Syncing specific folders to iCloud

Yeah, you would have to turn off the Desktop and Documents auto sync, and then manually move those documents and folders that you want to share manually from your Finder as you create them. Once they are in iCloud Drive, you can update them via iCloud Drive.

iCloud Drive is not a backup for your files, it is a sharing service that allows you to share files between multiple computers and devices. So, if you don't want to share them, then you really don't need to use iCloud Drive. If you are looking for a backup, then you should use Time Machine to back up your entire system regularly.

If you had certain files and folders that you wanted access to across computers and devices, then you could manually put those in iCloud Drive and use it that way.

Does that make sense?

Cheers,

GB

RhialtoTheMarvellous wrote:

The problem people are having is that it's far too broad to say "Yes, store my ENTIRE desktop and Documents too onto iCloud!" but making people manually store individual files is too burdensome. What we are asking for is the ability to designate *specific* folders to be shared/stored onto iCloud.

This is in no way a crazy or unusual wish, and ought to be fixed.

You have complete control over this. All you have to do is to turn OFF the Desktop & Documents option in >System Preferences>iCloud>iCloud Drive>Options.

Before you do that, you would probably want to move them back to your Mac by creating a uniquely named set of folders for each (like Desktop1 and Documents1), then moving the files to the new folders on your Mac. Once you have done that, you can turn off the option.

Then, you can select whatever specific files you want to upload to iCloud Drive. It's really quite simple. Why would you select the option if you don't like how it works?

Cheers,

GB

What we are asking for is the ability to designate *specific* folders to be shared/stored onto iCloud.

You have this ability.

*Specific folders* you want synced with iCloud? Place inside a synced folder.

*Specific folders* you don't want synced with iCloud? Place them anywhere else.

iCloud is not equal to Dropbox. Apple is aware of this.

Feedback for Apple goes here >>> http://www.apple.com/feedback/

want my only copy to be hosted on iCloud.

iCloud does not offer this feature.

Regardless of what you want, it is not possible using iCloud as currently deployed by Apple.

Feedback for Apple goes here >>> http://www.apple.com/feedback/

I don’t know what iCloud Drive was designed for. The name suggests a ‘drive’ in the ‘cloud’ to safely store all your data. The fact that it can store up to 2TB for devices which generally offer only up to 500GB of storage makes it humanly logical that some form of selection or boundary setting on the locally stored data makes sense.

This function is currently not available, and it seems it is not what iCloud Drive was designed for. In that case it should maybe called iCloud folder to quickly exchange documents between your iPad and MacBook.

I am also surprised that Final Cut Pro X can’t easily import content from iCloud Drive. It would make a lot of sense for me to copy 60fps 4K content from an iPhone X to a MacBook.

I will have to use OneDrive for that as well.

You may want to read up on Desktop & Documents in iCloud Drive: Add your Desktop and Documents files to iCloud Drive - Apple Support. If you do not use this feature, then you have complete control over what goes into iCloud Drive.

Also, here is an overview of iCloud that may help to clarify what its purpose is: iCloud Deconstructed | Communities

Cheers,

GB

All files synced with iCloud will be stored on the server under my iCloud ID, yes.

The question is whether you can elect to sync only specific files/folders (i.e. continuously synchronize) with a physical hard drive. Google Drive allows you to choose which items are downloaded and synchronized with your device. Everything else is stored remotely (or on G Drive/iCloud) and remains accessible as long as you can connect to the internet. Here is a screenshot of what I am describing:

Just to be as clear as possible, another example: say that I have a computer with a 1GB hard drive, and I have an iCloud account with 200GB of storage, which I have filled to capacity. Since my computer can only store 1GB on its own, I cannot sync all of my iCloud folders. So, can I choose to sync only 1 folder that contains 1GB? In other words, can i choose to only download and synchronize 1GB of data instead of all 200GB?

Do you mean you are using iCloud Drive? If so, then you do not have to move files that you don't want shared into iCloud Drive. Anything that you have not put on iCloud Drive will not be seen on the other Mac.

Am I misunderstanding what it is you want to do?

Cheers,

GB

The problem people are having is that it's far too broad to say "Yes, store my ENTIRE desktop and Documents too onto iCloud!" but making people manually store individual files is too burdensome. What we are asking for is the ability to designate *specific* folders to be shared/stored onto iCloud.

This is in no way a crazy or unusual wish, and ought to be fixed.

You don't have to use iCloud to do what you are describing:

heyitsquinn wrote:

Great, but why can't I import the folders of photos off of my iPhone as they ARE without iCloud, but yet I can't choose what folders I'd like to sync to it? This seems elementary. Seriously. You'd expect more out of the fabled, monolithic tech giant.

It is not only elementary, it is how it has been done since the beginning before iCloud was introduced. You don't need iCloud for your photos. I don't use iCloud for my photos. You can choose what files you upload to iCoud Drive if you don't turn on Desktop & Documents in the iCloud Drive options. It's really not as nefarious as you would like to believe. You have control, but you have to educate yourself as to how things work if you want them to work the way you wish:

PHOTO IMPORT IOS TO MAC/PC

Sync your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch with iTunes on your computer using USB - Apple Support

GB

I was considering icloud as a partial replacement/extension for my 365 onedrive account. Eventually I found onedrive since the last updates easier to manage as a synced cloud based backup repository for a big chunk of my data (800Gb+). If I use icloud drive to automatically sync all of my files, it breaks most of my windows laptops, and my mbpro is constantly busy with managing diskspace. After playing around with icloud drive I have disabled it on all my laptops, and I only use the webinterface to push/pull files whenever I need them somewhere. It is a bit silly but it seems to be the only way it can be used sensibly with more data (4K holiday clips are a big impact on the cloud storage).

For my active documents and files I am back to onedrive, which actually works better on my ipad and iphone as well.

I do use the icloud account to do full backups of my apple devices.

For 10 euro a month across 6 family sharing accounts and 12 apple devices I think it is worth it to keep the extra backup which is easier to recover.

It is a shame icloud could have been so much better than the others if they had thought it through better. At the moment I feel Microsoft is best positioned in the cloud storage/backup space, especially considering the price/performance/features ratios.

. It would be silly to assume all locations I use my iCloud Drive would be able to support the entire drive.

That is why each device has the option to optimize storage which you should use on devices with limited storage

LN

I think I have the same question as OP, and I don't believe it's been answered. If I'm correct that we have the same question, let me try to rephrase:

Is it possible to use iCloud services on a device and only sync *selected* files and folders? Google Drive allows you to do this.

To illustrate, say that you have a MacBook for personal use, and you sync 100% of the data it stores with iCloud. On a separate computer used for work purposes, can you install iCloud and use it to sync a single folder that contains only work-related data, so that you're not storing and syncing personal files on your work computer?

Yes, that's true iCloud is not like Dropbox, and using Dropbox for this kind of syncing myself I need to say that this difference makes iCloud pretty much unusable for me. Was looking into iCloud as alternative for my 1TB Dropbox, but I will stay with Dropbox.