RE-ASK: Can I set my iCloud up to automatically download files on my iPad?

iPad help Request

This is a renewed request based on a previous question posted here, which I don't think was fully addressed —>

Can I set my iCloud up to automatically d… - Apple Community

Here’s the scenario - I’m airborne with no wifi and need to access a doc generated on my MacBook and stored on both the MB and in iCloud. If I have my MacBook, the doc resides on my hard drive and is easily accessible. But if I only have my ipad, more often then not, when I find the doc in the FILES app, it’s not on my ipad but only in the cloud, and completely inaccessible/uneditable/unviewable to me until I land and get a wi-fi signal.

I travel for a living and find the convenience/ruggedness of an ipad attractive, so for shorter trips, I often opt to leave my MB at home. I should NOT have to pre-guess what docs I’m going to need ahead of time and pre-download those to ipad before taking off. I have 512gb of storage on this iPad, which is the same as my MB, so all files should live on the ipad just fine - size-wise.

A quick google search yielded this advice:

”You can force all the files in your iCloud account to download to your iPad by opening the Files app, tapping the iCloud Drive tab, and then tapping Select. Next, tap Select All and then tap the Download button. The files will be downloaded to your iPad and will also physically reside on your device.”

However - the Download button is NOT an available option if you Select All folders in your iCloud Files app. You can select them one at a time, and then choose download. So I did that, with mixed results. Some folders downloaded completely, others did not, unless I drilled down into them one at a time a tried to force a download.

Anyway, all this is harder than it has to be and makes iPad less functional as a travel tool. Like I said, if I had my MB, I could open finder and easily find/access/edit/view the files I need. Thanks.