I have a 2015 13" MBP with a 256 GB SSD. Because that wasn't enough to store all the files I have in iCloud, I velcroed a 1 TB external SSD to the cover and have been using that as the system drive. It's kludgy, but it works. Last year, I got a 2019 17" iMac with a 2 TB Fusion drive, which became my main computer. Since I no longer need to have all my files on my MBP, I erased the internal SSD, did a fresh installation of Catalina, began installing the apps I needed, turned on iCloud Sync, and selected Optimize Mac Storage. I assumed that, like iTunes, evenrying would remain in iCloud unless I specifically decided to download it.
Alas, macOS automatically downloaded files in my iCloud Documents folder until my 256 GB SSD was almost full. I was unable to finish installing the rest of the apps I needed. I couldn't find anything on Apple's site on how to free up space, other than "Select Optimize Mac Storage" (which I already had) and "Delete any files you don't need -- but they also will be deleted from all your devices."
I've gone back to booting from my external 1 TB SSD, which is fine, but I'm curious as to whether other people have encountered this issue. I used to use Dropbox, which lets you do selective sync, but I switched to iCloud storage when it became a better deal on the Family Plan.
Alas, macOS automatically downloaded files in my iCloud Documents folder until my 256 GB SSD was almost full. I was unable to finish installing the rest of the apps I needed. I couldn't find anything on Apple's site on how to free up space, other than "Select Optimize Mac Storage" (which I already had) and "Delete any files you don't need -- but they also will be deleted from all your devices."
I've gone back to booting from my external 1 TB SSD, which is fine, but I'm curious as to whether other people have encountered this issue. I used to use Dropbox, which lets you do selective sync, but I switched to iCloud storage when it became a better deal on the Family Plan.
