What does the down arrow mean on my iCloud files?
What does the down arrow mean on my iCloud files? Why are all the files have them even though some of the files have been there for many years?
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See the "View iCloud status" section of Get file, folder, and disk information on Mac - Apple Support
The cloud with down arrow indicates that the file is in iCloud but there is no local copy on your Mac.
It does seem a little strange that none of the files would have a local copy.
There is an "Optimize Mac Storage" option in Apple menu System Settings (or System Preferences) that allows some or all files to not have a local copy if your Mac is low on space
and there is a "Store in iCloud" option in Ventura and Sonoma) Optimize storage space on your Mac - Apple Support that allows keeping only recently opened files in local storage.