iCloud Drive Optimise - still using disc space

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Level 1

4 points

iCloud Drive Optimise - still using disc space

Hi,

The hard disc of my 2015 MacBook Pro is almost completely full, with the majority of the space taken up by files that are saved on iCloud Drive. Various threads on Apple Support I have read suggest that others have had similar issues that have been solved by selecting 'Optimise Mac Storage' - I have this selected already and have had for some time.

When looking at the storage use breakdown, 'other' is by far the largest. I've looked into what 'other' comprises of and it's pretty much entirely 'mobile documents', i.e. all the iCloud Drive files that should (as I understand) be stored solely offline. All files in my iCloud Drive have the correct cloud / arrow symbol indicating that they are not stored on the Mac.

If anyone can help shed some light on where I might be going wrong I would really appreciate it.

Thanks

MacBook Pro 15″, macOS 11.4

Posted on Apr 2, 2022 8:01 AM

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Answer 1

tygb

Level 9

64,610 points

Apr 3, 2022 9:41 AM in response to user4310

As you mentioned -

The hard disc of my 2015 MacBook Pro is almost completely full,

See a thread Cloud and Hard Drive - Apple Community

You have clicked on finder > Go > hold option key > click on library > Mobile documents

Again right clicked on Mobile documents and use get info , the stored is shown ( the folder is locked by default ) .

If the data shown is incorrect contact senior apple care advisors they will refresh your account from server end .

Read the article See used and available storage space on your Mac - Apple Support

Other Users: Contains files created and modified by other user accounts on your Mac.

Delete the secondary user accounts Delete a user or group on Mac - Apple Support

Click on finder > Go > home the other user account will be visible ( you can leave your primary account ) , right click on other user account and delete it , the files inside them that are saved will also get deleted .

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Answer 2

muguy

Level 9

76,621 points

Apr 2, 2022 8:06 AM in response to user4310

You're not doing anything wrong. Other is a catch all and does include things like streamed music caches, some file caches, File backups that haven't yet actually been backed up. But, your iCloud documents shouldn't be in other except perhaps for some recently cached ones

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Answer 3

user4310 Author

Level 1

4 points

Apr 2, 2022 8:58 AM in response to muguy

Hi, thank you so much for your quick response.

My Mobile Documents folder is accessed through Library (which I understand shows up as 'other' in the the storage breakdown), and comes in at 176GB, yet no files in this MD folder are currently stored on my Mac (i.e. I need to 'download now' before opening), which has me very confused - my Mac seems to think these as files stored on the hard disc.

Thank you

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iCloud Drive Optimise - still using disc space

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