> Can I move my Documents folder?
To speed up my imac running mojave, i have set it to start up from an external ssd rather than its internal hard disk. however, this puts my user account’s documents folder on the ssd; because that’s shared in iCloud, i want to move it onto the larger internal hard disk. Can i?
When you keep your Desktop and Documents folders local, rather than moving them to iCloud Drive, it’s not difficult to move most of or all of your Home folder to a volume other than the macOS startup disk. You can relocate your iTunes and Photos libraries to a different location in each app’s preferences.
Rather than moving the whole of your Documents folder, you can make an alias in it using Finder or (if you prefer) a symbolic link to any folder on the other drive, and access the bulk of your docs through that. It’s still wisest to keep your most frequently used files in the Documents folder on your SSD, so that they benefit from its fast access.
However, if you put your Desktop and Documents folders in iCloud Drive, macOS links those two folders with iCloud and you don’t have this option. In that case, create a new folder named, say, OtherDocuments on your hard disk, and use an alias or symbolic link to that from your Home folder on the SSD.
You can then place your less frequently used files in OtherDocuments, which won’t be stored in iCloud and will remain local. You’ll also need to ensure that Time Machine backs up both your external SSD and any folders created on the internal hard disk.