How do I move iCloud files onto external hard drive?

Question

Level 1

26 points

How do I move iCloud files onto external hard drive?

Hello,

I've recently taken a trip to Iceland and Sweden and capture a large amount of content including pictures and videos. I'm a video editor so I've also started multiple video projects. All of these documents are saved onto iCloud, as I thought this would be the most efficient way to store the data while I was away from home. Now I'm trying to save all of these files onto an external hard drive and I'm finding that it is incredibly difficult to export all of the files onto an the drive while keeping the file structures I've created in tact. The only way it seems I'm able to do this is to download each file individually onto my mac, and then move it onto the hard drive. Though the files are being saved to the hard drive, they are still, apparently, being saved to my mac's hard drive as well, taking up space in both locations. I am currently moving the files that are located on my mac onto the external hard drive, though as the file structure is saved only in iCloud, i basically now just have a giant dump of files that i'll have to re-organize.

TL;DR -- Is there a way to move entire folders from the iCloud to an external hard drive without having to download the files individually to the mac and then move them over? Preserving file structure seems like it is a no brainer, which is why I am assuming that maybe I'm just missing a very simple solution.

MacBook Pro (Retina, 13-inch, Mid 2014), iOS 10.2

Posted on May 28, 2017 11:30 AM

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Answer 1

Top-ranking reply

tempuraimages

Level 1

4 points

Sep 17, 2017 9:22 AM in response to hollygn

Agree, what is the point in having the "best phone camera" if file handling is so cumbersome!

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Answer 2

hollygn

Level 1

13 points

Sep 12, 2017 10:45 AM in response to madjohnny

yeah... seriously, same exact problem... what is the point of the icloud if I can't get my foldered documents off of it? have you figured out a solution to this since you posted?

this is seriously messing up my workflow.

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Answer 3

madjohnny Author

Level 1

26 points

May 28, 2017 2:25 PM in response to mbamber

Yes, you would think this would be an option, wouldn't you. Unfortunately iCloud does not allow you to drag folders, in which the destination is iCloud, onto an external hard drive. This is why I am so frustrated.

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Answer 4

madjohnny Author

Level 1

26 points

May 28, 2017 4:50 PM in response to mbamber

I do indeed have an upgraded iCloud account. The situation I'm having is that I do not use photos to store my images, instead I've just created a folder on my desktop (which is directed to save to icloud) and dumped the raw image and video files directly from my SD cards into the folder. I can access them from the computer just fine, as they're stored in my iCloud account, however, I cannot move them from the iCloud (or desktop shortcut) into my external hard drive. The article above indicates how to download files via specific apps (like Photos), as well as how to download individual files. When it comes to folders containing multiple files, I'm unable to do so. The only solution it seems would be to download each individual image or video file separately onto my mac hard drive and then move them into the external hard drive. It seems an extremely inefficient way to handle this, as well as a break from apple's normally user-friendly, drag-and-drop style interface.

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Answer 5

LACAllen

Level 8

43,542 points

Sep 17, 2017 10:38 AM in response to tempuraimages

If used correctly, your workflow should not be affected.

The Drive app on iCloud.com is not a file manager. Finder is. Assuming you are using a Mac of course.

Since Finder is synced with iCloud.com, you should perform your file management, with all the drag and drop and nested folder functionality it has, in Finder, which will then be synced with iCloud.com.

IMO, iCloud.com should be thought of as a convenience, for occasional and light file management, not a full fledged tool for day to day work.

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Answer 6

mbamber

Level 1

100 points

May 28, 2017 11:44 AM in response to madjohnny

If you open a finder window in the iCloud Drive location, you should be able to drag the photos across to the hard drive.

If the photos are not in iCloud Drive, i'm not sure there is a simpler solution than what you have already suggested

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Answer 7

mbamber

Level 1

100 points

May 28, 2017 4:44 PM in response to madjohnny

Could you take a look at this support article explaining how to take backups of iCloud documents: Archive or make copies of your iCloud data - Apple Support

it seems to suggest you should be able to copy files using a finder window if you have upgraded to iCloud Drive. Do you know if have done this? If so, are you getting an error while trying to copy the files?

It also has some helpful tips for downloading photos etc which may be of interest to you.

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Answer 8

LACAllen

Level 8

43,542 points

Sep 17, 2017 10:38 AM in response to hollygn

If used correctly, your workflow should not be affected.

The Drive app on iCloud.com is not a file manager. Finder is. Assuming you are using a Mac of course.

Since Finder is synced with iCloud.com, you should perform your file management, with all the drag and drop and nested folder functionality it has, in Finder, which will then be synced with iCloud.com.

IMO, iCloud.com should be thought of as a convenience, for occasional and light file management, not a full fledged tool for day to day work.

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How do I move iCloud files onto external hard drive?