Saving documents on the hard drive... not iCloud

Hello Gail. This is the second time this has happened to me in that I find a post and look for replies but they are not there. Then when I am done with my "rant" as you will call it, suddenly there are a large number of replies.

I do apologize for my post that you will see somewhere here. You do have some great information on how iCloud works, even though it doesn't make it any more logical. I do wish I could have found your post before going through what I went through this winter. Creating that file prior to everything being taken to iCloud would have saved hours, days, of frustration.

It my post there is a suggestion for just that, how about a folder that lets us upload the files we want in the cloud. Even if there was choice of either "Desktop" or Documents."

Also, it is important to note that the file created must not be on the Desktop or in Documents and that you have to go to "Home" to create it. If there had been a dialog box prior to turning on iCloud explaining what was about to happen to my files and folders in Desktop and Documents, and that I could create a folder to keep that from happening, well, I'd be happier. And, I'd like to have faith in my OS of choice once again.

I will read through your posts as you do have a lot of great information there. Perhaps the answer to the question that I had several hours ago is there!

Thank you.

My response about a rant was not to you, but to a different poster. It was actually an "accidental" response to a post from a previous page. Sometimes the system pretends to go to the last page but really doesn't....(eyeroll).

Anyway, just be aware, that you do not have to use the Desktop & Documents feature, and unless you have multiple Macs that you want to have Desktop & Documents sync'd, then you probably shouldn't have it turned on. I have never turned that option on. I have one Mac. I want complete control over what is on my iCloud Drive, so the only thing that gets there is stuff that I save or copy there.

Best of luck,

GB

I just tried this on my iMac and what happened was just the opposite of what you stated - my documents and desktop folder (as viewed in finder) moved from the desktop to the iCloud drive!

Is there any way to use Pages on my local iMac drive and not have it on iCloud?

Hallelujah!!! That's what I'm saying. I work with a lot of temporary video files. I don't need iCloud to back up 30GB every evening. The part that I love, if you're thinking of turning off the iCloud for now, is how it says "the items WILL BE REMOVED???" what planet are we on? don't remove anything for Christ sake. just stop backing everything up and tying up my internet connection. I'm trying to play Xbox here.

You can store it wherever you want. the iCloud will back it up.

Are you using applications, that are enabled to sync with iCloud?

With the System Preferences shown in my screenshot the only items that are stored on iCloud Drive are the Desktop folder, Documents folder (I don't store there any items that I do not want in iCloud) plus the application collections for Keynote, Pages, Preview, .. that I enabled for iCloud in the Preferences. And the Photos and Videos in my Photos Library are syncing with iCloud. But most of the content of my 1TB internal drive is staying only local.

You do not need to save your documents in the Documents folder on iCloud Drive or the application collection folders on iCloud Drive.

HDTVeditor wrote:

Hallelujah!!! That's what I'm saying. I work with a lot of temporary video files. I don't need iCloud to back up 30GB every evening. The part that I love, if you're thinking of turning off the iCloud for now, is how it says "the items WILL BE REMOVED???" what planet are we on? don't remove anything for Christ sake. just stop backing everything up and tying up my internet connection. I'm trying to play Xbox here.

No one is suggesting that you turn off iCloud. You simply need to turn off the option in iCloud Drive. System Preferences>iCloud>iCloud Drive>Options>turn off the Desktop & Documents Folders option. BUT:

Before you do that, if you want to move the contents of the Desktop & Documents folders back to your Mac, then do the following:

1. Create a couple of new "temporary" folders on your Mac and append them with a 1 or some other unique character (Desktop1 and Documents1, for example).

2. Drop and drag any files in the iCloud Drive Desktop and Documents folders to the new ones on the Mac

3. Then turn off the Desktop & Documents option in System Preferences>iCloud>iCloud Drive>Options.

4. Doing that will result in new, empty Desktop and Documents folders being created on your Mac - you can then move the contents in your "temporary" folders into the new Desktop and Documents folders, then delete the "temporary" ones.

5. You can also then go to iCloud.com on your browser, and delete anything in those folders that you no longer want on iCloud Drive.

And, yes, if you turn off iCloud, then iCloud-related items will no longer be accessible from your Mac. They may be removed (if local copies are being kept there for use when you are offline), but they remain on iCloud. That is how it works, and that is always the message you get when you turn off iCloud on any Mac or iOS device. If you continue, that will be followed by a message that enables you to back up certain information before iCloud is turned off.

Cheers,

GB

I just bought the new MacBook Pro without Touch Bar and I have tried doing this but with my old MacBook Pro I was able to save to either iCloud or to my laptop. I do not want to delete my iCloud off of my laptop but I also do not want to pay more for my iCloud storage just to save my documents from keynote. I am a college student and am going to be saving a ton of work and this is why I bought the 256gb thinking it would run the same way as my old MacBook Pro. Any suggestions?

Hi there - I hope you have already figured this out, but I thought I might try to help and maybe help others with this issue. To create a new folder which is NOT in the Documents folder nor on the Desktop of your Mac, open a Finder window (equivalent of a File Explorer window on a Windows PC) - for me, I click on the "face" icon in my dock. Depending on the view you have chosen, you should see a window with a list of system folders (denoted with an icon within the picture of the folder as opposed to a plain folder icon) on the right and a list of "Favorites," "Devices," and "Tags" on the left. If the window isn't split into two, go to the View menu and select "Show Sidebar". Select the "house" icon at the bottom of the favorites list. Now right click (two finger click if using the touchpad) in the right side and choose "New Folder" when the menu pops up. Name it anything you want except "Documents" or "Desktop." This folder should show up in that window on the right from the home view, but it should not show up when you go into "Documents". That folder should be safe in which to put files (docs, pics, etc.) that you want on your hard drive, but not on the iCloud Drive. If I understand this correctly, iCloud Drive "knows" to sync items/files from both the system Documents folder and the Desktop, but not other locations like this folder just created. Hope this helps and if I've given any incorrect or incomplete info here, please be kind and correct me!

Where is the MacBook Pro hard drive to make a special folder? I am afraid to turn it off, make a copy and then it is not there. I too am out of space and very confused as to where my documents are saving.

sysmom wrote:

I keep trying to move the folder that is super important over to my hard drive and it will not allow me to do so. any help would be great.

What folder are you trying to move? Where are you trying to move it from? Where are you trying to move it to? What does "will not allow" you mean?

Cheers,

GB

Same here. I am so angry. I JUST found out this entire time my computer (that I spent extra money for extra space o my hard drive) has been saving ALL my documents to iCloud. I don't use iCloud and I have signed out of it twice but it keeps asking me to log on. And then when I do it pops up "out of space". So I was so sick and tired of the popups I logged out again and all my documents are gone! It never saved any of my documents to the computer. I should have listened to my Husband and bought a PC. Macs are not what they used to me. I am so frustrated.

How can I create folders on imac or mac? I want this folder to be somewhere else other than desktop or documents. (I would like to save documents under a different folder than desktop or documents - otherwise they will be automatically saved to icloud drive.)

thanks!

There are a couple of very helpful responses to this same question that show up (for me) on the previous page of this thread. They explain how to make sure your hard drive is visible and the steps to create the folders outside of the Documents folder.

How can I create folders on imac or mac? I want this folder to be somewhere else other than desktop or documents. (I would like to save documents under a different folder than desktop or documents - otherwise they will be automatically saved to icloud drive.)

thanks!

same as always - use the finder to create folders where ever you want them - nothing has changed except the addition of a new, iCloud capability and its use is optional

LN

Thank you for your response. My question was actually different. I do not want to turn off iCloud for desktop and documents. I would like to be able to create folders on the computer that are not going to be under neither desktop nor documents. I hope you have an answer for me.