Back up documents but NOT desktop to iCloud Drive

I don't want my desktop backed up but I DO want documents. There seems to be no way to do this. Am I correct?

if you enable the Desktop and Documents folder for iCloud Drive it will not be a backup anyway. iCloud Drive will sync your Desktop and Documents folder to iCloud, and any change you do to the files and folder will sync to iCloud and be updated on all devices.

But do you have so many files and folders on your Desktop, that it would really matter, if the Desktop folder will be synced as well to iCloud?

I just want to let you know that I feel for you. Every time I've tried to ask a normal question in this forum it gets slapped by a bunch of dorks who know well what you're talking about, but want to get their little quips in about how you're using terminology incorrectly etc.

As far as I can tell, after being annoyed by this for many months - NO. It can't be done easily. It is ridiculous. They can make a phone that 3D scans your face to login, but they can't put separate checkboxes for Desktop and Documents.

FYI this can be disastrous. I dragged a big folder of audio files to my desktop as a temporary solution while I was on my phone's hotspot, and an hour later I had major data overages without realizing why.

I'm otherwise very organized on my machine, but the desktop is no-man's land as I assume it is for many others. It's often a limbo that needs to be organized further into my folders. I think it should have a separate sync-to-icloud option.

It matters to me, too - when f.e. creating large movie files on the Desktop during production only.

If you want to share the documents but not the Desktop folder, move the contents of the Documents folder to a subfolder on iCloud Drive and disable the sync of Documents and Desktop. Then put an Alias to the folder on iClod Drive into your Documents folder.

I would love to have it the other way round - find my Desktop clutter on all devices, but only selected documents in iCloud.

Then you know it is not a backup nor a "euphemism" for a backup. If you are going to communicate effectively, then using the correct terminology is critical. léonie attempted to clarify what seemed to be your misunderstanding of what iCloud Drive was doing, as both your title and your first sentence indicated: "I don't want my desktop backed up but I DO want documents."

You seemed to take umbrage at her clarification so I expounded further. We cannot read your mind, so if you use a term that is patently incorrect for the function that is being discussed, then naturally, we are going to want to clarify what that function does, to ensure that you have a basic understanding of that process before we delve further into troubleshooting.

We are all just users here, and we volunteer our time to help fellow users. I can't tell you how many times a problem is caused by a misunderstanding of how something works or is supposed to work. So, the first thing that will typically be done is to clarify what it is you are talking about, and what it is that we are talking about.

Saves a lot of time and frustration.

If you don't like the way it is currently set up, then your best bet would be to provide feedback to Apple about it: Apple - Feedback

GB

I just experienced the frustration of this issue: I do nightly zoom web meetings which I record and each recording is about 675 mb. When Zoom stops recording a session, and my Mac converts the file, it stores it on my desktop and starts to automatically upload it to iCloud Drive which eats up my foreign ISP's limited bandwidth. I tried in vain to delay or stop the upload and my Mac / iCloud ignored my pleas. I had to cancel a meeting with clients and this caused quite a headache and embarrassment for me at work. Apparently the only solution is turn off the darn thing from iCloud settings and to manually upload iCloud docs when I choose but doing so has now removed all docs from my desktop, uploaded them to iCloud then it is now downloading some tother files, and the entire charade / parade of incompetence / lack of foresight on apple's development engineer is now eating my my bandwidth and causing my delays / problems with how I earn my living. Thanks apple

I think it should have a separate sync-to-icloud option.

That would be helpful indeed. We have to use work-arounds, to get only one of the folders synced.

I want my desktop synced between the Macs I use at work and my private Mac, but do not want the documents folders from the work computers sync with my Mac at home. So I had to create a new local documents folder on each Mac.

Every time I've tried to ask a normal question in this forum it gets slapped by a bunch of dorks who know well what you're talking about, but want to get their little quips in about how you're using terminology incorrectly etc.

We are trying to help, but it is difficult, since we cannot see the devices in question, we do not know the history of the problem, we do not know the person asking the question, if it is an experienced user or a newbie. All we have to go on is the text of the question. So the question should be precise, or we could cause damage by trying to help. We have to ask back for clarification (politely) and not jump to conclusions, if there is a doubt, it would be irresponsible to reply at all without trying to clarify the ambiguous part. As to the bone of contention "backup" - it is a major concern. There are just too many questions here by users who lost important documents or photos, because they erroneously thought that iCloud Drive or iCloud Photo Library are a backup. We are frequently seeing "All my photos of our new baby are gone" or "our honeymoon photos lost - how can I recover them from cloud" or similar. When someone uses "backup" in connection with iCloud Drive the alarm bells start ringing, because there may not be any backup at all, and we want to sure, that the user understands the difference, before it is too late. It is concern, not arrogance, that makes us ask.

Desktop and Documents sync is a user choice, you turned it on, and if you don't want it you can turn it off

There's no "productised" way to do this, correct. But you can create a Documents folder inside your iCloud drive, rename your ~/Documents folder ~/Documents-local, and create an alias for ~/Documents which points to the Documents folder you created in iCloud drive. I've used this approach for quite a while now and it seems to work OK.

My wife and I share the same apple ID. We are happy to sync our documents but not our two desktops, as mine appears on her computer and hers on mine. This is a minor inconvenience but it would not be illogical to be able to choose to sync documents or desktop or both.

léonie wrote:... But do you have so many files and folders on your Desktop, that it would really matter, if the Desktop folder will be synced as well to iCloud?

If it wouldn´t matter - why would raphael ask...?

It matters to me, too - when f.e. creating large movie files on the Desktop during production only.

Why is it so difficult for Apple to let the customer choose whether the Desktop and/or Documents are being synchronized or not?

Unfortunately you can't be selective in what you choose to have backed up. You could store your documents in the iCloud Drive where it will stay and be available to you on all your devices unless you delete it one day.

In this case, backup is not a "euphemism" it is a misnomer. iCloud Drive is not a backup or an archive. It is a syncing/sharing service that allows all of your devices and computers to access the same materials - all of which are in iCloud Drive. Any changes you make anywhere update the documents or media in iCloud Drive. If you delete something, it is deleted.

So, there is no "backup" involved here - just a cloud location that houses all of the documents and media that you want to share across devices and computers that are signed into the same iCloud account and that have iCloud Drive turned on.

GB

Thank you, muppix - I was wondering about doing something like this. I am reassured to know it has been tried and worked over some time.

One hesitation I have is regarding aliases between files/folders within the icloud drive folder. Do you know if aliases still work once they are uploaded/synced to icloud? I know they don't on Dropbox. Say my computer crashes, or I install a new operating system, when icloud starts up again, will my aliases work?

I understand that iCloud Drive is not a backup service per se, but doesn't it function as a kind of de facto backup if your local system crashes? This is a large part of my interest in using it. I do regular Time Machine backups and clones on local hard drives, but having my files in the cloud as well seems like an extra layer of security against data loss. Not being able to preserve functional aliases has made other online sync/backup services of limited usefulness to me.

Hi Raphael,

Had The Same Problem But Worked Around It By Creating A Desktop Folder Inside The Mac Drive And Moved All The Files On The Desktop There. Then Created An Alias Of The On The Desktop For Quick Access. Removed All Documents That Were In The Desktop From iCloud Drive.

Hope This Helps.

I have the same issue.

I want my desktop to be temporary storage, for this reason I do not "Time Machine" my desktop either.

On my desktop I store big files not to be backed up or synced. The same goes for my Download folder.

For my workflow I have also created a "non-iCloud Drive"-Documents folder, for files I do not need to have available on all devices (and therefore save storage on my iCloud Drive.....)