iCloud Drive sync refresh in Finder

I just experienced this yesterday while working an iMac and MBP. I realised that creating a new folder in the iCloud Drive of the machine without the updated files forces a refresh. That temporary solution work fine.

Today, after restarting both machines, iCloud Drive has seen been working fine, refreshing promptly on its own.

Hope this helps.

Try going to iCloud.com using a computer to see if the items are there and whether they are from the device or the computer. That should show whether the device or the computer isn't syncing. If the computer, try going to System Preferences/iCloud and stop syncing. Wait a couple of minutes, then recheck syncing. If the device, go to Settings/Your Name/iCloud and do the above. You can also try signing out of iCloud and then sign in again.

yeah really homie, not helpful. it's a technical issue, nothing to do with personality. the common work around is to create a new folder in the iCloud drive that is not syncing which forces a sync. there may be a sync command that can be used in the terminal. will post it here if i find it...

This is a totally annoying circumstance and started with High Sierra, but I've found a workaround.

1. If you don't have a folder on your desktop, create one and place a couple small files in the folder.
2. Move or create the new file you want to share across platforms to the desktop on one device.
3. On the second device move a single file from the previously created folder to the desktop
4. Wait a second (you can see the cloud icon refresh timer moving in the sidebar of a window).
5. The second device's desktop will now reflect the desktop of the original device.

It seems the issues is that whatever timing or push notification to idle device's iCloud .DS_Store file has been broken or omitted in High Sierra (10.13). And I am assuming this folder change force method works in all iCloud directories like Pages/ and TextEdit. It also seems to work if you move a file from another local drive location to an iCloud maintained directory. The action of moving a file forces the local machine to refresh its iCloud data.

I accidentally marked helpful when I meant to say that it was not helpful. I was having the same problem and I found if I just left the icloud application open on my other device it would eventually start pulling in the files.

What if my files don't update to iCloud?

Check these things first:

• Make sure that you have enough iCloud storage. If you exceed your limit, you can buy more iCloud storage.
• Sign in to iCloud on all of your devices and turn on iCloud Drive.
• Make sure that you have an active Internet connection on your Mac and on your iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch.
• Install the latest versions of Pages, Numbers, and Keynote. See which versions of Pages, Numbers, and Keynote you can use with iCloud Drive.
• Create a new document and save it to see if it uploads to iCloud. If it does, see if the other documents start uploading.

If you tried these steps and your files still don’t upload to iCloud:

1. Stay signed in to iCloud.
2. Save your updated files to a different folder on your Mac or PC.
3. Contact Apple Support.

I regularly share files between two Macs on the same local network using iCloud Drive. As I only have to swivel my chair for either machine access, I find that sometimes the files are already available in iCloud Drive on the second machine, and on other occasions, I can click in the iCloud Drive Finder window, and momentarily watch the synchronization occur.

In any event, the network health between the local Mac, and Apple's iCloud servers, and the current load on those servers, will have a bearing on the propagation delay you experience with iCloud Drive. This can be hard on impatient personality types. 😉

I just experienced the issue of the Pages file from my iPad not updating the directory so that i can edit on my iMac.

Crazy that there is no drop down or button to push for a manual refresh. Given the chatter on this subject, seems necessary instead of copy file or creating folders to cause a refresh.

Read the articles Set up iCloud Drive - Apple Support

And as per this article Add your Desktop and Documents files to iCloud Drive - Apple Support

Access your Desktop and Documents files on another device

When you add your Desktop and Documents to iCloud Drive, all of your files move to iCloud and any new files you create are automatically stored in iCloud too. Then you can find your files on all of your devices.

If you want to store your files in iCloud Drive and another cloud storage service, you can keep copies of your files in both, but you can't keep folders from a third-party cloud service in iCloud Drive. You can keep your other cloud service folders in a different place on your Mac, like the home folder.

Your files upload to iCloud each time your device connects to the Internet. Depending on your Internet speed, the time it takes for you to see your files on your other devices might vary.

totally unhelpful and off topic.

The question is how to force a refresh between a mac (or a PC) and an IPAD.

and it is A PROBLEM>>>>!! just try it.

Live saver, great solution! Go to work for Apple! Haha

I think the direct question is whether iCloud at Mac or iOS can be forced sync. If can’t, then simply say it can’t.

It is certainly NOT possible and this is a frustrating and very stupid oversight of Apple. We shouldn’t have to jump through hoops to get things to sync, as most people move to Mac products for seamless syncing, which is becoming evermore a distant memory at this point. Apple seems to have forgotten this in the quest for the latest cool gadget.

I’ve been trying to get my 7 phone to update the changes I made on my computer - which I find if I go via browser. But I even can open a now deleted (via computer) file in iCloud files on my phone, and the files added via my computer still are not showing up on my iPhone, although they show up everywhere else. #icloudfail