iCloud Drive & Documents

Drive is your space in the cloud for everything in your world

MUCH OF iCLOUD’S work is done behind the scenes. iCloud Drive is the part you get to use actively to store documents. All changes upload from the device you’re using to the cloud and download from there to all your other devices, keeping the document in the same state everywhere.

On the Mac, your iCloud Drive appears in the Finder; in iOS, you access it through the Files app (see the iCloud Drive walkthrough opposite), which has grown in sophistication, especially in iPadOS. In iOS and iPadOS, storage is always optimized, so your iCloud Drive files are only downloaded to the hardware when you use them, then revert to online storage after a few days, showing a cloud icon. If you know you’ll be offline for a while, open any files you will need first, so they’re on your device. Or copy files (one at a time by long– tapping and choosing Copy, or tap Select, tap some files and choose Copy from the

Share menu at the bottom–left), then go back to Locations, tap On My iPhone/ iPad, long–tap an empty space and tap Paste: Files stored here are independent of iCloud. Remember to copy them back into iCloud Drive when you want to sync them again.

IT’S GOOD TO SHARE

You can share access to a file in iCloud Drive with other users. In iOS, long–tap the file, choose Share, scroll down the menu and pick Add People. Choose how to share the link. Unlike emailing a copy of the file, this lets them access it in real time in its current state. They can also make changes, unless you tap Share Options and check View Only. In macOS, Ctrl–click the file in the Finder and choose Share > Add People. The option doesn’t exist for folders, but is due imminently in updates to macOS and iOS, enabling other users to access all files in a folder and add their own.

In the Finder, deleting a file in iCloud Drive erases it from iCloud as well as from your Mac, so it will disappear everywhere. If you want to delete it from your Mac but leave it in iCloud, right–click it and choose Remove Download. It’s erased immediately, without going to the Bin, but a cloud icon appears beside it. You can click this to re–download the file to your Mac, or open the file and it’ll download. If you want to keep a file on your Mac permanently, Opt–drag it out of iCloud Drive to some other folder.