iCloud Desktop & Documents sync on Mac

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iCloud Desktop & Documents sync on Mac

I have a Mac mini M4 running Sequoia and a MacBook Pro 2015 running Big Sur. Both of them have a 256G hard drive. On my mini in the iCloud settings there are the options to Sync this Mac which is checked and the option for Desktop & Documents folder which is not checked. If my Mac is already being sync'd with iCloud what does the separate option for Desktop & Documents do? Also my MacBook Pro has the iCloud Drive option checked but the Desktop & Documents option is not checked.

Please help me understand how to use these options.

Thanks

Mac mini (M4, 2024)

Posted on Jan 16, 2026 10:49 AM

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Answer 1

Jan 16, 2026 12:54 PM in response to joness59

It's good that we have choices of what to sync--it's not all or nothing. Sync My Mac turns on iCloud Drive, and whatever you put in your iCloud Drive folder gets synced with iCloud. If you keep something out of the iCloud Drive folder, it isn't synced. You can let specific apps save their data in iCloud as well, so you can turn each of those on or off. Photos, for example, is a completely separate system.

But you can't just grab the Desktop folder and drag it to the iCloud Drive folder-- Desktop and Documents folders have a special use in the OS-- apps expect them to be in a particular place. So if you want those to be synced as well, then you need to turn that on separately-- then you'll see those folders in the iCloud Drive folder rather than the expected User folder, they will behave as the had before.

This may help:

Understanding iCloud Drive - Apple Community

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iCloud Desktop & Documents sync on Mac

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