iPad Does iCloud Drive store files locally on iPad?

[Sami13496]

I’m using iCloud Drive on my MacBook, where files are stored locally by default. I recently bought an iPad but haven’t activated iCloud Drive on it yet. When I activate it, will it keep the files in cloud by default or will it download everything locally on my iPad? That would take too much space. I couldn't find definitive answer elsewhere. Thanks!

 

[flobach]

Hi! iPad doesn’t save all files on the device, only the recently used files. You can force download files as necessary, iPadOS will delete the downloads as necessary from a local space management point of view.

I have about 10GB of iCloud Drive files, and only use 4GB of local space on my iPad, and about 900MB on my phone.

 

[Sami13496]

Hi! iPad doesn’t save all files on the device, only the recently used files. You can force download files as necessary, iPadOS will delete the downloads as necessary from a local space management point of view.

I have about 10GB of iCloud Drive files, and only use 4GB of local space on my iPad, and about 900MB on my phone.

Thank you. What happens if I later decide to disable iCould Drive on iPad? Will the local files be deletes as well and remain in the cloud?

 

[flobach]

Thank you. What happens if I later decide to disable iCould Drive on iPad? Will the local files be deletes as well and remain in the cloud?

They should get deleted off your device, but stay in the cloud. Easy flip of a switch in settings

 

[glenthompson]

The iPad does a good job of managing the space. I have about 8gb of space used by iCloud Drive but over 300gb in the cloud and on my iMac. Only downside is needing to download a big file when I have a slow internet connection.