Blundering around in the iCloud (!)

[MacInWin]

chscag
I agree you should read about useing icloud but i still
find it confusing in use, and i still dont think it should
in anyway auto delete files on a pc, that should be up
to the user and only the user.
Its ok to have your files available on icloud, but just
think if you do a time capsule back up and it auto deleted
all your files on your pc at the same time.

jtkeep, I think you have misunderstood what the posts have said. Nothing was said about auto deleting files without the permission of the user. The issue is that unless you understand exactly how it works and how using the iCloud Drive storage system is set up it is entirely possible for an end user to delete files unwittingly. It is the end user who does the deleting, or authorizes the deleting, by not knowing exactly the consequences of decisions made. Is it confusing? Yes! But it doesn't do anything the user doesn't authorize, even if the user doesn't know what they are doing. If you don't understand what you are doing, don't do it.

It's a bit like having a car and not reading the driver's guide. You put oil in the engine, but you put it in the radiator instead of the crankcase because you took off the wrong cap. It's not the manufacturer's fault you didn't read the manual, and you can't complain the "They should not have let me destroy the engine." It is up to the user to make informed decisions based on the documentation from the manufacturer.

 

[jtkeep]

I do find icloud confusing i have my photos in the cloud
that seems to be ok, but have never been able to get it
to save my emails, so i took mails off icloud.
I usually try different apps software if it is easy to use
and does the job ok, but if you need to be a programmer
to use it then i get rid of it, and there are sooooo many
bad apps and software out there.
Just look at Android tv software so so bad, android in
general is not user friendly.

 

[pine man]

I think there would be less of a problem if Apple hadn't decided to have BOTH iCloud and iCloud Drive. The difference is significant but not always understood.

I don't use iCloud Drive after earlier forays into it resulted in tears. If I need to have files in the cloud I use OneDrive

 

[Mikeo1938]

Thanks for the replies ... just arrived home.

The comment from 'pine man' has knocked me for six!
I didn't know there was 'iCloud Drive' and 'iCloud' ... so there are two of them!
Well, for better or for worse I'm with the former but as a matter of interest could I have used the latter and would this have been simpler?
What I wanted was a cloud back-up that would sync with my Mac ... and it seems (touch wood) that this has been achieved.

In System Preferences I see (in the 3rd row down) 'iCloud' and not 'iCloud Drive'. But in Finder, I see 'iCloud Drive'. I have not touched the iCloud icon in System Preferences since I started this sortie into the unknown. But what would I see and what would happen if I were now to double-click on that 'iCloud' in System Preferences?

I take on board the warning about "auto deleting files without the permission of the user" ... I certainly won't do that.

M

 

[MacInWin]

I'm on Catalina and the prompts have changed, but if you go to System Preferences/iCloud you will have a menu of things that can be stored in iCloud. One of the options is"iCloud Drive." But there are other things that can be stored in iCloud other than the iCloud Drive. Under iCloud Drive, the Options box opens up a menu of what you can store in iCloud Drive, including an option for Desktop & Documents Folders. There is an additional option with a checkbox that offers, "Optimize Mac Storage - The full contents of iCloud Drive will be stored on this Mac if you have enough space. Older Documents will be stored only in iCloud when space is needed." With that checked, I think that your documents will be on the local drive IF you have space. I don't know what the criteria is for when the system makes the call NOT to store locally. Bottom line, be careful with it. Here are some screenshots from Mojave:
First is the System Preferences/iCloud menu, showing the options for what to store in iCloud, including the iCloud Drive:



Second is the iCloud Drive menu options, showing Documents & Desktop Folders, plus other things on iCloud Drive that can be store in iCloud Drive. Below the big box is the option to store things on the local drive, IF there is room.



Hope that helps.

 

[Mikeo1938]

A worrisome time but iCloud Drive seems to be working fine on my MPB. All my documents are intact. Files are uploading to iCloud. I can move them up and down to the desktop and into folders. The files are synching to iCloud.

Many thanks to everyone for the help via this forum and also to a Mac-knowledgeable friend who chipped in direct via e-mail. The explanation from 'MacInWin' will help when I try to put stuff apart from Word documents up into iCloud

The only thing that I still don't quite get is that contrary to what I had expected, all the files are still available on the MPB even when the internet is disconnected. So they appear to be both in iCloud and also on the MPB itself. I was expecting them to vanish from the MPB when the upload had finished.

The above situation suits me fine but is this normal?

Renewed thanks and Happy Christmas.

M