1TB icloud storage is "Full" instantly

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Level 1

8 points

1TB icloud storage is "Full" instantly

Hi,

I just purchased 1TB of icloud storage and with the 1st attempt of copying a folder I got the "The item “Photos” can’t be copied because there isn’t enough free space." message.

How does iCloud work? I bought the extra space with the sole intention to backup my old NTFS hard drives so I could then wipe them and format them to HFS before moving the data back

So - I am dragging files direct from an external drive, therefore they are being copied. Admittedly the first folder was quite big - 220Gb. So I went smaller - 1Gb worked, 9Gb worked, but then 14Gb failed.

I then tried a few smaller files again - approx 1Gb and they worked but then a folder 2.6Gb failed.

I tried 3 folders totalling 39Gb from my local documents directory - and they moved (not copied) "instantly".

What's going on here? Is it because it is an external drive? Because it is NTFS? Does the fact that I have less than 1Gb storage available on my startup disc affect it?

Also - when I moved that data from local storage to icloud, when will I see the space on my local disk actually become free?

In a perfect world I would really love to be able to simply select the 990Gb of multiple folders on my external drive and drag it to icloud in one go - then leave it overnight, or more.

Is that possible?

Thanks,

MacBook Pro with Retina display, OS X Yosemite (10.10.5)

Posted on Sep 7, 2016 3:45 PM

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Answer 1

LACAllen

Level 8

43,602 points

Sep 7, 2016 7:24 PM in response to pechnatunk

If this data you are "moving" to iCloud is not on your system drive, there is your issue.

iCloud is a syncing service between your local system drive and iCloud. So if you are copying data from an external HD, what you are actually doing is copying to BOTH your local HD and your iCloud Drive.

The out of space message is likely from your system drive, not iCloud.

The documents folder moved without a hitch because that content was already on your system drive. You just changed folder locations.

iCloud is NOT a hard drive in the sky that you can move data to. It is a syncing service between the folder called iCloud Drive on your local system drive and iCloud itself.

At the end of the sync, they will have the same content. Same amount of space taken.

"In a perfect world I would really love to be able to simply select the 990Gb of multiple folders on my external drive and drag it to icloud in one go - then leave it overnight, or more."

No. Not as iCloud is currently implemented.

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Answer 2

pechnatunk Author

Level 1

8 points

Sep 8, 2016 5:43 AM in response to pechnatunk

OK thanks - that's interesting because I'm sure I had less than 1Gb available on my local drive and it appears that I have copied about 8-9Gb to iCloud.... perhaps it hasn't completed.

Is there another way to do what I would like to do?

Apple offer a 2Tb plan - do Macs even have local drives that large?

Otherwise, it looks like I will have to ask for a refund as it is not doing what I expected.

Thanks,

Victor.

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Answer 3

Eric Root

Level 10

685,341 points

Sep 8, 2016 12:45 PM in response to pechnatunk

do Macs even have local drives that large?

New iMac 27 inch can be equipped with a 3 TB drive.

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