My iCloud at 50GB is now full. I am wondering if iCloud backup creates duplicates each time it backs up or does it do a backup of only new files. Also, is there a way to do a compare of file names to eliminate duplicates that may have been backed up such as photos that were backed up from two different locations/folders?
iMac, macOS Sierra (10.12.6)
There seems to be a terminology problem. iCloud isn't a backup in the sense of a Time Machine backup to an external drive. iCloud is a syncing service that allows sharing of data between devices/computers.
The automatic sync only uploads/downloads new or changed data. If you want to check for duplicates, go to iCloud.com using a computer browser.
How exactly are you "backing up" and what are you backing up?
there is no iCloud backup for a Mac - only for IOS devices and for IOS devices there is only a single current backup, not multiple copies
LN
The answer to your question is iCloud Photo Library is always a full "backup" in that all files are checked and synced in full.
No incremental. As noted, it should not be thought of as a backup, for this and many other good reasons. It may be considered a backup conceptually, but not in pure IT terms.
It is a full folder to folder sync, except when using optimization.
My photos from all devices and files on my iMac are backed up to the Cloud. I am wondering if the automatic iCloud backup saves only new files or does it create a full backup by date? Also, want to know if there is a way to check for duplicate files in iCloud storage.
Does iCloud backup create a new (duplicate) set of the files or does it only backup new files?
