Where are locally stored iCloud Drive files kept?

Question

Level 1

10 points

Where are locally stored iCloud Drive files kept?

In the Finder, with the View option set to show the file path, all the files 'held' in the iCloud Drive are shown with their file paths emanating/rooted from the 'iCloud Drive' (ie they do not emanate/root from 'Macintosh HD')

But, sometimes, some of those iCloud Drive files are also/still held locally somewhere on Macintosh HD.

But there appears to be no way to get the Finder to display the 'Macintosh HD' file path for those files held on the iCloud Drive which are also held locally. One can disconnect from the internet and see if an iCloud Drive file is still available locally. But, if it is, how can the user show/discover where it is stored?

Or, does MacOS Catalina onwards not have the ability to reveal where the local storage is for files held in the iCloud Drive?

iMac 21.5″, macOS 10.15

Posted on Aug 18, 2023 8:55 AM

Reply

Answer 1

Mars_Express Author

Level 1

10 points

Aug 18, 2023 2:35 PM in response to FoxFifth

"They are in the Library somewhere but if you go there and click on them it takes you back to the iCloud Drive folder in Finder."

Thanks for that...

But...

"See the "View iCloud Status" section of Get file, folder, and disk information on Mac - Apple Support"

demonstrates the impracticality of what is provided. If - for example - a user has an iCloud Drive directory/folder containing several thousand files, it is totally impractical to have to interrogate each file individually to discover whether it is stored off-line and/or on the Macintosh HD.

When it comes to making a bootable backup (for example) of the user's files, and that user has some unknown number of files stored exclusively off-line, another unknown number of files stored exclusively on the Macintosh HD, and a third unknown number of files stored both off-line and on Macintosh HD - where those unknown numbers are subject to change - are they then left in a quandary as to the integrity of any bootable backup?

My guess is that they might just wish to reassure themselves that all the locally-stored files are backed up (especially, the ones in iCloud Drive not stored off-line) but is it possible for them to check?

Does such a user have to rely upon a bootable backup 'doing the right thing' and checking each individual iCloud Drive file for its status, and backing up everything stored locally? (I realise I have now strayed into third-party software integrity here, but it was exactly this question informally asked of me, which led me to investigate how on earth to find the full path names of iCloud Drive files... hoping to find an easy way to list those stored locally ie on Macintosh HD).

Am I thinking straight?

Cheers:-)

Reply

Answer 2

tygb

Level 9

64,726 points

Aug 18, 2023 9:29 AM in response to Mars_Express

You can open new finder window Open folders in new Finder tabs or windows on Mac - Apple Support

To open a new Finder window without opening a specific folder, click the Finder icon in the Dock, then choose File > New Finder Window or press Command-N.

Type the file name in spotlight search , the untitled folder ( with a file inside it ) that is created under Macintosh HD will be searched see the article Narrow your search results on Mac - Apple Support the path will be shown when you click on view > show path bar .

Note : you mentioned -

But there appears to be no way to get the Finder to display the 'Macintosh HD' file path for those files held on the iCloud Drive which are also held locally.

Those files are to be selected from iCloud Drive ( documents folder ) , then copied and pasted under Macintosh HD to an untitled folder .

Reply

Answer 3

Gorki324

Level 1

8 points

Dec 2, 2023 7:37 AM in response to Mars_Express

Open, from the Finder, the iCoud Drive in a new window. Select any file and then press Alt+Command+C. Use Command+V in an open Text editor file. Then you will see the filename with the path. Remove the filename of the file you selected and you have the folder where the local files are stored from your iCloud Drive.

Reply

Answer 4

FoxFifth

Level 10

472,077 points

Aug 18, 2023 9:29 AM in response to Mars_Express

They are in the Library somewhere but if you go there and click on them it takes you back to the iCloud Drive folder in Finder.

You can see the file status without needing to disconnect from the internet. See the "View iCloud Status" section of Get file, folder, and disk information on Mac - Apple Support

Reply

Answer 5

FoxFifth

Level 10

472,077 points

Aug 18, 2023 3:04 PM in response to Mars_Express

Mars_Express wrote:

... If - for example - a user has an iCloud Drive directory/folder containing several thousand files, it is totally impractical to have to interrogate each file individually to discover whether it is stored off-line and/or on the Macintosh HD. ...

Probably not what you're looking for (which I don't think is available) but you can sort the iCloud Status column in Finder the same way that you can sort any other column. I haven't personally tested how well it works as I don't turn on the Optimize Mac Storage option on my Mac for the very reason that I always want to have a local copy of everthing so that I can make a local backup to an external drive.

Reply