Sync iCloud Desktop without Documents folder

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Sync iCloud Desktop without Documents folder

There should be a way (I'm sure there is...) All I want to do is synch my desktop with iCloud, but not synch my documents folder. Or some way to accomplish the same. Final objective is to synch my desktop with a few dozen active things, but not my very large documents folder (call it documents, or vault or what have you) with years of images and videos and more. The documents folder has evolved to hold years of digital bits that I cull through periodically). And then have my desktop actually synched (with bookmarks, notes, calendar... and other things that are helpful to synch accross devices .

Attaching three images: 1) overview of iCloud as shown when I click on the iCloud tab in settings. 2) the three radio buttons that show that I can synch the Desktop AND documents folder. 3) if I disconnect from iCloud, the items will be removed from the desktop and documents folder, but available on the iCloud (pretty much the opposite of what I wanna do)

My sense is that I can disconnect from iCloud and rename a documents/vault folder or the like. Then put it somewhere not on the desktop, where it will not 'want' to synch with iCloud.

thanks for any suggestions of advice - again the basic goal is to synch a few dozen active files on the desktop, but not the massive documents folder that has grown over the years to include much-

MacBook Pro 14″, macOS 15.7

Posted on Feb 3, 2026 7:05 AM

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Answer 1

Top-ranking reply

Richard.Taylor

Level 6

20,032 points

Feb 3, 2026 9:18 AM in response to Adcom503

Like Desktop folder, Documents folder is created automatically by the operating system, and it has a special use. Many apps expect the Documents folder to be there for their use. If you synchronize the Desktop folder with iCloud, then you must also sync the Documents folder.

I understand that you have chosen to put a lot of your stuff in the Documents folder. But there is no reason your stuff needs to be in that particular folder. You can take everything that's in Documents and drag it to a new "MyStuff" folder. Then Documents is empty. It won't stay empty, because some apps will want to put their own folders in there. Some apps automatically save documents to Documents, but you can usually change that so they save their documents to MyStuff. Now, when you sync the D&D folders, your stuff will stay in MyStuff and won't be copied to iCloud.

Maybe see this:

Understanding iCloud Drive - Apple Community

What do you think?

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Answer 2

Feb 4, 2026 6:38 AM in response to Adcom503

Adcom503 wrote:

MyVaultStuff folder - that is still trying to synch to iCloud. I suppose it's cause that new big folder still resides on the desktop? so it's still tries to sync.

Yes, iCloud Drive tries to sync Desktop folder and its contents. So put that folder somewhere else.

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Answer 3

Feb 4, 2026 7:22 AM in response to Matti Haveri

Matti Haveri wrote: … Yes, iCloud Drive tries to sync Desktop folder and its contents. So put that folder somewhere else.

Wow! I'm sorry I didn't make that clear! Things outside of your local iCloud Drive are not copied to iCloud.com!

And iCloud Photos is similar to iCloud Drive, but with picture files there can be big differences.

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Answer 4

Adcom503 Author

Level 1

8 points

Feb 3, 2026 12:38 PM in response to Richard.Taylor

One follow up question if I may. In case it shines further light before I move things around...

You write that "Many apps expect the Documents folder to be there for their use" And that sounds spot-on. Question is, are there some that are drop-dead to be expected... to be created or recreated... and if possible - I should maybe put many items in my own 'myStuff' folder, but put some of those other things back in the documents folder, so they don't get duplicated, re-created and I go down the path of complicating things when my whole goal is to streamline and simplify. I do plan on doing this one way or another...

thank you 🙏🏼 - Doug

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Answer 5

Feb 3, 2026 12:52 PM in response to Adcom503

Adcom503 wrote: …are there some that are drop-dead to be expected.

Certainly if you created a file, you can put it anywhere you like. Some files, maybe something like special fonts or catalogs or the like, might be kept in Documents, but if they're important, then the app will recreate them. I never used Documents-- I had a folder named DTA for data, and my work went there. I've loosened up a little…

Documents is often where an app puts a new file if you just hit "Save." It's just a default location. If you don't like it, you use "Save as…"

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Answer 6

Adcom503 Author

Level 1

8 points

Feb 3, 2026 2:53 PM in response to Adcom503

Here is the latest. I created a new folder, called MyVaultStuff. And I put everything from the documents folder into the new MyVaultStuff folder.

Alas, now that folder is synching to the cloud - as represented by the little iCloud icon on the image below. Now I have a near empty documents folder, and a 300+ GB MyVaultStuff folder - that is still trying to synch to iCloud. I suppose it's cause that new big folder still resides on the desktop? so it's still tries to sync. ? I think?

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Answer 7

Adcom503 Author

Level 1

8 points

Feb 3, 2026 11:10 AM in response to Richard.Taylor

Thank you. That is a great (and common sensible.) suggestion. And I did not think about going about it that way.

🙏🏼 DA

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Sync iCloud Desktop without Documents folder

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