How to remove iCloud files from my Mac's hard drive

[Nimoy]

I've got over 100gb of available iCloud storage and my Mac is nearly full. So I moved some of my large video files to iCloud to free up space on my Mac. The problem is that the files are still stored locally on my Mac!

Is there any way to store the files only on iCloud so I can free up space on my Mac's hard drive?

 

[T'hain Esh Kelch]

No, that's not how iCloud Drive works.

 

[Brookzy]

When macOS Sierra is released in the next month or two, you will be able to do exactly this.

Your Documents and Desktop folders will be automatically uploaded to iCloud and synced across all your Macs. You can then enable "Optimise Mac Storage" to delete the local copies when you run low on space. You can still "see" the files in your Documents and Desktop folders but they will need to be downloaded before you can open them.

 

[Nimoy]

When macOS Sierra is released in the next month or two, you will be able to do exactly this.

Your Documents and Desktop folders will be automatically uploaded to iCloud and synced across all your Macs. You can then enable "Optimise Mac Storage" to delete the local copies when you run low on space. You can still "see" the files in your Documents and Desktop folders but they will need to be downloaded before you can open them.

View attachment 647885

Great!

 

[Smeaton1724]

When macOS Sierra is released in the next month or two, you will be able to do exactly this.

Your Documents and Desktop folders will be automatically uploaded to iCloud and synced across all your Macs. You can then enable "Optimise Mac Storage" to delete the local copies when you run low on space. You can still "see" the files in your Documents and Desktop folders but they will need to be downloaded before you can open them.

View attachment 647885

Can you see the files from your Mac or Macs when looking at iCloud Drive via the iPad iCloud app?

 

[Brookzy]

Can you see the files from your Mac or Macs when looking at iCloud Drive via the iPad iCloud app?

Yup!

 

[Smeaton1724]

Yup!

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Cheers for that! So how does it work with say media files, so if you can see them on the iPad/iPhone does it give you the option to say open an mp3 in music, or an .MP4 in Videos, or would I need to 'Open in' to say Goodreader or an appropriate app?

 

[Brookzy]

Cheers for that! So how does it work with say media files, so if you can see them on the iPad/iPhone does it give you the option to say open an mp3 in music, or an .MP4 in Videos, or would I need to 'Open in' to say Goodreader or an appropriate app?

At least in iOS 10, all files supported by iOS (think images, lots of audio formats, and some video formats) can be viewed within the app.

Edit: Sorry I misunderstood your question. You can't open or save files in the Music or Video apps, but you can open in third party apps, and save things to Camera Roll, etc.

 

[Tech198]

The problem is that the files are still stored locally on my Mac!

Is there any way to store the files only on iCloud so I can free up space on my Mac's hard drive?

Actually ya there is a way,, just turn of icloud in system preferences... to remove *all* files locally in .. but if all u wanna do is save space then the optimize would work as well.

All files will dissapear from Mac, when u turn off icloud, but will still be available at icloud.com

https://support.apple.com/kb/ph2613?locale=en_US

 

[g00n3r]

When macOS Sierra is released in the next month or two, you will be able to do exactly this.

Your Documents and Desktop folders will be automatically uploaded to iCloud and synced across all your Macs. You can then enable "Optimise Mac Storage" to delete the local copies when you run low on space. You can still "see" the files in your Documents and Desktop folders but they will need to be downloaded before you can open them.

View attachment 647885

So the optimization is only in the Documents and Desktop folder? Meaning for this to work I have to put it in the those folders? It can't just be in the iCloud Drive folder?

 

[davelaw56]

Actually ya there is a way,, just turn of icloud in system preferences... to remove *all* files locally in .. but if all u wanna do is save space then the optimize would work as well.

All files will dissapear from Mac, when u turn off icloud, but will still be available at icloud.com

https://support.apple.com/kb/ph2613?locale=en_US

Actually there is a way. all you have to do in the future is go to iCloud.com and upload your files you don't want on your Mac through the web page in a new folder you create. for instance call it Uploaded files lol. it won't be stored on your Mac it will be visible through the iCloud Drive app but it won't be synchronized.The original file will still be on your Mac so then you can delete it as you have another copy in your cloud. thats how dropbox works too if you use the app it synchronizes the files on all devices if you use the web page it stays on their servers. they should add a function to free space without going on the web page.