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My computer seems to be keeping a local copy of my iCloud Drive folder. Is there any way to disable this?

I know this because in my "Library" folder, there is another folder called "Mobile Documents" that links to the contents in my iCloud Drive folder.

Also, when I click on "About This Mac", under "Storage", it includes the iCloud Drive folder's contents.

Is there a way for me to not keep a local copy of the iCloud Drive folder? I don't want it taking up space on my hard drive...

Hennes
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dfg
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    iCloud does not support having only online files. Google Drive doesn't either. OneDrive currently does but requires Windows 8.1 but that is going away in Windows 10. – Ramhound Dec 15 '14 at 21:29

3 Answers3

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  • Uninstall iCloud drive.
  • Upload via web to your iCloud Drive.

By doing this you lose all the benefits of automatic syncing to iCloud, but that apparently is your choice.

Sun
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  • It sounds like it is already installed (too late for "don't install"), and Ramhound's comment on the question indicates that it may not work without a local installation. Can you clarify your answer with what should be done now to solve the problem? – fixer1234 Dec 16 '14 at 01:51
  • Could you clarify how you intend iCloud Drive to be 'uninstalled'? Are you simply referring to disabling the iCloud Drive service in System Preferences or are you talking about uninstalling iCloud for Windows (OP is on OS X)? – grg Jan 05 '15 at 19:09
  • My advice was for Windows 7, my apologies. – Sun Jan 05 '15 at 19:28
  • @grgarside With macOS, you can disable iCloud Drive in System Preferences. – Sun Sep 29 '16 at 20:38
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Almost all "cloud storage" (such as iCloud, dropbox, google drive, etc) is really cloud backup. i.e. it duplicates a copy from your computer. You can get online storage that works similar to an external drive by using ftp, sshfs, or other network protocols. This can be a bit tougher to set up though...

user200575
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  • iCloud uses space on your computer, but makes that data accessible from other devices.
  • Google Drive, Dropbox and one Drive have the option of not retaining files on your computer, but you then must download them if they need to be opened, ---an easy task. You can find instructions to implement that on the web. Too lengthy to list here.
bwDraco
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Arrow
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