how to delete files from MacBook but NOT from Cloud and other devices?

I need to free up space on my laptop. I believe there are a lot of dupe files on iMac desktop AND cloud but not 100%, so i don't want to lose either Cloud or iMac files. How do i do this? Ideally, moving forward, i don't want to automatically store any files on local hard drive when using MacBook. Please help? Thank you!



Posted on Jun 13, 2024 8:10 AM

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Posted on Jun 13, 2024 8:41 AM

Turn off the iCloud options in Settings ➜ Apple ID. Then you can delete anything you want without affecting iCloud or other devices.



wrtrgrl wrote:

Ideally, moving forward, i don't want to automatically store any files on local hard drive when using MacBook. Please help? Thank you!

Not possible. iCloud is not an off-device storage solution, its a sync service. That means that anything on iCloud is by definition synced down the Mac.


You can turn on Optimize Mac Storage in iCloud settings to have it automatically delete older files from the Mac if space is needed however.

click here ➜ Free up storage space - Apple Support


2 replies
Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Jun 13, 2024 8:41 AM in response to wrtrgrl

Turn off the iCloud options in Settings ➜ Apple ID. Then you can delete anything you want without affecting iCloud or other devices.



wrtrgrl wrote:

Ideally, moving forward, i don't want to automatically store any files on local hard drive when using MacBook. Please help? Thank you!

Not possible. iCloud is not an off-device storage solution, its a sync service. That means that anything on iCloud is by definition synced down the Mac.


You can turn on Optimize Mac Storage in iCloud settings to have it automatically delete older files from the Mac if space is needed however.

click here ➜ Free up storage space - Apple Support


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how to delete files from MacBook but NOT from Cloud and other devices?

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