iCloud Drive not uploading files

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iCloud Drive not uploading files

I recently moved a large amount of data -- tens of gigabytes in tens of thousands of files -- onto my Mac Mini. My Mini is about a year old. It's ARM-based. It has 8 gb of RAM, and tens of gb of free storage on its SSD. I'm running the current version of macOS Ventura, version 13.5.2. I use iCloud Drive, and have hundreds of gb of free space there.

When new files are placed onto local storage on the Mini, a process running locally uploads copies of those files to iCloud Drive. In this case, that process seems to have stalled completely. If I look in the Finder, I see a small circle to the right of "iCloud Drive". That circle has a wedge darkened, indicating that it is part way through the upload process. If I hover over that circle, it turns into a question mark. If I then click on it, I get a "gas gauge" displaying progress to date. There has been no progress in several days.

I have no idea why this is happening and I have no idea what to do about it. As far as I can tell, no relevant resources -- local CPU, storage, or RAM or remote storage -- are currently bound by their constraints. My internet connection is perfectly healthy. I've tried rebooting (several times) to no avail.

Any help?

Mac mini, macOS 13.5

Posted on Sep 12, 2023 6:51 AM

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Answer 1

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pcrowley203 Author

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Oct 9, 2023 10:21 AM in response to pcrowley203

As of yesterday, several weeks after I first opened this thread, iCloud was still not syncing. However, yesterday I updated my OS to Sonoma, and now iCloud is syncing again. I'm guessing one of two things is true. One, there was a bug in the iCloud sync code that is fixed in the new release of the OS, or part of my old OS had gotten corrupted, but was overwritten by the new release.

Thanks for your help.

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Answer 2

pcrowley203 Author

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Sep 12, 2023 7:37 AM in response to PRP_53

Thanks P. Thing is, in my case, I've seen zero (literally, zero) progress in the last two days. I suppose it's possible that limits are imposed at multiple periodicities, that a limit is applied at the weekly periodicity, and that I'm up against that. Seems unlikely, but stranger things exist.

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Answer 3

PRP_53

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92,275 points

Sep 12, 2023 7:46 AM in response to pcrowley203

Many things are possible and some things are not possible.

VPNs connection ?

Third Party Security Software installed and used ?

Apple Servers are slow ?

User's expectations are greater than what is possible is a one shot upload ?

To name a few

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Answer 4

pcrowley203 Author

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Sep 12, 2023 7:53 AM in response to PRP_53

Thanks for those ideas.

I'm not working over a VPN. My internet connection gives me 50 mbps both up and down.

I'm not using any third-party security software.

I guess I'll hang out for another week or so and see what happens. I suspect you're right that the issue will eventually resolve itself. Meanwhile, I'm not concerned about data loss. My internal SSD is only a year old, and I'm running Time Machine onto a USB drive as well.

Thanks again.

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Answer 5

PRP_53

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92,275 points

Sep 12, 2023 7:58 AM in response to pcrowley203

pcrowley203 wrote:

Thanks for those ideas.

I'm not working over a VPN. My internet connection gives me 50 mbps both up and down.

Ouch - over copper DSL connection ?

Have not done the calculations, but 50 mbps uploads going to take some time to Update " tens of gigabytes in tens of thousands of files " to iCloud, IMHO

I'm not using any third-party security software.

I guess I'll hang out for another week or so and see what happens. I suspect you're right that the issue will eventually resolve itself. Meanwhile, I'm not concerned about data loss. My internal SSD is only a year old, and I'm running Time Machine onto a USB drive as well.

Thanks again.

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Answer 6

pcrowley203 Author

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Sep 12, 2023 8:17 AM in response to PRP_53

50 mbps (megabits (bits, not bytes) per second) equates to roughly 2.5 minutes per gb, or 25 minutes per ten gb. That of course assumes all the capacity is truly available and truly accessible. So, yeah, tens of gb takes a while.

That said, I've done it several times in the past in this and other contexts. The size alone -- absent throttling on the Apple side -- should not be a problem.

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Answer 7

pcrowley203 Author

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Sep 12, 2023 8:19 AM in response to PRP_53

Nothing there is additive for me. The files in question are within the iCloud folder (otherwise, of course, there'd be no uploading at all). I haven't explicitly logged in and out of iCloud, but I have rebooted several times, which I would think would be logging me out and back in.

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Answer 8

Jun 20, 2024 9:29 AM in response to pcrowley203

It was strange indeed that this has been working for YEARS on Catalina for me. This is how I synchronize certain files between my MacOS environment and some Windows machines.

MacOS support dude at apple made a hint at updating my OS. I would, but I cannot. He said I should buy a used 2019 model instead of my otherwise rock-solid 2012 model - i need the Intel support for VMware Fusion since some of my tools are windows-only. Oh well...

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Answer 9

Jul 12, 2024 11:08 AM in response to Chris92549

same boat here, icloud drive worked flawlessly on my early 2013 mbp up until a couple weeks ago, now, any files i add or update on my mac don't get synced automatically (though creating folders works)... main reason I'm still on this old device, which is also still rock solid given the 16gb of memory

[Edited by Moderator]

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