Storing Files Locally When Using iCloud Drive

[@Wendyrocler]

Almost every time I use my new M1 MacBook Air, I use a tip you have taught me! You have made the transition from PC to MAC very smooth. Thanks so much for all your very clear and useful tutorials.

[@blakelyhall8191]

What tip?!

[@fbales]

I recently purchased a MacBook Pro 14. Though I’ve been using an iPad for several years, this is my first Mac. As a lifetime Windows user, well since Windows 3.0, I have been finding MacOS a bit frustrating. As you might imagine, I’ve watched hundreds of videos on the different Macs, and MacOS. (That can also be frustrating.) I wanted to let you know, Gary, that your videos have been the most helpful of any I’ve watched. I always find what I need, and they’re short videos, which is really appreciated. Thanks, Gary!

[@antoinederoose499]

I created an "On My Mac" folder to stay consistent with the Files app on iPhone and iPad, where there is a "On My iPhone" and "On My iPad" folder.

[@nuclear_reactor5x5]

The sophistication is mind blowing and Gary knows it all

[@dominican878]

Not sure how long you have been doing this, but I'm surprised you don't have 25M followers. You know your stuff man and you explain it very well. Thank you! At some point, I would love to see a video about managing songs you have had for years, from the days of CD's and burning music. I purchased a new MBP and I'm having difficulty playing the songs on my MBP because I have a couple thousand songs I didn't buy from Apple. I'm so glad I did save my music library to iCloud. But I'm having problems playing the song and finding instructions how to download my music library to my local drive. :( I'm thinking I must do that since I didn't buy the songs from apple.

[@FrankieRomaNovak]

It took me ages to find someone to answer this specific issue. Thank you. I have a brand new Macbook Pro that I didn't want to load with clutter from my old MacBook. I added the files I wanted to use while offline on a cruise ship in a few days. I gave iCloud a try. Then when I decided..."not now, I'll do that later", I unchecked a box and all the files I had loaded had disappeared up into the cloud (thin air). Along with a ton of other folders etc. Aargh. Your video helped me get safely back on track. Thank you so much.

[@snappyinc6297]

Thanks Gary, now I finally understand how all this works. You explain it so clearly, and the key for me was how the "optimise" button works. You are an excellent teacher. Very many thanks

[@RyanFloom]

This channel is amazing

[@deepaknalla3359]

Gary, thank you for another amazing video! All my life I have been a Windows PC user. Since the time I have been seeing your videos, the transition to MAC computer has been a pleasant and an experience. keep them coming...Cheers!

[@phirrgus5117]

I just returned to Mac after a few years and stumbled across this channel. After watching a couple of videos, subbed. Good stuff, thank you so much, if you see this

[@scarletf1271]

Thank you!! I wasted so much time trying to get this figured out and your video was perfect. 😊

[@edelliot]

iCloud was hurting brain - now brain better. Thank you for clearing that up!

[@amarish864]

Gary your videos are are short and to the point ! Thank you !!

[@brianrizzo3127]

Blown away by your videos! You do such a great job explaining things and offering clear solutions / explanations for people. This was super helpful in setting my Macs (iMac and MacBook Air) up for exactly what I want. I have a question however. Is there a way to force my iCloud Drive files to be stored locally on my iPhone? I have plenty of space on the phone and it would be great to have local files present so I don't have to download them on the fly over cellular / wifi when I am out and about. Cheers. Thank you again so much.

[@MrWhatever9999]

Finally I understood how to use iCloud Drive. Thank you! Great video :)

[@suyinshares]

TQSM Gary! I loveeeee your videos! They make my Macbook journey so enjoyable. God bless you!

[@jenniedesoto1323]

Thanks for doing these tutorials. I recently purchased a macpro and after using older apple products for years I feel like I’m relearning all over again

[@iotademia]

Thank you for your help! I was surprised at how un-intuitive this process was. As a new mac user, I had no idea the "home" folder even existed.

[@timcurry2617]

This was extremely useful, especially given the recent revelation of iPhone/iPad security passcode vulnerability. It is best not to have anything, including synced iCloud files, on your phone or tablet that you don't want thieves to get their hands on. Gary's approach here is perfect to safeguard all your sensitive files ONLY on your Mac. Thanks, Gary!

[@conormcgeary]

perfect an obvious answer I couldn't find anywhere else, but perfectly answered my question. Thanks, so this is where Im going to dump all the files that I still need to sort from the last 15 years of machines I'm finally combining into my first new machine in years ! thanks , can't believe I forgot about home !

[@supairish]

Option #3 was just what I was looking for. Thanks dude!

[@Iweb365Org]

Seriously good tutorial, far better than APPLE SUPPORT. My recent experience with Apple was that they seem obsessed with getting you to use 'Optimize Mac Storage'.

[@shafijami]

Thanks for your amazing tips. A third way for keeping files locally, what I use as developer, is to partition your disk in two. For example 1. Mac 2. User. One of the befits is that when we want to upgrade the OS, usually don't have to backup User drive but only the Mac drive in this case.

[@rod1424]

A lot of people like me are confused by how this icloud drive and the purpode of Optimise mac storage. Thanks for this video.

[@joshhollywood92]

This is exactly what I was looking for, thank you very much for the useful information that I could not seem to find elsewhere!

[@VinceVega303]

I have watched a handful of videos from your channel and had to subscribe. Thank you for your help.😃

[@gregmatthews6951]

This is excellent content and cleared up questions I had about files on my computer. Many thanks!

[@brainharrington]

crushed it, thank you sir, I pride myself on being organized and for some reason this was not intuitive, I like to manually move my stuff in and out of cloud

[@BrianPBlack]

You're a lifesaver! Thank you for this extremely helpful content.

[@dismaldunc]

Thanks Gary I was tearing my hair out trying to understand why my files kept disappearing on my local drive you are my go to Mac guy every time I have an issue

[@rhettsmedia]

Fantastic video I am developing my main programs on a PC cross compiling the Monomakh and I’m trying to find a sane way to get files from PC to Mac. Thank you for this informative video. It is fantastic thank you.

[@Iamradthad]

Thank you so much, new Mac user, used windows my whole life. This helped!

[@stevelawrie9115]

This works for me. I have totally disabled my iCloud except for find my mac. When I did and downloaded my stuff a new folder, "Documents" was created in my column. I now have everything local and I back up with "Time Machine". The way I like it :)

[@timwilson8388]

This is exactly what I was looking for and perfectly explained! Thank you so much!

[@juleshorse9056]

Excellent tutorial. Solved a key issue for me. Thank you.

[@Teodorageta]

Thank you for the useful tutorials.👋 You saved me🙏. Kind regards from Romania.😇

[@ciderpress6656]

This is a terrific video - so helpful. Well done!!

[@pepvert]

Great tutorial. Very easy to follow. THANKS!!!!

[@thecaroconcept]

New Mac user here. This was so helpful! Thank you for sharing 🫶

[@ianskinner6837]

As usual - very wise. Great advice. Thanks G.

[@johnolin]

This is the video I’ve been searching for! Thank you 🙏🏼

[@TheCeo_]

Beautifully explained. Thank you so much.

[@49Macman]

Thank You Gary! It was frustrating. It seemed that anything I would save would go directly to iCloud. It would always prompt me to buy more data, but with 3 external drives I don't feel I need extra storage right now.

[@paulward4299]

pure gold. what a great explanatory video! thx

[@mansoorkarimifar8776]

Perfect and clear informative video. Thank you so much.

[@loisskiathitis8926]

Who knew you did now so do I. A very useful video tutorial today! Thanks for the visuals. Thank you, Gary! 👏👍🏻❤️

[@ChevBlank]

Thanks man, your videos are so educational 🙌🏾❤️❤️

[@zalahuddin]

I learned something new today! Thanks Gary.

[@chasinghippoz]

Thank you this was super useful--I was trying to figure out how to keep my Lightroom Catalog on a Local Drive and not iCloud Drive and you solved my problem. Thank you again

[@careydunn8227]

you brought up good things and helps me understand why having a hard time finding some files. Always good info! thanks

[@indikaudayasaranga988]

Thank you for your great support.

[@garyackers1469]

Excellent video…great info ..always learning on this side of the pond ..😉😉😉🇬🇧🇺🇸🇬🇧🇺🇸🇬🇧🇺🇸

[@folkdemon]

great video. Exactly what I needed. Subscribed. Thank you.

[@SubhanArchived]

remove download has changed my life. thank you so much.

[@NavneetTaori]

Super simple explanation. Thanks.

[@ysk249]

Thank you for your amazing tutorial. What if you have 254GB of files on your MacBook, 128GB of files on iPad, and 64GB of storage on your iPhone? Would I have separate folders (MacBook folder, iPad folder, iPhone folder) in iCloud Drive? Or do they all show up in one iCloud Drive?

[@kateS72]

THANK YOU ! This was exactly what I needed to know.

[@nathanbillingsley718]

Great advice. Saved me lots of time on phone support.

[@shirl3yl]

Thanks for the tip. I really wanted to know how to keep my files available offline before I commit to iCloud storage 👍🏻

[@salimasmoun9746]

You just made my day, thanks for the interesting video👍

[@claramin5338]

thank you so much for explaining this very useful information so clearly. always get a lot of help from you.

[@pinholau]

Epic video!!!! First seen.. instant subscribe..

[@aleluiakriol]

Thank you so much for the information. This was extremely useful. Keep it up!

[@davon8561]

Hey Gary , another great video . However when I down load a file (eg music song ) where does it go to on my local disk / actual Mac book ? Or am I still playing song from cloud ? Sorry if this is silly question but I'm old !!!! Thanks David

[@diegopescia9602]

Great video, Gary. you are helping me a lot to transition from Windows to Mac. Thanks!

[@ufamartialartsacademy376]

Your tutorials are amazing, clear, concise and easy to follow. I have learnt so many tips, tricks and techniques from you, thank you. I have a question, I recently cleared and updated my old Mac desktop, I removed all the photos scattered around my computer including iPhoto & apple photos and placed them all on an external hard drives. Can you suggest a method for searching all my photos to organise them and remove duplicates please? Its going to be a long process but I want to get them all on one drive if possible.

[@macmost]

I would just search for image files and sort by date and time. Then duplicates would be the same name and size right next to each other so they would easy to spot. Then it is just a matter of setting aside some time here and there to work through it.

[@davidtanner8771]

More clarity, thanks. Have you done a video where you address having iCloud Drive enabled and where you also use another cloud device like Google Drive?

[@macmost]

I don't have a video specific to that, but you can do it. They would just be separate things. Don't try to put a folder from one into the other or anything like that.

[@TheKennedys]

Thank you for this video. I'm having an issue with my ipad using iCloud. I created documents in Pages on my mac laptop, and sometimes those documents open on my ipad but sometimes I get a message that says "Can't open document. The owner stopped sharing, or you don't have permission to open it." This often happens if i have recently opened a Pages document stored in my iCloud drive, and then close it, and try to open it soon after. I'd like to be able to store the documents locally on my ipad as well as in the cloud...just like you describe here for the mac computer, but I don't see where that option is on the ipad. Can you tell me how to do this, or else tell my why recently opened icloud drive documents are so fickle on the ipad? Thanks!

[@gloriamesser1420]

Excellent article. Wish I knew this before iCloud erased all my original media files. Thank you.

[@macmost]

Not sure what you mean by that. iCloud wouldn't erase "original media files" or anything like that.

[@jimratliff]

Gary, if you haven’t already, it would be worth checking the permissions on the “Local Documents” folder. I know in the past I’ve sometimes found that newly created folders in the home directory had permissions that made them visible to other users on the Mac.

[@macmost]

I haven't found that, but in most cases it isn't a problem as you would presumably trust anyone else using your Mac. Most cases.

[@jimratliff]

@@macmost My earlier comment didn’t make it through, I guess because of a link to an answer from Apple Stack Exchange (#164449). So I’ll omit the URL: “The root of your home folder is global read, but standard macOS folders within such as Desktop and Documents should be global no access. Feel free to set the permissions of other folders which you create in the root of your home folder to match the permissions on the standard folders.” This is an important point. If you don’t change the permissions of the newly created folder at the root of the home directory, the folder will not have the same level of security as the folders that Apple creates in that directory.

[@realpoems]

Really helpful explanation. Thanks! Do you also have a video (or instruction) on how to have two different iCloud folders, one to sync with iMac and the other to sync with MacBook Air?

[@yoozer8741]

Thx. But i want to have specific iCloud files ONLY in the cloud without having Apple doing it by guessing. So i'm the Master of my faith and not Apple. How would you archive that?

[@macmost]

Put the files in iCloud Drive. Select them. Control+click on them and select "Remove Download."

[@joevenuto9711]

Great video. Incredibly helpful. Thanks!

[@DanVito100]

Very good and clear presentation.

[@nuclear_reactor5x5]

Thank you so much you are such a mage for Mac things

[@lizguille]

Thanks that was really useful. Is there a way to keep large files in icloud without downloading to MacBook Pro but still have access to them like in a vault?

[@memeinthehighcastle9201]

Thank you for this video, awesome explanation!

[@plizy]

This has been very helpful, thank you very much 👍🏾

[@JCGray52]

Thank you! Much appreciated! I've been an Apple guy since the Apple II+ but always enjoy learning something new ;-) Hard to believe that Apple does not simply provide you with the option of keeping your existing Desktop while simply stopping the sync process to iCloud. FWIW, using Monterey on new MacBook M1 Pro 16".

[@j.j.gauthier7643]

I've learned a lot from you, Gary; that's why I became a patron - pay for what you use. Question_ I have mac min, iPad, iPhone all with current os - I also use Time Machine on the Mac for backup. My iCloud account is active and I saw your article about this. Does a Time Machine Backup also save iCloud data at the same time?

[@macmost]

Time Machine saves all files on your Mac. If you have iCloud Drive "Optimize" turned OFF then all of your iCloud Drive files are also on your Mac and will be backed up. If you have it turned ON, then only files currently on your Mac will be backed up, but that could be all or close to all since new and recently updated files are there.

[@birk22]

OMG, thank u soo much, you just solved all my problems😍😍😍

[@eddie.io21]

thank you so much. It's really useful for me

[@borauysal7758]

Great tips, thank you!

[@dallasrieck7753]

it's the tone/delivery of your sharing that is par none :0)

[@paul_macauley]

Thanks Gary this was exalt the help I needed. You gave a fix and I understand what's going on a bit better. Good job on the vid, cheers!

[@ayooluwakolawole]

Great vid and explanation, found it very useful - please timestamp next time!

[@champnessjack1154]

Excellent, thank you.

[@Rasmus_el_Pescador]

Hello Gary, thanks for the clarity. I am using a system that seems good to me but raises some questions. Well, I have a large library living on my external drive with all photos with dates prior to 30/12/ast year. At my Macbook i keep only the photos of this year and when the year ends I move them to the hard drive. So here my question, Can I somehow have an Icloud that syncs both external drive libray and my Mac's/Iphone? And if yes, could i keep the new original photos been downloaded everytime I plug my external drive and run the larget library?

[@macmost]

No. The system you have is always going to be difficult to work with. Searching for photos will be tough. I don't know if you mean you have a second Photos library on your external, or you just have photos as files on your external. The latter will be even harder as you wouldn't have access to all of the Photos app functions (albums, faces, searches, editing tools, etc). It will just be a very difficult system to work with depending on your needs and expectations.

[@annaburns5382]

thank you for this info. It is helpful.

[@michaeldonnelly2977]

Super Helpful Video! Quick question though: I am still using Mac OS Sierra. When I control click my iCloud Drive files I don’t have the “download“ or “remove download“ options. In my iCloud folder I have both “cloud” icons that tell me if my files are on my hard drive or in iCloud only. Is there a setting I can change that will add the option to upload or download to the cloud in each folder menu when I control click?

[@macmost]

I think those options were added later. Sierra is pretty far back.

[@michaeldonnelly2977]

@@macmost I had a feeling that may be the case. I’m going to upgrade soon.

[@asmabenoun9484]

thank you Gary, this is very helpful, if I sell or give mac away, what to do before?

[@macmost]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/eKbcn35rZ6t6hrs

[@davidbuchanan8864]

You have solved a lot of problems for me!

[@sangeetaangelakumar]

Really nice video! thank you

[@SteveLum]

Yes that was super useful advice

[@barnster5844]

Thanks Gary useful as always. I have a large number of passwords on keychain that are obsolete or duplicate. Is there a quick way to tidy them up!

[@macmost]

No. And you don't want there to be. You don't want a process or algorithm deciding which passwords to keep and which to delete forever. That's a task you want to do manually to be sure it is done right. OR -- don't do it at all. Those old entries don't use any real space. Keep them around just in case.

[@chrisdavidson6838]

Thanks as always.

[@michaelsandrik9819]

Great channel! Subscribed. If I uncheck "Optimize Mac Storage" and then turn on iCloud Desktop and Documents Folders, the Documents directory in my home directory still disappears (though I do see everything copied to iCloud drive). Where is the local copy being stored? Where is the "full contents of iCloud Drive" stored on the local Mac? Thanks!

[@michaelsandrik9819]

I think I found it: /Users/[username]/Library/Mobile Documents/

[@macmost]

They are stored deep in your user library. But you never have to worry about that as you have access to them as the Documents folder.

[@suzannenorman475]

I love this! Once I get all my files made local I would like to turn off the sync for docs and downloads. How do I get the files to show up on my local desktop? I can only see them in the local files folder

[@macmost]

Not sure what you are trying to do here. Are you trying to STOP using iCloud Drive altogether? What's your goal?

[@suzannenorman475]

@@macmost Thanks for the reply! I have just gone through the hell of deleting files on icloud drive only to have them disappear from my Mac desktop. I was able to restore most of them - there are a few that keep getting a message "the following (#) of files cannot be restored due to an unexpected error". So I am still trying to get those back. That scare made me look more closely at the defaults of Apple on this computer. I have been a mac user since the mac classics and I getting more and more frustrated with the company. But anyway! So in the process of getting better acquainted with icloud and local file protocols I noticed that each time I go to save a new file the only option displayed is for an iCloud location. The file shows up on the local desktop and has a cloud next to it. I did what you advise in this video and hit download, but where is it actually saved? Would it be deleted if I deleted the files from iCloud Drive? I can drill down and eventually store it on the local documents file, but what I want is to have them visible on my mac desktop display so I can access them easily. I thought about turning off the sync for documents and downloads but the idea that my files will disappear again freaks me out. I mean I lost ALL my files in the big iCloud Drive delete of July 23. And as I said I am still missing three. Eventually, yes I want to not use iCloud at all or for very specific no consequence files. I have my own work drives I can use. Long and a tad meandering I know.

[@macmost]

@@suzannenorman475 When you save a file, pay attention to exactly where you save it. I can't tell you where it is, you need to look at where you save it when you do that.

[@richardbryanesq]

Thank you. It seems to me the explanation which appears below the "Optimize Mac Storage" selection box is 180 degrees opposite of how the system works if that option is actually selected.

[@macmost]

Not sure what you mean. The explanation is exactly correct.

[@richardbryanesq]

@@macmost well, it seems to me when the box is “optimize Mac storage,“ is checked, files are stored in icloud and only downloaded locally when you need them (by opening the file). But the paragraph below reads “the full contents of iCloud Drive will be stored on this Mac if you have enough space.” As if checking the “optimize” box will result in all files stored both locally, and in iCloud. I can’t wrap my head around this . . ..

[@macmost]

​@@richardbryanesq Optimize will cache files locally depending on the space you have. If you have enough space then all of your files would be cached, yes. Think of it this way, if you have 1000 files and you have plenty of space, then the most recent 1000 files would be cached, which would be all of them. But if space is less than what you have in iCloud Drive, then maybe only the most recent 100 (or whatever) would be cached locally. But with "Optimized" off, then ALL files will be cached locally at all times. If you don't have enough space, then you can't have Optimized switched off. Think of a backpack you are wearing. Optimized would mean the backpack contains just the things you most need that you can carry. Turning off Optimized would mean your backpack contains everything you own, and you'd better have enough room in there.

[@mmatises]

Gary, I have a Macbook Pro and use Time Machine and want 10-12 TB. Which external desktop drive do you recommend?

[@macmost]

I can only comment on devices I have owned and found to be decent. See macmost.com/recommendations