Screenshots being auto-saved to iCloud Drive?

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Screenshots being auto-saved to iCloud Drive?

In the Files app on my iPad, I was surprised to see all these mystery files, apparently using up my iCloud storage.

Opening iCloud Drive on my Mac, I see that most of them are screenshots taken of a social media site I frequently browse -- not regular screenshots but the LOOOONG screenshots that are taken when you choose "Capture Page" encompassing dozens and dozens of posts. Some of the files range from 25MB to as big as 100MB.

If there's something I want to save on a social media site, I usually tap and hold the meme and save it to my Photos. Occasionally, If I want to save the meme and a poster's commentary along with it, I will do a normal screenshot and before the preview goes away, I will crop just the part I want.

So I am wondering why all of these long PDF screenshots are accumulating in my Files?

iPhone 14 Plus, iOS 16

Posted on Oct 14, 2023 2:03 PM

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Answer 1

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Timothy Arends1 Author

Level 2

403 points

Oct 16, 2023 1:50 PM in response to giantcat

Hi, I asked BingChat, and it said:

It seems like you’re experiencing an issue where long PDF screenshots are automatically being saved to your iCloud Files. This could be due to a feature in Safari on iOS devices where a full-page screenshot is automatically created and saved to the Downloads folder on iCloud Drive when you take a screenshot while browsing a website1.

This feature is intended to allow users to capture the entire content of a webpage, not just what’s visible on the screen. However, it appears that in some cases, this might be happening automatically without user intervention1.

Unfortunately, there doesn’t seem to be a setting to disable this behavior1. It’s also worth noting that if you’re using iCloud Backup and if your screenshot ends up in the Files app, it will be stored in iCloud as well2.

If this issue continues, I would recommend reaching out to Apple Support for further assistance. They may be able to provide more insight into why this is happening and how it can be resolved.

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