iCloud Drive question

[DSeeker]

I currently use Dropbox to store files off-site, but find iCloud Drive interesting. I don't want to have to change my folder organization to put folders to be backed up inside the iCloud Drive folder and I don't want to rely on manually copying the files. In Dropbox I place symbolic links in the Dropbox folder on my Mac and the files are automatically synced. I tried this with iCloud Drive using both symbolic links and Apple aliases but neither worked - only the link was copied. If I went to iCloud Drive the files seemed to be there, but they were really resolved back to the original files on my local Mac. Does anyone know a method to automate the syncing of files to iCloud Drive?

 

[Dulcimer]

I was going to ask a similar question but found this old thread. Can anyone who has used iCloud Drive answer the OP's question?

 

[bobbydd21]

I to would like to know the answer to this question. All of my dropbox folders are symlinks from other folders on my mac. I hope this can be done as well with icloud Drive.

 

[Apple Knowledge Navigator]

To clarify...

Currently, 'Documents in the Cloud' stores your documents within the applications that they are either compatible or created with. In effect, they are contained there and can only be organised by Tags within the Finder.

iCloud Drive takes the documents out of the 'container' and places them in a traditional file structure, like-for-like with DropBox and other services. This means that you could, in a single action, move your DropBox documents over to the iCloud Drive in the Finder and, once synced, the transition is complete. No features are lost in the process, your structure is intact, and best of all, you can ditch DropBox to have one less service running on your Mac.

In addition, you may continue storing documents in the 'container' method if that's your preference. If so, the documents are simply stored in their own dedicated folder, such as 'Pages', 'Numbers' etc etc. This is by default for iOS.

It's painless

 

[bobbydd21]

I understand the structure is going to be similar to drop box but will you still be able to use symlinks in order to link folders that aren't in the actual icloud folder? This is what I enjoy about Dropbox because my folders done have to physically be in the Dropbox folder but they still update when I change things in the folders.

 

[JoelBaka]

I understand the structure is going to be similar to drop box but will you still be able to use symlinks in order to link folders that aren't in the actual icloud folder? This is what I enjoy about Dropbox because my folders don't have to physically be in the Dropbox folder but they still update when I change things in the folders.

Same for me, I'm going to follow this topic.