What Happens When You Turn Off Desktop & Documents Folders for iCloud Drive?
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- Опубликовано: 16 июл 2024
- macmost.com/e-2904 If you decide you want to turn off this useful feature, you'll find yourself looking at a very scary warning before moving forward. Find out exactly what happens when you do it.
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00:00 Intro
00:46 What Is the Desktop & Documents Feature?
03:15 What Happens When You Turn It Off?
07:15 Alternative: Save Local Space With Optimize
08:52 Alternative: Save iCloud Space Local Folders
#macmost #mactutorial 
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I have so much difficulty explaining this to people. This is probably the best explanation I've seen and it still confuses folks.
Worth watching a few times. The iCloud structure is always a little confusing, Thanks for parting the Cloud so we can see the light😎.
Well Said
As someone who has used Windows for the last 20 years, I've been having a very difficult time understanding the way the file system works after picking up my first Mac. Your video cleared up a large majority of the issues I was having when moving and accessing files between my local drive and iCloud. Thanks so much and keep up the good work!
To me there is an elephant in the room rarely mentioned.
Apple lets you either turn off optimization or turn it on for everything. Despite having 1TB of data space and only 460Gb of data, the OS 'optimizes' for them and moves things into its cloud. I don't mind that, its a good back up and I can access everything on my iPad and iPhone.
The problem is when the OS optimizes, it randomly picks things to remove from my Mac of iPad that have not been opened or changed recently. So when I am sitting on a plane and looking for some documents, wanting to read my camera pdf in Books, or listen to my playlist for traveling - I find that the OS has maliciously deleted (it seems) everything I wanted to access.
How about a way to designate certain folders and playlists never be optimized (copied and sync'ed yes)
Very good question 🎉
Very useful video.
Apple could do with some interface changes to make this all less confusing. 🥴
Why remove the folders "Desktop" and "Documents" from your local home folder instead of just renaming them "Desktop - iCloud" and "Documents - iCloud" ?
The first time I played around with this feature I nearly had a heart attack thinking both were deleted...
Should have said something about the cost of additional iCloud storage that you’re eventually going to have to pay out as you fill it up. External HDs are very affordable and you only pay for that space once.
Some bit of care needs to be done using these features... At one point, somehow, I was syncing my Mac desktop with iCloud and over time (and files on my desktop) iCloud sucked up all that data. The space wasn't the issue, it was the number of files that resided on my iCloud, and the syncing between iCloud and my main Mac caused the Mac to slow down dramatically. Once I stopped syncing my Mac it came back to its normal self. Makes sense, since it was having to go through many folders at two locations and "sync" everything. That is what backups are for!
Gary, you never seem to disappoint. This was perfectly timed as I have been struggling with this concept for the last week, since my iCloud storage was full and I didn't want to pay a recurring monthly fee to Apple when I have plenty of space on my mac. Based on this Tutorial, I just need to move the large video files from iCloud to my local desktop mac and this will resolve all the issues. Thanks for a great tutorial.
I learnt a long time ago to never let Apple control my files and folders. Way back when I used iTunes and it said allow iTunes to manage your music, big mistake, it renamed my music files, if I wanted to delete a track from iTunes it deleted it from the hard drive. On more than one occasion I deleted my entire music collection.
So no thanks Apple I will manage my own files, this iCloud is way more complicated than it should be, why would it delete any files from my computer by default, it's crazy.
OMG blast from the past! iTunes totally wrecked my music files.
iCloud is trash, is too confusing
I’m here because I’m super pissed. Trying to transfer large files I’ve downloaded to my server and it won’t work because Apple is syncing them using up all my damn bandwidth. It’s horrible. So pissed off.
Lost me completely on this. Will have to replay it several times, I guess.
Same actually …
If you turn ON the desktop and document feature the files in those documents will be available on all your macs and idevices (acting sort of like Dropbox) if you turn OFF the feature your documents are only on your local computer
Just the information i have been looking to understand for years, for but never knew until now. Clears up many concerns about these files. Thanks a ton.
Great tutorial, Gary… and timely-I was just figuring this out the other day, trying to manipulate some files on my iPad. It’s just way easier for me to do it on my Mac and then go to iPad. Thank you!
This is a clear explanation of a complex topic but there are some nuanced implications of placing those folders on the iCloud that can trip users up. It's great to have the backup capability that iCloud provides and this is a huge win for users that otherwise make no provisions for backup. However the iCloud backups do not provide a versioning capability for all documents in the manner Time Machine does for local Desktop and Documents. Further if you use Time Machine AND iCloud Desktop and Documents thinking you have all bases covered, then be aware Time Machine will not fully backup any stub files that have been evicted to iCloud. Also be aware that if ever there's a need to logout from iCloud (and some troubleshooting steps require this on occassion) you're in for a world of confusion as to what happens with Desktop and Documents folders.
To be clear - the use of iCloud Desktop and Documents is likely a win for many users but there are certainly some pitfalls that Apple glosses over.
This is a great video that’s very informative. I eventually had to turn it off a few years ago because I had more than one Documents and Desktop folder in iCloud Drive and it was tripping me up. Worse, some applications set up folders and content there, which took up space on my iCloud storage space. Now I managed to tame my overall workflow and deliberately save documents selectively so that I’m in control. Again, thanks!
Thank you Gary for very clear and useful lecture. I love watching you!
A very useful and informative video tutorial today! Thank you, Gary! 👏🏻❤️
That was incredibly helpful, Gary, thanks very much - I've been struggling to understand this for quite a while. Now, I know to leave those features switched on, and I also know what I need to put in my Local Documents folder. All the best, Jesse. 👍
Thank you very much, Gary; this is SO helpful. I love how you simplify.
Gary, this was so ASSURING. The warning message really "scared" me. You put my mind at ease. Thank you.
Definitely cleared up a lot of things for me. I’ve been thinking about changing my desktop from what saved in the cloud so thank you.
Thanks very much, Gary, for this very informative video! Having a Local Documents Folder is a great idea.
Great information. Especially about keeping iCloud Documents and Desktop switched on but pulling files into your Local folders to save space in iCloud. Thanks!!
Very helpful! Thanks. (To other viewers out there: I recommend pausing the video, study your Mac and copy Gary, play around with it, and then go back to the video. ‘Rinse and repeat.’ At times, I did have to replay it back by 10 or more seconds by tapping twice on the left side of the video screen on my iPad.)
Your tutorials are always clear and easy to follow. Thank you!
Thanks for the explanation Gary!
You confirmed my conclusion that the concept is too clever and far too much the opposite of intuitive for me to use. I tried it recently and was scared and confused when my Documents files seemed to be gone from the local machine.
Luckily I had a fresh backup which I restored from after more or less in the dark having managed to clean out and forever turn iCloud Drive off. This was just a little too much for me…😵💫
thank you so much for this info! I was so scared to untick it but now makes so much more sense (and space)
Thanks so much for this video. Very helpful! I am running out of room on my iCloud storage, so I wanted to turn off Documents and Desktop folders from being on iCloud. You've showed me a much better way, thanks!
Gary, you never fail to give such easy to follow advice. This clip really helped me out tonight. Thank you 🙏🙏
I have never been able to figure out if I should use this option or not. Until now!
Wow! How I love this channel!
While I watch Gary's videos, I start to elaborate on some questions and boom! What's the next thing Gary answers? LOL. Thanks for the tips when you do or do not have much space in iCloud.
Thank you for this! I'm a music producer and a lot of my project files were taking up space within my iCloud Drive. This video gave me the fix I needed!
Thank you!! Been searching for an answer for hours and you helped me find my files.
Thanks for your video! It was clear and straight to the point.
That was somewhat confusing. Going to have to watch again and I started out saving it. Thank you!
Thank you! This video explained everything so well!
I’m sure glad all this info is on video…these videos are so helpful. I need to clean my Mac I have information on my iCloud Drive that isn’t a bit valuable…could be on a local drive. Thanks again for your great videos.
Thank you so much for clarifying this issue that had been puzzling me!
thank you very much for the lessons that you are giving us here on this channel!!!!
Excellent clarification! Thanks!
Very clear and solves a major problem for me. Thanks.
Clear and extremely helpful! Thanks.
Gary, thank you so much - I can always count on you to clearly explain my options with a variety of issues. I am an avid traveler and picture-taker, and have run out of room in icloud and would rather not buy more space. I currently have all my home macbook desktop on the cloud, but have no use for it on all devices. I would much rather use my iCloud for only photos (which I do access on my iPad and iPhone). since I also regularly back up to an external hard drive, it seems that I would be well served to store files/documents and desktop locally. Thanks again!!
Why not buy more space though? Sounds like it would be worth it for you. But if you have some particularly large files or folders that you don't use much, I suppose archiving them and not storing them in iCloud is an option.
Thabk you Gary, as always, your video are totally awsome! 🎉
you truly just saved my sanity with this video I could cry! THANK YOU. wow
great videos thanks for that, i'm learning so much about my mac.
OMG this is sooo helpful! Thank you so much!!!
Thanks for the video: good, clear and relevant explanation.
This was so helpful - thank you!
Really useful, thanks Gary!
I really needed this, thank you 👍☺
very informative thank you!
First actual helpful video on this, thank you!
Amazing! The headache is over! Thank you.
Thank You So Much!
Awesome! Thank you.
Thank you this video was very informative and helpful
VERY helpful Thanks
thank you!
Absolutely brilliant as usual this guy is my gp to apple expert!
best explanation I found! thanks
WAY TOO MUCH FOR ME TO COMPREHEND. Like watching a shell game. Now you see it. Now you don’t.😢😢😢😢
thank you so much
Best explanation of this!
Thanks alot papa. Yo r the best.
Thankyou G Man
Thanks
Thank you... Upgraded to Sonoma, my Desktop and Documents local folders ended up empty. I spent 2 hours with apple support and they couldn't solve/explain what you just explained in a few minutes.
Brilliant!
I wish I could have Desktop and Documents synced to iCloud but I’m not going to pay for an even higher tier of storage to do it. My 50gb plan is enough for everything else. If I could enable just Desktop for syncing, I’d do that.
You are the best. Your explanations about Apple iOS and Apps are the clearest out there... Yet, the fact a Jedi master like you need 10 min to explain this feature proves how confusing it is... There is a situation that I encountered once, while turning on and off the documents and desktop folders on various computers is that I have various version of desktop and documents being created by iOS.. called Desktop 1 Desktop 2 etc.... Quiet confusing
Yes, you shouldn't switch this on and off on a regular basis. Only turn it on or off if you plan on keeping it like that. Now you have folders with the leftovers from doing that. Time to go into those folders and sort out what is there and reorganize things.
Hi Gary, incredibly helpful and informative explanation of the maze which is iCloud vs local storage. I would really like to hold a copy of all my files in icloud, but when travelling on case of a power cut sometimes there is no access to iCloud I would like to have a local copy of my files on my Mac. Which I can use anytime. Is that at all possible. I have loads of space in iCloud and on my new M2 Mac Mini. Really enjoy your technical forays into the complexities of file manager. Thank you.
iCloud Drive automatically keeps copies (caches) of files you access frequently and recently. Or you can opt to have ALL of your files cached at all times if you have the space (Optimize OFF then).
@@macmost Gary, thank you for your help and advice, I really appreciate it.
Love your videos, Gary. Thank you. I have an issue trying to make Icloud drive my storage drive. One Drive is coming up as a storage option and even though I have D & D and everything else turned on for storage in icloud. Do you have a solution please?
"One Drive is coming up as a storage option..." WHERE? Where are you seeing it as a storage option and in what situation? If you have One Drive then it certainly should be an option for you. So I'm not sure what you are asking here.
Lol this is the single most useful video I've seen in my life.
Gary. I have updated my mac and lost all my data on desktop and documents. For some reason it got auto sync however what happened is that I never synced it before. So what icloud did is that it replaced whats on my mac with what’s on imac.
Next thing I know is that my finder/terminal/spotlight couldn’t retrieve or find the files I had prior.
A simple update shouldn't do that. Not sure what happened in your situation, sorry.
Thanks for the amazing video! One question: what is really happening when iCloud says is downloading the files already uploaded on Drive? Is it storing it on the device? For example, when I open a picture (stored in iCloud Drive) on my iPhone, it needs to download it first, is it occupying space on iPhone? Or it just needs to do that to open it? I hope my question makes sense :) All the best, Ana
See ruclips.net/video/S7JYHX2iT9Q/видео.html
this is want I want to know. it’s crystal clear now
I've seen multiple issues with this feature and directories within Documents that are "managed" by another service such as Github or Steam. The problem in the latter case is that I cannot move or rename those documents since they're expected to be in a specific place with a specific name (so for example, I can't usually work around it by adding ".nosync" as a file extension. I also tried making a softlink to the directory with the same name without .nosync and it always ends up renaming it with a " 2" at the end, breaking things again.)
Have a question, trying to figure out with Microsoft Word latest edition on my MacBookAir m2 I was wondering how do you change your Microsoft Word when you type something and you save it and it goes to OneDrive and when you go to retrieve that you have no access to it. How do I switch back to the regular saving documents are on my MacBook.
Excellent video, thank you! I made these settings before watching the video and ended up having some difficulties. My Pages files saved on Icloud have disappeared and I can't even find them on iCloud web and they are not in the trash, nor in file recovery... Would you have any suggestions on where to look? Thanks
All you can do is look for them. Look in every folder under iCloud Drive, and search for them on your Mac too. If they are not there, then go to your backups for those files.
This video has been incredibly helpful. Apple should hire you to explain their various applications/services to us. They do a horrible job, specifically around iCloud, helping us understand it nuances. I still have found it very clunky to download from iCloud to my Mac. The fact that they don't allow me to download whole folders, reeks of Apple wanting to trap us in an iCloud subscription...
Not sure what you mean by that. Why can't you download folders? Select the folder in the Finder and choose Download Now in the context menu.
Thank you. This was super helpful. One thing I struggle with is when I copy something from my local drive to icloud drive, it remains on both the places, both locally and on icloud. So how do I not have it locally when I copy from my local drive to icloud?
That's what a "copy" means. If you want to move it to iCloud Drive, then move instead of copy.
@@macmost Oh okay, thanks.What confused me was how desktop and downloads are treated by icloud and I think right click "remove download" was what I was looking for which you mentioned in the video but it kinda confused me while I copied files from my local drive to icloud and was looking for that "remove download" button. Other than that, treating it as a separate drive is how we should think of it, for moving and copying. I hope you understood why I was confused. Thanks
What you are saying makes perfect sense. But what is happening on my Mac is not matching up. I have plenty of space in iCloud (1.3 TB) But am nearly completely out of space on my Mac. Most of it is documents and mail, but also iCloud Drive! What is going on with that? I want iCloud not only for access but also for storage to free up my Mac. I read on another site that storing files on my iCloud will also store them on my Mac. I'm confused by this. Regardless of what I seem to do, I cannot free space on my Mac. Even when I click on optimize storage. Thanks for help on this.
Yes, "Optimize Storage" is the option you need. Then continue to use your Mac and it will automatically offload files over time. You can select some large files and folders if you want and use "Remove Download" in the context menu to force some files off your local drive if you are impatient. See ruclips.net/video/S7JYHX2iT9Q/видео.html
very clearly to explain the logic of the iCloud Drive ~ great job and thank you~
Great video...I noticed that your iCloud folder had a folder named downloads. Is this a shortcut to the downloads folder in your home folder? I ask because I would also like my downloads folder in my iCloud Drive. Related question: is it possible to move the downloads folder in the home folder to the iCloud Drive?
It is a separate folder. iPhone and iPad use it. But Macs use the local Downloads folder by default (though you can change the setting in Safari to use the iCloud one if you really want). I prefer to only use a Downloads folder as a very temporary holding place for a new download, and never for long-term storage of anything.
Thanks for the video. Just discovered this feature. I do have a question if that’s ok? What happens if you turn the feature off whilst it is still moving the ‘new’ Desktop and Documents on iCloud. Looks like we have over 400GB in those two directories locally on the Mac and want to stop this before it copies to iCloud. Thanks.
I would avoid switching it off while it is in the middle of moving files.
The UI of macOS is so beautiful. 😭
Love your videos but I have a big question. Are Desktop and Documents joined at the hip? I store all my data in Documents on iCloud which is great but I use the desktop and a work bench for screenshots, dumping video footage between SD cards and hard drive and just generally moving things around or just but my Mac keeps trying to upload my desktop as Im working on stuff. Should I remove Docs/Desktop from iCloud Drive and invent a folder called say My Documents in iCloud Drive to achieve this?
Just don't use Desktop for that. Create a folder in your Home folder ("Local Documents"?) for that instead. Save your screenshots and video footage there instead. Or I like to use the Movies folder for video footage (seems to make sense, right?)
Thank you for explaining it so clearly. Unfortunately, I deleted my Desktop-Local folder. Is there anyway to get it back or can I just create and new folder in Finder called Desktop-Local? Thank you!
So do you have iCloud "Desktop & Documents" turned ON or OFF? If OFF, then you should have a Desktop folder in your Home folder that can't be deleted. If ON then your Desktop folder is in iCloud Drive now. You can't have a second Desktop folder as that wouldn't make sense. You can create whatever folder you want in your Home folder, but don't create something named "Desktop-Local" as it wouldn't have anything to do with the Desktop so it would be confusing. Make it "Local Documents" or "Local Files" or whatever name fits its purpose.
@@macmost Thank you so much for your detailed response! Currently my ICloud Desktop and Docments is turned ON. I am using OS Sanoma 14.1.1. My goal is to store all of my documents and desktop locally - not on ICloud. I understand that the information would not be shared with my other devices devices. Thank you in advance,
Hi, thanks so much for this video. The presentation style is great. I have a clarifying question: If I have "Optimize Mac Storage" ON, "Sync this Mac" turned ON, but my "Desktop and Documents" folder turned OFF... if something happens to my macbook (lost, broken, dead, etc.) and I don't have access to it anymore, do all the files in my Desktop and Documents folder still live on iCloud? Can I then access them from a new mac? Or if my current Mac dies, they die with it? Thank you!
If "Desktop and Documents" is off, then those folders on your Mac and everything in them are in your Home folder, not in iCloud. They are local to your Mac. You won't see them in iCloud in any of your other devices as they are not on iCloud.
@@macmost thanks!
Great video, thanks for clarifying that. But…I have a MacMiniM1 and a MacMiniM2
I use both of them.
How does that work as far as synching?
I only see one set of Desktop and Document folders.
Does it add the files from both Macs into the iCloud folder set?
Thanks
Yes. Once you turn it on, then you have ONE dest of Desktop & Documents folders and you see the same things on both Macs. It is one of the best reasons to use this.
Confusing. How many people are really logging onto other Macs to access documents? I assume most people have 1 Macbook they use primarily and maybe an iPad. Also, what happens if you go somewhere with crappy wifi (or no wifi) and need access to documents? It'd make sense to make copies both on Mac and in cloud
I wish there was a way to keep more than one desktop and documents from two separate computers but on the same Apple ID in iCloud. I have my work computer and my home computer. sometimes I want files between them but want the organization completely different
Very helpful, thanks. I have important files that I need locally but do not necessarily open or modify often. Unreliable internet access means that the downloads can be painfully slow. Would it be enough to simply open and close all the essential files (without modifying them) to force Mac OS/iCloud to keep them on my local drive? I imagine there is a simple automated solution…
You don't need to open them. Just select them and use the context menu to download.
Thanks. The issue is that the downloads can be slow - I was wondering whether this download can be automated on a schedule. That way I would always have local copies (so no delays). You do a great job of explaining the benefits of the Mac ecosystem but it does require fast and reliable internet access.
@@Surfsailwaves Do you have the drive space to just turn off Optimize? If not, then if you choose to download a file, it should remain local until space is needed. So as long as you aren't really tight on space, it should work out.
Big thanks@@macmost - I just invested in a 2TB external SSD and will take your advice to turn off Optimise soon, and let Mac do the work. I'm glued to your channel + interested to know what the best order would be for your Automator and Shortcuts courses.
an extra tip, typing .nosync at the end of a file will prevent it from syncing.
Don't do that. It is hard to keep track of and may lead to problems later. If you want to have some files local only, then do just that. See ruclips.net/video/nmFwNt6LteU/видео.html
Try to follow but got confided. I don’t know what happened to any of my files. All of my folders are there from 2 Macs ago but none of the files are in it. It’s also not in my iCloud
Switched iCloud Drive with Documents and Desktop syncing off on my MacBook Air M1, Apple Support tells me if I switch it back on, the now empty local Documents and Desktop folders will overwrite their iCloud Drive counterparts on the server - where the only copies of my folders, subfolders and files are -. The only way you can download from the iCloud Drive web interface is files only, which is unfeasible with more complex folder structures. Any suggestions on how I could get my files and folders on iCloud Drive safely back to my Mac? Thank you!
Overwrite? No. You get both. See support.apple.com/en-us/HT206985 "If you add a second Mac Desktop, you can find those files in the Desktop folder in iCloud Drive. Look for a folder with the same name as your second Mac." I think for the Documents folder it merges them.
You can actually see all of your iCloud Desktop and Documents folder content right now on your Mac, even if you have "Desktop & Documents" turned off. No need to go to iCloud.com. Just look in iCloud Drive and you'll find these folders. You can move the contents to your local folders (in your Home folder) or back them up to another folder or whatever you want.
How to keep documents download all the time on iCloud Drive it keeps of loading
I have done something horrible without meaning to. Last night I got an email from iCloud complaining that I was almost out of storage. I'm already paying them money every month for iCloud and I can't afford to pay them any more money. So, a very stupid move, I now know, I turned off iCloud completely from my iPhone. I unchecked everything and deleted the backup. I figured that would solve the problem. No, it only caused a much worse one. When I turned on my M1 MacBook Air, I realized, with horror, that it had been affected, too. That was not my intention! It was only supposed to be the iPhone! Now I no longer have a desktop. Everything that was on it is gone, including some very important things, like the intro and outro for my RUclips channel and some videos I had waiting to be uploaded to RUclips. Even my desktop wallpaper image is gone! None of it is under iCloud, either. It's all just GONE PERIOD. So, feeling defeated, I created a new into and outro for my RUclips videos and re-created the file folder I had on there to keep them and other RUclips things in. It worked fine...until the next time I turned on my MacBook Air. It was all gone again! Then I realized I have no desktop & document folders. It's like they just don't exist. When I click on them in Finder they say, "error, cannot be found." I Googled for hours and finally found out how to turn Desktop & Documents back on, which is supposed to fix the problem. Here's the big problem. When I click that little checkbox next to Desktop & Documents it immediately unchecks itself, over and over for all of eternity! Why can't I turn it back on? This is absolutely horrible and I have destroyed my expensive MacBook Air! I can't use Time Machine to fix it, either, because now, unlike back when I had a MacBook Pro in 2015, they make you have an external storage drive with a backup already on it, which I do not have. My laptop is an M1 MacBook Air that I bought in 2021 and it's running Ventura 13.4. I even updated it last night hoping that would fix the problem and it didn't. Is there any hope? Can I turn Desktop & Documents back on and get it to STAY on...or do I have to fork out another $1000.00 that I don't have for a new MacBook Air? Obviously, I'm so upset I'm trying not to cry here.
I'm not a fan of "Optimize Mac Storage". People add files to their computer like it's an endless pit, then when they run out of space they find the "Optimize" button, turn it on, gain some space, then go back to cramming more data onto the computer again as if it's an endless data pit.... then... when they run out of memory again, they're in a position where there's more data than can fit on the device. The biggest problem is that people aren't taught the basic tenants of file and folder management and monitoring and maintaining free space on the computer.
Couldn’t agree more. My wife never moves or trashes anything in the Downloads folder. It’s like a file archive or something. She’ll download files three and four times because she can’t find them in the glut that populates the Downloads folder. This of course adds to the glut. But I love her and I can’t imagine my life without her.
🥰@@pgk60
Your wife is a very lucky lady!
@@pgk60 A) 2nd user account, or B) you play 'garbage man' and keep the folders tidy'd up. If her folder management is her biggest fault... you're a lucky guy! lol
Thanks but my concern is taking my MacBook with no WiFi or way of accessing the internet. Can I still view my documents? Meaning is there a copy of those on my hard drive?
If you have "Optimize" turned off, then your documents are always cached locally.