Saving documents on the hard drive... not iCloud

The problem I'm having is that when I turn of iCloud Drive (deselect the box you are referring to), all of my files disappear even though I select "save a copy". There is no iCloud Drive (Archive) that I can find with the local copy.

You indicated that you can save your files in another location before unchecking "iCloud Drive", but I have no other location I can save them to.

What I'm trying to do is turn off iCloud Drive and save my existing documents to my hard drive. None of the above instructions work to turn either save my documents to a different location prior to unchecking the iCloud Drive box in System Preferences, or to access the copy that was supposedly saved after I unchecked the iCloud Drive box in System Preferences.

Yes. Click on the , then on System Preferences>iCloud>iCloud Drive>Options, and uncheck the Desktop & Documents option. You can also move all of the documents & desktop items in those folders on iCloud Drive to new folders you have set up on your Mac.

When you save documents, you will be asked where you want to save them going forward.

Cheers,

GB

Copy the files from iCloud Drive to a folder other than Documents and the Desktop. Go to System Preferences/iCloud/iCloud Drive/Options and turn off syncing. You should then be able to delete the files from iCloud Drive in Finder. When complete, rearrange the files as desired.

i can't even find my hard drive icon any more.

You can make it visible in the Finder preferences. Click somewhere on your empty Desktop to bring the Finder forward, then open the Finder preferences from the main menu bar: Finder > Preferences ⌘,

Enable all devices to show in the general tab of the preferences and in the Sidebar tab.

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!

Have you checked System Preferences > iCloud > iCloud Drive > Options?

If "Desktop and Documents" has been enabled there, both folders will be moved to iCloud Drive.

Before you disable the option "Desktop and Documents", move all documents back to local folders in your Home folder. Only then disable the option.

Anyway, it is not compulsory to store the iWorks documents on iCloud Drive, if iCloud Drive is enabled. You can save them to any folder in your home folder you create for yourself.

Hello LAKOOK, I believe the answer you are looking for is in the discussion that I will insert at the end of my post. Read FoxFifth's solution. It worked for me. The reason that I "ranted" is that it was not working by dragging a folder from the desktop to the sidebar.

I also believe that you can do this without turning off iCloud for the Desktop and Documents Folders. If you do have it on you and want to have those files and folders on your computer rather than in iCloud you will have to manually, yes manually, move them from iCloud to your new folder. If you turn it off you have to manually move them from iCloud to your computer.

Here is the link: Re: add new folder not icloud

Hope it works for you.

Peggy Sue Amelon wrote:

I believe that you have to turn off iCloud, then download all of those files and folders that it took off your computer and put them back on your computer. When you create a folder that is for files and folders NOT going to iCloud it must be done using these steps Re: add new folder not icloud Then you can flip on the iCloud switch on for Desktop and Documents should you choose to use it. I wish I had known this before turning it on as I now have a huge mess of duplicates that I don't have time to mess with. Fortunately I have a hard drive that can handle it all (the cloud is not that useful to me). Even though I'm a newbie to these forums, I hope this helps; I've had a Mac and only a Mac since 1988.

If you have the Desktop & Documents option turned on, then all Desktop items and all Documents will go to iCloud Drive. You can also save it to a local folder, but that has to be done intentionally. As I said in the previous post, if you are not syncing those Desktop and Document items with another Mac, then not sure why you have it turned on at all?

Cheers,

GB

Try reading the thread. It explains the setting you need to change so that you can decide where you want to save your documents.

GB

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.

I actually figured it all out reading through discussions. thanks for reaching back.

Great! Glad you are all set now 🙂

Cheers,

GB

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Thank you, GB! You are correct and my incomplete explanation needs this clarification. I set those preferences so long ago that I had completely forgotten about them. -gup

where is the archive folder?

andrewfranco15 wrote:

where is the archive folder?

See the instructions directly above your post. It tells you how to find it.

GB