Force iCloud Drive to Sync

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Level 1

35 points

Force iCloud Drive to Sync

I use iCloud Drive to keep my iMac and my MacBook Air in sync with each other, however, my Air does not seem to want to sync lately. My other iCloud information syncs properly, such as my calendar, contacts, etc., but my iCloud Drive will not sync up without me turning it off on my Air, then logging back in and allowing it to download all the files, which takes a while. If I log into my iCloud Drive thru iCloud.com I can see all my files, so I know they are updating to the server, but they are not being downloaded onto my MacBook Air. I'm hoping there is a way to force iCloud Drive to sync. Any advice would be appreciated!

MacBook Air (13-inch, Early 2014), OS X Yosemite (10.10.3)

Posted on Jun 29, 2015 8:40 AM

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Answer 1

Best reply

sebrock

Level 1

18 points

Dec 9, 2017 5:18 AM in response to Mallen32

I'm amazed by the total mess that is syncing iCloud in general. In doesn't automatically kick in. I have to create a fake folder and remove it for iCloud daemon to kick in and update. And don't get me started with the extreme slow iCloud Photos sync. If you have "Optimize iPhone storage" active on your phone and it is supposed to download on the fly. This usually gets stuck, never finishes or just jumps out to an error. You have to scroll back and forth to trigger it again.

Not Apple quality at all. Very disappointed.

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Answer 2

Eric Root

Level 10

684,015 points

Dec 9, 2017 10:17 AM in response to sebrock

Send Apple feedback. They won't answer, but at least will know there is a problem or a suggestion for change. If enough people send feedback, it may get the problem/suggested change solved sooner.

Click here to send Feedback

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Answer 3

Jun 29, 2015 12:35 PM in response to Mallen32

I'm not aware of an option to start a sync as such, but have you tried making a slight change to a document on the Air and seeing if this kick starts things, it might not be the ideal solution, but it might be better than keep signing out and in.

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Answer 4

Jun 30, 2015 6:36 AM in response to Winston Churchill

I'm having the exact same problem. I uploaded all my documents to iCloud, into the the main folder (basically transferred all the files and folders I had in Documents, so I can reach them on all my Mac's). On the Mac I used to upload all the files, info is maintained in Sync, and on the other Mac's none of the folders show up. And I can't find any way to get iCloudDrive to force Sync, even tried updating a file, to see it "kick started" the update...

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Answer 5

Mallen32 Author

Level 1

35 points

Jun 30, 2015 12:57 PM in response to Mallen32

I have found one temporary solution to the problem:

Go to Finder/Library/Application Support/Cloud Docs and drag the folder to the trash

Open Activity Monitor and stop the processes "cloudd" and "bird"

This forces iCloud drive to reload, which worked to get the documents that were not uploading on my drive. Unfortunately, I did this yesterday and then checked again this afternoon and had to go through the whole process again. I was hoping it would jump start the syncing process and keep it running, but it seems to have been a one time fix.

Hopefully this helps others who are having the same problem, but unfortunately it is only a temporary fix.

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Answer 6

sebrock

Level 1

18 points

Dec 9, 2017 10:19 AM in response to Eric Root

Will do.

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