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Apple Computing Products:
macOS - Operating System
more iCloud confusion
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<blockquote data-quote="Rod" data-source="post: 1951912" data-attributes="member: 204485"><p>I think you have set yourself an almost impossible task Igor. The default 5GB (Gigabytes) you get when you originally setup an Apple account is woefully inadequate for today's computers.</p><p></p><p>I see that you currently subscribe to iCloud+ with it's 200GB of storage plus it's other features which you apparently don't use.</p><p></p><p>I note that you are not syncing Passwords, Notes, Messages or Mail so that means apart from not storing them they will not sync (be the same) on your other Apple devices. For example if you delete an email on your Mac it would be deleted on your other Apple devices, the same goes for Passwords, Notes ect, but perhaps you don't have any other Apple devices, like an iPhone? And you could always overcome this by syncing via USB cable of course like we did in the "old days".</p><p></p><p>So to start with if you intend to reduce your iCloud storage plan to the free 5GB plan you had better have a very rigorous backup plan. External hard drives x 2 at least and one dedicated to Time Machine which is not infallible. Unless you already have reliable large storage (preferably larger than your internal HD) USB SSD External Hard Drives purchasing them will set you back more than you currently pay for a years subscription to iCloud + 200GB.</p><p></p><p>Yes, you can remove everything from the iCloud Drive folder as MacInWin suggests and put those files elsewhere on your computer assuming you have free storage space and remember, you need at least 20% of your Mac's storage free or it will slow down to snails pace. eg. I have 512GB of storage on my Macbook Pro so I need to keep a min of 100GB free. Currently I have 200GB free and I do this by storing a large amount of my Documents in iCloud Drive, some 69GB in total. I only download them to my computer if I need them which is rarely.</p><p></p><p>Have you clicked on the Saved to iCloud "See All" button shown in your first screen shot? Just to check what else may be using iCloud.</p><p></p><p>Personally I think you are making a mistake not to store/sync at least the bare minimum of items;</p><p>Find my Mac,</p><p>Passwords and Keychain,</p><p>Email,</p><p>Notes,</p><p>Calendars,</p><p>Contacts,</p><p>Reminders,</p><p>Safari and</p><p>Wallet.</p><p></p><p>Just for the convenience of restoring your data to a new device if nothing else.</p><p></p><p>Instead I suggest that you at least subscribe to the 50GB plan as below;</p><p></p><p>[ATTACH=full]40430[/ATTACH]</p><p></p><p>It has been our experience that storage grows even with very little data saved/synced to iCloud. Keychain for example will register/store essential certificates for OS versions, user passwords and more. Even with minimum use of your 5GB you will still eventually start receiving notifications that you are running out of iCloud storage.</p><p></p><p>My opinion is if you can keep under 50GB you will be doing well. I have to assume you will continue to take photos at least.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Rod, post: 1951912, member: 204485"] I think you have set yourself an almost impossible task Igor. The default 5GB (Gigabytes) you get when you originally setup an Apple account is woefully inadequate for today's computers. I see that you currently subscribe to iCloud+ with it's 200GB of storage plus it's other features which you apparently don't use. I note that you are not syncing Passwords, Notes, Messages or Mail so that means apart from not storing them they will not sync (be the same) on your other Apple devices. For example if you delete an email on your Mac it would be deleted on your other Apple devices, the same goes for Passwords, Notes ect, but perhaps you don't have any other Apple devices, like an iPhone? And you could always overcome this by syncing via USB cable of course like we did in the "old days". So to start with if you intend to reduce your iCloud storage plan to the free 5GB plan you had better have a very rigorous backup plan. External hard drives x 2 at least and one dedicated to Time Machine which is not infallible. Unless you already have reliable large storage (preferably larger than your internal HD) USB SSD External Hard Drives purchasing them will set you back more than you currently pay for a years subscription to iCloud + 200GB. Yes, you can remove everything from the iCloud Drive folder as MacInWin suggests and put those files elsewhere on your computer assuming you have free storage space and remember, you need at least 20% of your Mac's storage free or it will slow down to snails pace. eg. I have 512GB of storage on my Macbook Pro so I need to keep a min of 100GB free. Currently I have 200GB free and I do this by storing a large amount of my Documents in iCloud Drive, some 69GB in total. I only download them to my computer if I need them which is rarely. Have you clicked on the Saved to iCloud "See All" button shown in your first screen shot? Just to check what else may be using iCloud. Personally I think you are making a mistake not to store/sync at least the bare minimum of items; Find my Mac, Passwords and Keychain, Email, Notes, Calendars, Contacts, Reminders, Safari and Wallet. Just for the convenience of restoring your data to a new device if nothing else. Instead I suggest that you at least subscribe to the 50GB plan as below; [ATTACH type="full" alt="Screenshot 2025-06-13 at 12.21.03.png"]40430[/ATTACH] It has been our experience that storage grows even with very little data saved/synced to iCloud. Keychain for example will register/store essential certificates for OS versions, user passwords and more. Even with minimum use of your 5GB you will still eventually start receiving notifications that you are running out of iCloud storage. My opinion is if you can keep under 50GB you will be doing well. I have to assume you will continue to take photos at least. [/QUOTE]
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more iCloud confusion
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