Table of Contents
Apple launched iCloud in 2011 as a cloud storage and cloud computing service. iCloud not only stores your files safely, but also keeps your apps and data in sync across all your devices, like your Mac, iPad, and iPhone. How to Save Files to iCloud Drive on iOS
iCloud includes iCloud Drive. Save photos, documents, app data, and much more to your iCloud Drive. Then, like with services like Dropbox, you can access these files on all of your devices. With iCloud and iCloud Drive, it’s easy to save files from your Mac and then get to them from your iPhone, iPad, or iCloud.com. Here’s how to set up iCloud Drive and save files from the desktop of your Mac.
How to Save Files to iCloud Drive on Mac
- Launch System Preferences on your Mac.
- Select Apple ID in the upper right corner.
- Click the Options button next to iCloud Drive.
- Check off the box for Desktop and Document Folders.
- Click Done in the bottom right corner of the window.
How to Save Files to iCloud Drive On iPhone and iPad
- Open the Files app on your iPhone or iPad.
- Tap iCloud Drive.
- Choose the Desktop or Documents folder, then the file you want to open.
What Is iCloud Drive?
iCloud Drive is just one part of the larger iCloud ecosystem, and it is most like the folder format that almost every other cloud storage service uses. As is often the case with Apple’s products, there are a few things about the service that make it different. Apps like TextEdit and Pages, which are made by Apple, let you save documents to iCloud Drive.
Files can be saved to your cloud storage anywhere, but they also show up in a folder for each app. This makes cloud storage more organized and gives you some control over folder structures and how things are put together. You can also share folders or individual files with other people, just like with Google Drive. You can also work together on projects stored in iCloud, but the app (like Pages) takes care of the details.
How Does iCloud Drive Work?
Under the hood, iCloud Drive is disc storage space on another computer that can be accessed over the internet (also called “the cloud”). When you put files in your iCloud Drive, they are stored on a server, which is a computer that can connect to the internet. These files are linked to your unique Apple ID, and the server gives you access to them whenever you want, no matter what device you’re using.
FAQs
If you already have iCloud and it’s synced across all your devices, a lot of files and documents are probably sitting on your Mac eating up storage space. For example, pictures you’ve taken from your iPhone synced to iCloud will sit on your Mac using up storage.
On your Mac, click the Finder icon in the Dock to open a Finder window, then click iCloud Drive in the sidebar. Control-click the file or folder, then choose Manage Shared File or Manage Shared Folder. Do any of the following: Share an item with more people: Click the Add button .
You can delete files you no longer want to store in iCloud Drive. Important: When you delete a file from iCloud Drive on iCloud.com, it’s also deleted from all your devices that have iCloud Drive turned on.
iCloud provides extra storage for the mobile devices (iPhone, iPad, iPod) with very much local storage. You can download from iCloud, but the local copies of older documents will automatically removed. Content in iCloud is not included in the iCloud backups of mobile devices.