Want to Sync Local Mac Desktop to iCloud Without Downloading All iCloud Files to Mac

[Jerry®]

Hey everyone,

I know exactly what I want my Mac to do in terms of file organization, but I’m not sure how to make it happen — hoping someone here can point me in the right direction!

Here’s what I’m trying to do:

• I want to use my Mac’s local Desktop (and maybe other folders too) like normal — saving files there, organizing with folders, etc.
• I want those files to automatically sync to iCloud so I can access them from my iPhone and iPad.
• BUT — and here’s the tricky part — I don’t want my entire iCloud Drive to be downloaded to my Mac’s hard drive. I just want it the other way around: anything I put on my Mac gets backed up and mirrored in iCloud, but not vice versa.

Ideally, I’d love to be able to organize my files into folders locally, and have those exact folders show up in iCloud Drive (with matching structure), without my Mac having to download everything that’s in iCloud. I know if I turn on Documents and Desktops in iCloud it can do this but it also then starts downloading everything from my iCloud Drive to my local Mac and clutters the desktop even more with the chaos that is my iCloud Drive folders. I'm trying to keep things tidy and accessible and I can't figure out the Shortcuts app or automator to do what I want to do. I know my way around macOS but I am not exactly a power user.

Is there a (hopefully easy) way to do this with current macOS settings, or maybe with a third-party tool or automation? I'm running macOS 15.5 on my m2 mini.

Thanks in advance for any help — I feel like this should be doable but I haven’t cracked it yet!

 

[whitestar27]

I just have some folders in iCloud Drive saved as favourites in my Finder sidebar. Anything I put in them gets pushed up to the cloud but it certainly doesn't download everything

 

[IJustWannaTalk]

Mac OS only downloads what it has space for and will then remove the downloads (but not the file name) once space is needed.

Is it the "clutter" of file names you're looking to avoid or the file sizes themselves?

Also...iCloud isn't a real backup. Please don't rely on it for such.

I got around this by using Dropbox and Safari and then choosing to sync what I need at the time.

 

[Jerry®]

Mac OS only downloads what it has space for and will then remove the downloads (but not the file name) once space is needed.

Is it the "clutter" of file names you're looking to avoid or the file sizes themselves?

Also...iCloud isn't a real backup. Please don't rely on it for such.

I got around this by using Dropbox and Safari and then choosing to sync what I need at the time.

yeah the clutter is part of it and Im not using iCloud as a backup I just want an easy way to make files I save locally to also be saved in my iCloud Drive to be able to access them through iPad and iPhone. I know I can just dump everything manually into my iCloud Drive but I was hoping for something automated.

EDIT: Ideally Id like to enable Desktop and Document in the cloud but when I do it starts downloading my stuff in iCloud to my Mac and I only have 512GB with only 200GB left. My iCloud has 2TB storage with about 400GB on it now. I know I can turn on "optimize Mac storage" but when I turn on documents in the cloud it puts all my chaotic iCloud files and folders on my desktop...so iCloud organization is an issue too

 

[IJustWannaTalk]

yeah the clutter is part of it and Im not using iCloud as a backup I just want an easy way to make files I save locally to also be saved in my iCloud Drive to be able to access them through iPad and iPhone. I know I can just dump everything manually into my iCloud Drive but I was hoping for something automated.

EDIT: Ideally Id like to enable Desktop and Document in the cloud but when I do it starts downloading my stuff in iCloud to my Mac and I only have 512GB with only 200GB left. My iCloud has 2TB storage with about 400GB on it now. I know I can turn on "optimize Mac storage" but when I turn on documents in the cloud it puts all my chaotic iCloud files and folders on my desktop...so iCloud organization is an issue too

1. iCloud won't fill up your hard drive. It works based on both usage and remaining hard drive size. I have a 1TB SSD with both Desktop and Documents enabled, and have about 300 gigs left on my MBP despite having over a terabyte of info in iCloud.

2. "I just want it the other way around: anything I put on my Mac gets backed up and mirrored in iCloud, but not vice versa."
I'm unclear how you expect files to be "mirrored" without existing as at least file name placeholders on all your devices.

3. To lessen the visual clutter, I would just create a folder within Documents or Desktop (assuming they're enabled) and put anything you want access to on everything but don't want to always see in it. That way, instead of 10 files on your desktop to have to deal with, you'd just have one folder with those files in it.

 

[Jerry®]

1. iCloud won't fill up your hard drive. It works based on both usage and remaining hard drive size. I have a 1TB SSD with both Desktop and Documents enabled, and have about 300 gigs left on my MBP despite having over a terabyte of info in iCloud.

2. "I just want it the other way around: anything I put on my Mac gets backed up and mirrored in iCloud, but not vice versa."
I'm unclear how you expect files to be "mirrored" without existing as at least file name placeholders on all your devices.

3. To lessen the visual clutter, I would just create a folder within Documents or Desktop (assuming they're enabled) and put anything you want access to on everything but don't want to always see in it. That way, instead of 10 files on your desktop to have to deal with, you'd just have one folder with those files in it.

yeah everything you said makes sense. I just need to clean up my iCloud Drive so it's not so chaotic and doesnt put placeholder all over the place on my desktop on my Mac. Thank you for responding!!