iCloud Drive and new mac?

[AnthonyFlower]

Hi

I have an iMac with about 100GB of data in the documents folder, all synced to iCloud. I'm about to order a new Macbook and am thinking about hard drive size.

When I connect the new Macbook to my account, am I right in thinking all these 100GBs of files will 'appear' in my new documents folder but won't actually be there? Will it only download files as and when I need them, like on my phone?

Will I have two desktop folders, one for each computer or will they share a desktop?

And finally, is there a way to see how much space my documents folder takes up on the actual computers? It seems when you right click and do info to just show the full size on icloud.

Thanks

 

[Brookzy]

When I connect the new Macbook to my account, am I right in thinking all these 100GBs of files will 'appear' in my new documents folder but won't actually be there? Will it only download files as and when I need them, like on my phone?

Yes.

Will I have two desktop folders, one for each computer or will they share a desktop?

At first, yes. Your second Mac's Desktop and Documents folders will be in separate folders entitled something along the lines of "AnthonyFlower's Mac - Desktop". You can merge them manually into a single folder if you wish, and they will stay that way if you ever get any additional Macs.

And finally, is there a way to see how much space my documents folder takes up on the actual computers? It seems when you right click and do info to just show the full size on icloud.

Yes, right click and look at the small print, it says "XGB on disk".

 

[AnthonyFlower]

Thank you so much, very helpful answers.

 

[Alrescha]

When I connect the new Macbook to my account, am I right in thinking all these 100GBs of files will 'appear' in my new documents folder but won't actually be there? Will it only download files as and when I need them, like on my phone?

In System Setting, iCloud, iCloud Drive, Options there is a check box called "Optimize Mac Storage" which lets macOS manage your local space. If you do not check it, then your Documents and Desktop are always stored locally as well as in the cloud.

A.