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iCloud Drive not syncing locally

I started this Discussion because there are several started already with the exact same issue, so I’ve tried to find them all and post links to this Discussion, mainly because I have spent over 4.5hrs on the phone with Apple today still with no solution and this is my story.


It’s obvious from these other Discussions that there is a problem and Apple needs to fix this issue. Overall Yosemite is working fine excluding this one very big problem.


I have updated to all the latest software apps, iOS’s & OS’s.


My iCloud Drive is working fine on my iPhone 6 Plus, iPad Air & on iCloud.com.


My iCloud Drive is not syncing locally on my iMac.


My iCloud Drive on my iMac simply shows an empty folder or broken folders/files. If you place an item in there it doesn’t show up anywhere else and none of the items that are showing up on my iCloud Drive on my iDevices & iCloud.com will show up locally on my iMac.


Occasionally I have seen a handful of either Pages, Numbers or Keynote folders with my files with an iCloud icon & a dead progress bar next to them in my local iCloud Drive folder, but none of these files are accessible via their respective local app counterparts, they just appear to be frozen in time.


While on the phone with Apple and talking with 3 different representatives (including 2 Senior Advisors) they had me do a whole gambit of things which I have listed below, but none of them did anything constructive. I was told that my issue would now be sent to Engineering and I would have a solution in 1-2 business days.


Below are all the things that were attempted & requested by Apple to perform in no particular order. After each request the local iCloud Drive folder was checked and nothing ever changed.


1. Zapped the PRAM

2. Booted into Safe Mode (Extensions off)

3. Rebooted cable modem.

4. Rebooted router.

5. Rebooted iMac dozens of times.

6. Tried hardwired & Wi-Fi connections.

7. USB tethered to iPhone using LTE.

8. Signed out of iCloud account & logged back in.

9. Disabled iCloud Drive & reenabled dozens of times.

10. Created another Admin account and switched users.

11. Waited 24hrs+ and still nothing in local iCloud Drive.

12. Reinstalled Yosemite.

13. Repaired Permissions.


I hope Apple or someone has a solution for this very soon because it’s impossible to work efficiently when you can’t use your Pages, Numbers nor Keynote apps to create or edit documents locally.


The only thing they offered, which I was already aware of, was that I could download my documents from the iCloud Drive via iCloud.com and work with them locally or work with them online at iCloud.com. I’d prefer to work locally using my shared documents, but that’s exactly what I can’t do.


Please share if there are other things you have attempted and/or if you have also called Apple in utter frustration and if they offered any solutions other than what I have listed.


I’m willing to try anything at this point, but my guess is that there will be an update very soon to address this and other problems.


Thank you,

-Doren

iMac, OS X Yosemite (10.10), 3.5GHz Intel Core i7, 32GB, 27"

Posted on Oct 19, 2014 8:09 PM

Reply
189 replies

Feb 28, 2017 2:07 PM in response to cmaus

Perfect. Thanks for that. One thing that i would add is:


REMOVE ICLOUD DRIVE FROM IPHONE OR IPAD. SETTINGS - ICLOUD - ICLOUD DRIVE


This step worked for me only after I did that. I erased also some backups that I don't need anymore directly from iPhone - SETTINGS - ICLOUD - STORAGE. And then everything was ok. After all my files upload again, I turned on iCloud on my iPhone and iPad again.

Aug 17, 2017 9:30 PM in response to cmaus

I am running Mac OS Sierra 10.12.6 and I tried this solution mentioned by cmaus. However in Application Support there is no CloudDocs to trash! I trashed the cloudd and bird processes in the Activity Monitor and restarted both my iMac and MacBook Pro. My files are still not being synchronized.


Does anyone have any ideas why my 2 computers are not synchronising?

Oct 29, 2017 3:05 AM in response to antknee869

Apple really shouldn't advertise an iCloud service if it can't sync. My problems arose after logging out of iCloud in System preferences and then logging back in, which was an attempt to solve another issue where Reminder App notifications "loops" when you click done on the Mac.


My files are safely stored on iCloud.com but only 90% downloaded to my Mac and refuses to complete.


I tried trashing CloudDocs and killing Cloudd and Bird, even combined with a restart. NOTHING.

Nov 19, 2017 6:23 PM in response to Kiwipav

There are multiple different "Library" folders on your mac, you need to make sure you check the right one (the user library) which is hidden. You can find this by launching finder, holding down the option key, and clicking go in the menu bar (the library folder you want will only appear in this list when you hold the option key). You should see the CloudDocs folder in there.


Can't believe this is an issue that has persisted throughout the OS X upgrades over the past three years. I spent 10 hours on the phone with Apple trying to solve this, finally found this thread and fixed it in less than 30 seconds.

Oct 19, 2014 8:19 PM in response to Doren_Sean_Michael

I think you should just pretend this whole iCloud thing doesn't exist for a week or so. Apple obviously wasn't prepared for whatever amount of traffic they are experiencing with it. I'm guessing thats the issue. People are probably copying entire iPhoto libraries to the cloud. I know I considered it.


Its not you. Its them. A lot of us are seeing this.

Oct 19, 2014 9:29 PM in response to Doren_Sean_Michael

Wow.... and I thought that I had issues.....


You are certainly right - things seem to be broken at the moment. My stuff doesn't sync either but no chance I'm re-installing everything as it seems like my problems (and yours) are pretty common. I'm just going to ignore iCloud for a while and deal with everything locally and on Dropbox.


I recall they sacked the guy who came up with Mobile Me. I can imagine they will sack the iCloud guy as well. (as well as the iOS 8.0.1 guy, the Keynote streaming guy, the Apple Store guy on iPhone 6 day, the iPhone 6 bendy guy etc)

Oct 20, 2014 6:21 AM in response to cartoonsmartllc

Hi, I understand that theory, but why when I configured the iCloud Drive on my iDevices did all the files download & appear within seconds and work perfectly on those iDevices? You would assume that if an Apple system was "bogged" down that it would fail to populate to every destination, correct? So, then what makes the files that reside locally any different of a priority? That's what's odd.

iCloud Drive not syncing locally

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