icloud incredibly slow to download files on to macbook

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icloud incredibly slow to download files on to macbook

Hi, I have a number of audio/word doc files that I need to download from the cloud on to my macbook and it is taking hours and hours at a time for them to download. After I have accessed them, they then automatically re-upload to the cloud, which again means I have to wait hours to download them. I wondered if there was a way I could:

Speed up documents downloading from icloud (I have good internet and pay for 2 TB of icloud storage)
Stop the documents automatically uploading to cloud once I have downloaded them

Thanks in advance as I am finding this incredibly frustrating!

MacBook Pro 13″, macOS 12.2

Posted on Oct 24, 2022 2:24 AM

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Answer 1

justin_900

Community Specialist

Oct 25, 2022 12:05 PM in response to elbamo

Hello elbamo,

Welcome to Apple Support Communities!

We want to help you mange your files so they are not taking too long to download from iCloud.

Once the file is downloaded, it should be saved to your Mac and you can access it directly from that file location:

"Download files

Changes you make to a downloaded file appear only on your computer unless you subsequently upload the file to iCloud Drive.

In iCloud Drive on iCloud.com, select the files you want to download, then click in the iCloud Drive toolbar.
The files are downloaded to the location specified in your web browser’s settings"

This Apple Support page has the full details: Upload and download files from iCloud Drive on iCloud.com - Apple Support

This should help you access the file from that specified location using Finder to use the file without downloading it again.

We hope this helps to get the most from your Mac and avoid those wait times.

Cheers!

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icloud incredibly slow to download files on to macbook

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