Ongoing Issue with Transferring Files from iCloud to External Hard Drive

HI All,

I am writing to follow up on an issue I have been experiencing with my MacBook Pro and iCloud storage, for which I have not yet found an effective solution despite previous support recommendations.

System Information

• Device: MacBook Pro 3
• Internal Storage: 1TB (About 400GB used)
• iCloud Storage Plan: 2TB (about 1.5TB used)
• External Hard Drive (EHD): 4TB (New)

Objective

My goal is to move my iCloud content (primarily photos) to the external hard drive (EHD) to improve file access speed and reduce reliance on iCloud.

Problem

When attempting to copy and paste files from iCloud to the EHD:

• The files appear to be stored temporarily on my Mac’s internal hard drive (1TB), causing it to fill up rapidly, but none was able to find where they are stored.
• This leads to performance issues as the system becomes inefficient and slow due to limited space.

Previous Solutions Suggested by Support

1. Waiting for iCloud to optimize storage automatically – Unfortunately, this did not resolve the issue.
2. Disabling automatic iCloud updates – This caused files to be removed from the Mac, and some files became corrupted.
3. Restarting the Mac – No improvement was observed.

Current Status

None of these actions have resolved my issue. The internal hard drive still fills up during the transfer process, preventing a direct copy from iCloud to the EHD without using up the Mac’s local storage.

Request

Do you know a more effective method or alternative approach to transfer iCloud content directly to the EHD without impacting the Mac’s internal storage?

Thank you for your time and assistance. I look forward to your advice on how best to proceed.

Marco