iCloud drive icons: What do they mean?

There are a couple of posts on this on forum (will try to find links). The following apple support article (link below) has a list of icould icons that are used for your mac to show when it is uploading / downloading files from your desktop and documents to your icloud account (the symbols are extracted below). these are similar to ilcoud music icons

If you want more info on icloud status turn on the "Show Status Bar" option in view menu of Finder - this will let you see all of the documents that are "Pending" (waiting) to upload. Another good option to view status of files is to select "Icloud Status" Column in finder, to select this go to view menu, select "Show View Options [command] J" then [TICK] "icloud status" AND "calculate all sizes"

icloud status icons / symbols: macOS Sierra: View file, folder, and disk information

• Show info below icons: Open a folder in the Finder, or click the desktop, choose View > Show View Options, then select “Show item info.”Item info can include file size, movie length, image dimensions, and more.
• View iCloud status: When iCloud Desktop and Documents is turned on, your folders and files may appear with one of the following status indicators in the iCloud Status column:Note: Even if the iCloud Status column is not in the Finder window, you can still see the status for most iCloud file transfers next to the folder or file name. The only icon you won’t see is for downloaded items.
  • In iCloud: The In iCloud status icon tells you that the folder or file is only in iCloud. You must be connected to the Internet to work with the item, unless you download it to your Mac. Control-click the file, then choose Download Now.
  • Ineligible: The Ineligible status icon tells you that the folder or file could not be stored in iCloud. This is usually because you don’t have enough iCloud storage. To learn more about freeing up storage, see Optimize storage on your Mac.
  • Downloaded: The Downloaded status icon tells you that the folder or file is up to date between your Mac and iCloud and you can view or edit it immediately, with or without an Internet connection.
  • Waiting to Upload: The Waiting to Upload status icon indicates that the folder or file is not yet stored in iCloud.
  • Out of Space: The Out of Space status icon indicates that the folder or file can’t be stored in iCloud because there isn’t enough iCloud storage.A similar icon can also appear next to iCloud Drive in the sidebar, where it indicates that iCloud storage is full.
  • Pie chart: The pie chart status icon gradually increases from clear to dark as the files are transferred.The same pie chart can also appear next to iCloud Drive in the sidebar, where it indicates the overall progress for files transferring to and from iCloud Drive.

The status bar at the bottom or top of the Finder window displays the number of items in the disk or folder, and the amount of available disk space. If you don’t see the status bar, choose View > Show Status Bar.

I am having this same problem and am mystified. I access iCloud drive in Finder on both my Macbook and iMac. On my Macbook, my files seem to sync seamlessly and quickly with iCloud drive (checking with what's showing on iCloud via my web browser). However, on my iMac... most of the files have not synced and I get the "available for download" cloud symbol next to about 75% of my documents. I've been searching for some way to sync these on my iMac, but cant' find any info on this. Help!

Well, if you are asking about an "ineligible" file that you are trying to load onto iCloud Drive, the iCloud Drive documentation is pretty specific about what that means:

What types of files can I store in iCloud Drive?

You can store any type of file in iCloud Drive, as long as it's less than 50GB in size and you don't exceed your iCloud storage limit. That means you can keep all of your work documents, school projects, presentations, and more up to date across all of your devices. Learn more about managing your iCloud storage.

You shouldn't store app folders, libraries, or .tmp files in iCloud Drive.

Here's the link: iCloud Drive FAQ - Apple Support

The symbols for iCloud Drive were explained above, but here they are again:

iCloud Drive Symbols

A cloud by itself just means that the item is only in iCloud, so if you were to disconnect from Wifi and go to your iCloud Drive folder, you would not be able to open any items with a plain cloud next to them

A cloud with a down arrow, means it it in the process of downloading to your local drive

A cloud with several slashes across it means that it is trying to connect to the iCloud server

A cloud with a lightning bolt means that you are currently disconnected from the iCloud server

A cloud with a single slash appears to mean that the item is ineligible and cannot be added to iCloud Drive because it does not meet one of the criteria for iCloud Drive files:

If you have other specific questions, please clearly state what they are and we will try to help.

GB

It means that the file is stored only in the cloud and not on your computer. Same as it means in iTunes if all your music files have been transferred to iTunes Match.

The progress bar means that files are being transferred.

Well thats not an answer really as there are a number of icons and I can not get any info on what they mean. I have no idea when my files are in sync across two computers. One min they have a dotted cloud then maybe a complete line cloud then a progress bar. There is no way of telling me what is going on with any consistency. The very worst thing and the thing that will be making me ask for my money back I have been spending on this is that i can't force sync in any way. They say it does it automatically but it just does not. Sometimes it does ....sometimes it does not.... I keep getting a warning that there are two versions that are not synced when there should not be. WHAT !? Its madness. The only reason I went with them was because dropbox, the best service out there, is much more expensive. Any ideas? cheers

This is a user to user technical support forum, so since you have no questions, there is nothing we can do to help you hear. Invoking Steve Jobs is not going to help you either. The TOU of this forum specifically forbid ranting for ranting sake, so it appears as though your post serves no real purpose at this point.

Would you like to try again, and ask some coherent questions, with the object being to find actual solutions? If not, Bye, bye. Gripe elsewhere.

GB

"Does anyone know what it means when a file in the icloud drive folder in the finder has a cloud next to it?" - "It means that the file is stored only in the cloud and not on your computer".

But does anyone know what we should do to get the files uploaded? In the chain of icons of uploading files from iCloud to a new mac, where does this small cloud stands? does it mean that sync is still in progress? how long could it take many thanks.

I'm also wondering about this. I'm using El Cap 10.11.3 and if I put a local file on my Mac into my iCloud Drive folder it has the little cloud icon next to it (outline of a cloud).

Some people in this thread had said that icon means it is in the cloud and not downloaded, but that's not the case, the file started local to my Mac and it is definitely there I can open it instantly, even if I turn off my internet connection.

So, I thought maybe the cloud icon means it is not uploaded to iCloud. Also not true, if I logon to iCloud.com I can see the file and download it from the web browser and it is complete.

If I look at other files in the same folder they don't have the cloud icon, they are also local and in the cloud.

All of my files started on my Mac, none ever started anywhere else or are ever edited anywhere else.

To me it just seems that iCloud is buggy? Does anyone have any other suggestions?

I know it's been a year since this has been posted but since it still shows way up in the search results I'd like to clarify the meaning. Unfortunately, what seemed obvious to you and many of the answers are logical but wrong.

Cloud = Uploading to Cloud

Cloud with Arrow = Backed up to Cloud. Not stored locally.

Circle with Progress = Copying locally

You can hover over the icons for a label.

You cannot back something up to iCloud and remove it locally. That happens automatically.

I'm actually switching from DropBox and Google Drive due to lots of technical and customer support issues. I'll continue to back up locally (but definitely not using TimeMachine) and hope that iCloud is solid now and that Apple Support will be better.

Here is a list of iCloud Drive symbols that you may see while moving files into or just looking at the Drive in Finder:

A cloud by itself just means that the item is only in iCloud, so if you were to disconnect from Wifi and go to your iCloud Drive folder, you would not be able to open any items with a plain cloud next to them

A cloud with a down arrow, means it it in the process of downloading to your local drive

A cloud with several slashes across it means that it is trying to connect to the iCloud server

A cloud with a lightning bolt means that you are currently disconnected from the iCloud server

A cloud with a single slash appears to mean that the item is ineligible and cannot be added to iCloud Drive because it does not meet one of the criteria for iCloud Drive files

Cheers,

GB

I just spent an entire afternoon looking desperately for an image I had made for me back in January.

It's for a business I own and the file, image, cost a lot of money to create.

Long story short, I put it in iCloud Drive, it failed to sync. BUT IT WAS GONE FROM MY COMPUTER. EL CRA$#^&tain.

Thank God after spend all day I found the file under another user I had, which I didn't need anymore and was going to delete. thank goodness i didn't.

Anybody who has used DropBox and then starts using iCloud Drive will see that they don't behave the same way. DROPBOX is more intuitive!!! easier to learn and use.

think about it

iCloud Drive has a lot to be desired.

and now let the rebuttals begin, for all those who think everything Apple creates and does is headache Free!, and deserves to be defended with there own take on how it's still ok.

what Oh what ever happened to the days of Steve Job?????

I have lots of question about the symbols and other obscure notations -- like the word "ineligible" under one large photo file I'm trying to put on the drive. And like others I have files that have been "stuck" for days.

But for me the fundamental question is why is it so difficult to find out what the symbols mean in the first place?

I'm going to be checking out alternative cloud storage. iCloud is not making my online life any easier.

Hi Guys

At my end, problems being is that I copied and pasted a folder from an external hard drive to my desktop and it shows in side folders with the full cloud next to it. ***?

I mean some of it should be originally on my main desktop compute but appears in cloud or show as cloud. One folder does not have all the so-called synced material in it etc. It is a mess.

You guys can help with a clear step by step iCloud double checking to make sure I don't end up creating an image down the road if things go bad AGAIN.

Cheers,

F

I saw the dotted clouds for half a second and thought it was just a glitch.

At least they have tool tips when you hover over the icons.