All along, you thought that all your files are saved to the cloud, especially with the 'Optimize Mac Storage' feature enabled.

It could get pretty frustrating to find out that your iCloud Drive is taking up a lot of space on your Mac. Why is iCloud Drive Taking up so Much Space on My Mac? So, how to deal with 'iCloud Drive taking up space on Mac' issue? Before learning the ways to gain more space on Mac, let's know why it is taking up space on Mac first. Since all files are linked, it can eventually eat up a lot of space on the MacBook that doesn’t have a big capacity. The reason for that is all the files are linked. That same file will be deleted on the other machine as well. It’s the same thing if you delete a file. The changes you make on one file will show up on the same file that’s located on the other machine. Nonetheless, all the files will sync across and will be treated on your MacBook and your iMac as the same files. Again, it will depend on how fast your internet connection is. The new files you created will all sync to Apple’s iCloud server.

Now, let’s say that you created more files, some of which were pretty large. That's why iCloud storage take up space on your Mac. As long as you have iCloud Drive turned on and you saved the file in iCloud Drive, it syncs automatically. You don’t have to do anything to sync the file. It’s safe to say that the files are automatically synced in the three locations which are your MacBook, iMac, and Apple’s iCloud server.

If you make changes on the file on your MacBook, the changes will automatically be updated on your iMac as well and vice versa. Nonetheless, it’s pretty much the same file. It’s as if a copy has been put from one place to the other.

With a speedy internet connection, it should upload quickly.Īfter a few seconds, the same file is going to appear on your MacBook. So, when you create a file on your iMac, it goes straight to Apple’s iCloud server. To understand if iCloud Drive uses Mac storage, imagine you have a MacBook and an iMac, which you have set up to use iCloud Drive. How Do I Clear Space on My iCloud Drive? Part 4. Why is iCloud Drive Taking up so Much Space on My Mac? Part 3. Does iCloud Drive Use Mac Storage? Part 2. If you have been saving almost all of your files to the iCloud drive, you should still have a good amount of space on your Mac, right? After all, you have been using the Optimize button to keep everything stored in the cloud and removed those purgeable files already.Ĭontents: Part 1. In the first place, iCloud Drive taking up space on Mac shouldn’t even happen at all. Is your iCloud Drive taking up space on Mac? Of course, it is and it’s probably taking up more space than it should.

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