Does using iCloud drive use up storage on your actual computer?
I have an iMac desktop thats synced with a macbook pro and an iPhone using the same iCloud/apple ID.
Basically, I don't want to fill my macbook up with a lot of files so I want to know if putting things on iCloud drive keeps them exclusively stored in the cloud and off the hard drive.
MacBook Pro with Retina display, OS X El Capitan (10.11.2)
iCloud Drive keeps a local copy of everything on each computer connected to iCloud Drive. The files are stored in Library > Mobile Documents (that will look the same as the folder you can see by adding iCloud Drive to the Finder sidebar via Finder Preferences). One workaround would be to not turn on iCloud Drive in Apple Menu > System Preferences > iCloud and then manually upload/download files to the iCloud Drive app at https://www.icloud.com/ using your internet browser
iCloud Drive keeps a local copy of everything on each computer connected to iCloud Drive. The files are stored in Library > Mobile Documents (that will look the same as the folder you can see by adding iCloud Drive to the Finder sidebar via Finder Preferences). One workaround would be to not turn on iCloud Drive in Apple Menu > System Preferences > iCloud and then manually upload/download files to the iCloud Drive app at https://www.icloud.com/ using your internet browser
That's really dumb then. So essentially I'm paying for apple to make copies of my files to have on all computers. I thought it was more of an external hard drive.
Thanks for clearing it up.
And the convenience of syncing it to your Msc.
yes, but i would had rather have the free space on my macbook. I don't wanna fill up the HD and slow it down and stuff.
Millions disagree with you on that point their money is winning the argument, Invest in a non synchronous system instead of iCloud.
I really like what iCloud does. but for instance, I have my photos stored on my desktop and they take up no space on my macbook and originals are kept in cloud.
would be nice to be able to do that with music and everything.
If you don't want to sync your iCloud documents on your Mac, you don't have to, but it makes using iCloud inconvenient because you would need to be connected to the Internet to do anything at all with them. Internet connections can be unreliable or slow.
I don't understand why anyone would want to do that, but that's up to you.
I don't wanna fill up the HD and slow it down and stuff.
"Filling up" your HD has no effect on how fast it works. Ask anyone with a 16 GB iPhone. They don't become slow, they just become full. When it does it tells you. So does a Mac.
Your photos are a bad example (as they are one of the few items that is not synchronous by default) But John will explain why you can't have it both ways at once.
Fair enough. Its just that on several places I've read that cleaning up your mac and reducing the Hard drive space helps speed things up.
I'm not sure what the problem is but lately my iMac has taken a bit longer to start up. Upon login, it takes close to 2 minutes for it to start being functional. Once its running its fairly quick for the most part aside from some apps like microsoft word and powerpoint which I regularly use for school.
Its a 21.5 inch Mid 2011, 4 Gb ram, 500GB storage (300 available).
Could the fact that I just synced everything through iCloud contribute to this? Thats the only thing I can think of that it takes it a while to sync all changes.
Thanks man!!
Download and run Etrecheck. Copy and paste the results into your reply. Etrecheck is a diagnostic tool that was developed by one of the most respected users here (and recommended by Apple Support personnel) in the ASC to provide a snapshot of the system and help identify the more obvious culprits that can adversely affect a Mac's performance.
EtreCheck version: 2.9.3 (253)
Report generated 2016-02-04 23:11:53
Download EtreCheck from http://etrecheck.com
Runtime 3:12
Performance: Good
Click the [Support] links for help with non-Apple products.
Click the [Details] links for more information about that line.
Click the [Check files] link for help with unknown files.
Problem: Computer is too slow
Hardware Information:ⓘ
iMac (21.5-inch, Mid 2011)
[Technical Specifications] - [User Guide] - [Warranty & Service]
iMac - model: iMac12,1
1 2.5 GHz Intel Core i5 CPU: 4-core
4 GB RAM Upgradeable - [Instructions]
BANK 0/DIMM0
2 GB DDR3 1333 MHz ok
BANK 1/DIMM0
2 GB DDR3 1333 MHz ok
BANK 0/DIMM1
Empty
BANK 1/DIMM1
Empty
Bluetooth: Old - Handoff/Airdrop2 not supported
Wireless: en1: 802.11 a/b/g/n
Video Information:ⓘ
AMD Radeon HD 6750M - VRAM: 512 MB
iMac 1920 x 1080
System Software:ⓘ
OS X El Capitan 10.11.3 (15D21) - Time since boot: less than an hour
Disk Information:ⓘ
ST3500418AS disk0 : (500.11 GB) (Rotational)
EFI (disk0s1) <not mounted> : 210 MB
Macintosh HD (disk0s2) / : 499.25 GB (352.90 GB free)
Recovery HD (disk0s3) <not mounted> [Recovery]: 650 MB
OPTIARC DVD RW AD-5690H ()
USB Information:ⓘ
Apple Computer, Inc. IR Receiver
Apple Card Reader
Apple Inc. FaceTime HD Camera (Built-in)
Apple Inc. BRCM2046 Hub
Apple Inc. Bluetooth USB Host Controller
Thunderbolt Information:ⓘ
Apple Inc. thunderbolt_bus
Gatekeeper:ⓘ
Mac App Store and identified developers
Unknown Files:ⓘ
/Library/LaunchDaemons/com.eltima.ElmediaPlayer.daemon.plist
/Library/LaunchDaemons/com.linksys.connect.helper.plist
2 unknown files found. [Check files]
Kernel Extensions:ⓘ
/Library/Extensions
[loaded] com.symantec.kext.SymAPComm (12.9.1f13 - SDK 10.8) [Support]
[not loaded] com.symantec.kext.filesecurity (12.9.1f13 - SDK 10.8) [Support]
[loaded] com.symantec.kext.fw (5.6f9 - SDK 10.8) [Support]
[loaded] com.symantec.kext.internetSecurity (5.7f9 - SDK 10.8) [Support]
[loaded] com.symantec.kext.ips (3.10.4f9 - SDK 10.8) [Support]
[loaded] com.symantec.kext.pf (5.9.1f13 - SDK 10.8) [Support]
/System/Library/Extensions
[not loaded] com.caiaq.driver.NIUSBAudio2DJDriver (2.4.23) [Support]
[not loaded] com.caiaq.driver.NIUSBAudio4DJDriver (2.4.23) [Support]
[not loaded] com.caiaq.driver.NIUSBHardwareDriver (2.4.23) [Support]
[not loaded] com.caiaq.driver.NIUSBTraktorAudio2Driver (2.4.23) [Support]
[not loaded] com.caiaq.driver.NIUSBTraktorKontrolS4Driver (2.4.23) [Support]
[not loaded] com.caiaq.driver.NIUSBTraktorKontrolX1Driver (2.4.21) [Support]
[not loaded] com.citrix.driver.net6im (1.1.6) [Support]
[not loaded] com.deterministicnetworks.driver.dne (1.0.14 - SDK 10.6) [Support]
[not loaded] com.deterministicnetworks.driver.dniregistry (1.0.4) [Support]
[not loaded] com.eltima.ElmediaPlayer.kext (1.58 - SDK 10.4) [Support]
[not loaded] com.native-instruments.driver.NIUSBDeviceHelper (1.0.8) [Support]
System Launch Agents:ⓘ
[killed] com.apple.CallHistoryPluginHelper.plist
[killed] com.apple.Maps.pushdaemon.plist
[killed] com.apple.cloudd.plist
[killed] com.apple.coreservices.appleid.authentication.plist
[loaded] 163 Apple tasks
[running] 69 Apple tasks
4 processes killed due to insufficient RAM
System Launch Daemons:ⓘ
[killed] com.apple.ifdreader.plist
[killed] com.apple.nsurlsessiond.plist
[killed] com.apple.tccd.system.plist
[killed] com.apple.wdhelper.plist
[killed] com.apple.xpc.smd.plist
[loaded] 199 Apple tasks
[running] 83 Apple tasks
5 processes killed due to insufficient RAM
Launch Agents:ⓘ
[loaded] com.symantec.errorreporter-periodicagent.plist [Support]
[loaded] com.symantec.nis.application.plist [Support]
[running] com.symantec.uiagent.application.plist [Support]
Launch Daemons:ⓘ
[loaded] com.adobe.fpsaud.plist [Support]
[failed] com.citrix.agadminservice.plist [Support]
[failed] com.deterministicnetworks.daemon.dniregsvr.plist [Support]
[running] com.eltima.ElmediaPlayer.daemon.plist [Support]
[loaded] com.linksys.connect.helper.plist [Support]
[loaded] com.microsoft.autoupdate.helpertool.plist [Support]
[loaded] com.microsoft.office.licensing.helper.plist [Support]
[loaded] com.microsoft.office.licensingV2.helper.plist [Support]
[running] com.symantec.deepsight-extractor.plist [Support]
[loaded] com.symantec.errorreporter-periodic.plist [Support]
[loaded] com.symantec.liveupdate.daemon.ondemand.plist [Support]
[loaded] com.symantec.liveupdate.daemon.plist [Support]
[failed] com.symantec.nav.migrateqtf.plist [Support]
[running] com.symantec.sharedsettings.plist [Support]
[running] com.symantec.symdaemon.plist [Support]
[loaded] net.sourceforge.MonolingualHelper.plist [Support]
User Launch Agents:ⓘ
[failed] com.apple.CSConfigDotMacCert-[...]@me.com-SharedServices.Agent.plist [Details]
[failed] com.facebook.videochat.[redacted].plist [Support] [Details]
[loaded] com.google.keystone.agent.plist [Support]
[loaded] jp.co.canon.Inkjet_Extended_Survey_Agent.plist [Support]
User Login Items:ⓘ
Dropbox Application (/Applications/Dropbox.app)
Other Apps:ⓘ
[running] com.apple.xpc.launchd.oneshot.0x10000006.Dropbox
[running] com.apple.xpc.launchd.oneshot.0x10000007.EtreCheck
[loaded] com.getdropbox.dropbox.4512
Internet Plug-ins:ⓘ
FlashPlayer-10.6: Version: 20.0.0.286 - SDK 10.6 [Support]
QuickTime Plugin: Version: 7.7.3
Flash Player: Version: 20.0.0.286 - SDK 10.6 [Support]
Default Browser: Version: 601 - SDK 10.11
AGNetscapePlugin: Version: 1.0 [Support]
SharePointBrowserPlugin: Version: 14.4.9 - SDK 10.6 [Support]
NortonInternetSecurityBF: Version: 1.11.0 - SDK 10.6 [Support]
DirectorShockwave: Version: 12.1.4r154 - SDK 10.6 [Support]
Safari Extensions:ⓘ
Adblock Plus
AdBlock
Norton Internet Security
3rd Party Preference Panes:ⓘ
Flash Player [Support]
Native Instruments USB Audio [Support]
Norton\nQuickMenu [Support]
Time Machine:ⓘ
Mobile backups: OFF
Auto backup: NO - Auto backup turned off
Volumes being backed up:
Macintosh HD: Disk size: 499.25 GB Disk used: 146.35 GB
Destinations:
Untitled [Local]
Total size: 0 B
Total number of backups: 0
Oldest backup: -
Last backup: -
Size of backup disk: Too small
Backup size 0 B < (Disk used 146.35 GB X 3)
Top Processes by CPU:ⓘ
63% com.apple.WebKit.WebContent(5)
14% Safari
9% kernel_task
8% WindowServer
7% com.apple.WebKit.Networking
Top Processes by Memory:ⓘ
1.31 GB com.apple.WebKit.WebContent(5)
485 MB kernel_task
152 MB mdworker(11)
131 MB Safari
37 MB Spotlight
Virtual Memory Information:ⓘ
22 MB Free RAM
3.97 GB Used RAM (513 MB Cached)
352 MB Swap Used
Diagnostics Information:ⓘ
Feb 4, 2016, 10:42:51 PM Self test - passed
Remove Norton / Symantec. It is unreasonable to expect a Mac to operate properly with useless "anti-virus" garbage installed.
Back up your Mac if you have not done so already. To learn how to use Time Machine read Mac Basics: Time Machine backs up your Mac - Apple Support.
One or more of the following may be applicable:
Uninstall Norton Internet Security for Mac
Removing Symantec programs for Macintosh by using the RemoveSymantecMacFiles removal utility
Hello alsim88,
You have 352 GB free on your hard disk. Unless you have the 1 TB iCloud storage option, you won't fill it up with iCloud data.
As long as you don't run out of space on your hard disk, you have nothing to worry about and will not have any ill effects from the number of files or amount of data. If you had a notebook machine, it would be a little more complicated due to Time Machine's local snapshots, but that is turned off on an iMac.
iCloud question
