Does iCloud Drive include local file mirroring

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Level 1

4 points

Does iCloud Drive include local file mirroring

I'm running Yosemite on a new MacBook Pro and I recently updated my iCloud space to 1TB and then uploaded about 200 GB of video files, but the transfer of files didn't appear to affect the local storage report on my MacBook Pro HD (under "About This Mac" - Storage - "Macintosh HD". In fact my stated space available got smaller after the transfer.

I'm wondering if iCloud Drive keeps a mirrored copy of the files locally like Google Drive and Dropbox do?

In which case I should probably find a different storage medium if I want to free up the HD space as I had intended.

Anyone know the answer to this?

OS X Yosemite (10.10.1)

Posted on Jan 15, 2015 9:52 AM

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Answer 1

léonie

Level 10

200,699 points

Jan 15, 2015 9:58 AM in response to jgatzem

Yes, iCloud Drive keeps local shadow copies of all files in your hidden user library - in ~/Library/Mobile Documents

The documentation does not say so clearly, but iCloud Drive is meant to update all files on all devices: See: iCloud Drive FAQ - Apple Support

Here's what you can do with iCloud Drive:

Store and access all of your documents in one place from any of your devices

Keep files and folders up to date across all your devices

Create new files and folders from iCloud-enabled apps

Work on the same file across multiple apps

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