Synchronizing only some selected Mac folders on iCloud Drive

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Burodami Author

Level 1

4 points

Synchronizing only some selected Mac folders on iCloud Drive

Hello,

I have a question concerning synchronizing my MacBook Air (10.14.6 macOS Mojave) with iCloud Drive.

Until now, I used iCloud Drive as a storage facility,

I did synchronize a few my folders with on Google Drive (it allows the possibility to select folders to sync).

This worked well but stopped functioning last week for all the macOS Mojave and below.

I therefore consider transferring the synchronization to iCloud Drive.

When I went to the setting of iCloud, I saw the "iCloud Drive/options"

with the possibility to check: (desktop and document folders).

I realize that by checking that option, everything within those two folders will be synchronized on iCloud drive.

This is something I do not choose to do.

I would like rather to be able to synchronize on iCloud, only some selected folders and not others.

Is there another possible way to synchronize with iCloud just some selected folders?

Thank you so much for your help,

All the best.

MacBook Air 13″, macOS 10.14

Posted on Feb 16, 2023 10:16 AM

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Answer 1

muguy

Level 10

91,814 points

Feb 18, 2023 12:10 PM in response to Burodami

You need not turn on desktop and documents.

When you enable iCloud Drive, a iCloud Drive folder is made available to you. Anything that you store in that folder syncs into iCloud.

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Answer 2

justin_900

Community Specialist

Feb 18, 2023 11:04 AM in response to Burodami

Hello Burodami,

Welcome to Apple Support Communities!

We want to help you get the most from iCloud Drive and storing your files. There are a few options for which files to sync when turning on the feature, see here:

"Turn on Desktop and Documents

Turn on Desktop and Documents on every Mac that you want to use with iCloud Drive.

From your Mac, choose Apple menu  > System Settings. In macOS Monterey or earlier, choose Apple menu  > System Preferences.
Click Apple ID, then click iCloud.
Make sure that iCloud Drive is turned on.
Next to iCloud Drive, click Options.
Choose Desktop & Documents Folders.
Click Done.

If you want to store your files in iCloud Drive and another cloud storage service, you can keep copies of your files in both, but you can't keep folders from a third-party cloud service in iCloud Drive. You can keep your other cloud service folders in a different place on your Mac, like the home folder."

Since you're looking for more options than this, we welcome and encourage you to submit this feedback and any other feature requests here: Product Feedback - Apple

Regarding the storage question, you can see the details here to store your files:

"Store your files in iCloud and save space on your device

The files that you keep in iCloud Drive use your iCloud storage. And as long as you have enough space in iCloud, you can store as many files as you like.

If you need more space, you can delete files to free up space in iCloud. When you use iCloud Drive and delete a file on one device, it deletes on every device that you're signed in to with the same Apple ID. You can find deleted files in the Recently Deleted folder in the Files app or on iCloud.com for 30 days. After that, they're removed.

Learn more about how to manage your iCloud storage."

This Apple Support page has the full details: Add your Desktop and Documents files to iCloud Drive - Apple Support

We hope this helps to manage your files using iCloud Drive.

Please let us know if you have further questions.

Cheers!

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Synchronizing only some selected Mac folders on iCloud Drive

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