteelCityAnne Author

Level 3

754 points

Mar 10, 2022 1:06 AM in response to Ingo2711

Reply to : Ingo2711 ; iCloud Storage

Wouldn't they already be in the computer if they're synced and have iCloud backup turned on ? The article is helpful , I'll need to go over it again … I'm not understanding the options & differences between the Mac & iCloud Drive , save a copy locally , iCloud backups

turned on & icloud.com ? And , on the Mac , if I go to the Finder sidebar > iCloud Drive > press/hold the option key and drag the files to a new location , will I be able to use them on my iPad ?

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Answer 3

SteelCityAnne Author

Level 3

754 points

Mar 10, 2022 3:01 AM in response to Ingo2711

Ingo2711 ; ☁️iCloud Storage

I read about the backup not being the same as sync , the differences between iCloud & the computer, what they each back up and I can create & use backups from anywhere

with Wi-Fi . I'm looking forward to the iOS 15.4 and Monterey 12.3 … a drag & drop feature between iOS and Mac and share keyboards & mice among them as well !

The articles were good , I think I can take it from here , thanks so much 👌

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