I would like to use iCloud Drive to store my stuff (docs, videos, photos etc) but I don't what these same files occupying storage on my local hard disk.
Is it possible to use iCloud Drive to upload files that I want stored there and then simply download them when needed. Or...
...can I be selective with which files/folders sync and which don't?
Yes, but you must pay for space. The first 5 GBs are free. Thereafter, you buy space:
Well, yeah, I know I have to pay for the storage. That's not my question.
Can you tell me how I set this up? Because as it is now, I've got files on iCloud Drive but they're also stored on my Mac's hard drive.
How do set it up so that they are not on my local hard drive and only in the cloud (on the iCloud Drive)?
The files are stored in your iCloud storage space. What's on your computer is a phantom listing. The only space it uses is that needed for the entries.
What's on your computer is a phantom listing. The only space it uses is that needed for the entries.
That's only for files from apps that can save directly to the iCloud drive, Numbers, Pages, etc. If you add local files/folders to the iCloud Drive folder locally
the files just get moved to that folder which is in the ~Library/Mobile Documents folder and remain on the hard drive while also being copied to the iCloud Driver servers for access by other devices. However, those files must be downloaded to the other devices before they can be viewed or used on that device. They can't be viewed or otherwise accessed at iCloud.com.
So if one were to drag several folders of files into the iCloud Drive window as shown above all it's doing is moving them to a different location and copying them to the iCloud drive. There's no saving of space on the hard drive.
Can I use iCloud Drive like an external drive?
