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Is it possible to use iCloud as solely cloud storage, where files aren't synced to my Mac? I'm trying to keep a copy of my music files and some other stuff on there (I don't want to use iTunes Match, I just want to files on there) and I now have two copies of all my music on my Mac - all 35GB of it, so 70GB in total!

Has anyone else come across this or managed it?

[More information edit]

Fortunately, there are other ways to access iCloud documents on your Mac. As long as you have the Documents & Data option checked in the iCloud pane of System Preferences, iCloud copies all the documents stored in your iCloud account to your Mac, so you can work with them offline. If you ever need to access such files, there are several ways to do so.

^^^ found that on MacWorld, and I'd basically like to do the reverse of that, but as they mention in the article, it was written before the WWDC keynote, and the 'Documents & Data' option doesn't seem to be there any more.

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    Could you explain why you need the files stored in the non-iCloud location? Music, for example, if using iTunes can be stored anywhere, including the iTunes library folder. Then you wouldn't need the duplicate.
    – Sera H
    Commented Mar 6, 2015 at 16:11
  • I tweaked my answer to include a new idea [tweaks are not notified to the OP by the system, so this comment is necessary. I'll clear it later.]
    – Tetsujin
    Commented Mar 12, 2015 at 20:32

2 Answers 2

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+50

iCloud Drive is specifically to sync your data between machines, roughly similar to how Dropbox etc works.

Remove a file from one machine, it's gone from the others too.

'Documents & Data' was deprecated & is removed when you first convert your iCloud (Mavericks/iOS 7) storage to iCloud Drive.

Alternative suggestion [untested]

How about - as you don't mind having one copy locally, just not two, changing your iTunes Library location to a folder inside the iCloud hierarchy?

Move your actual 'Music' folder there & just point iTunes to it

enter image description here

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    I have to note - with Dropbox and GDrive you can do "selective sync" in desktop app preferences which allows you to keep files in the cloud without having them locally (i.e. offload your hard drive from files you'd like to store).
    – Dannie P
    Commented Mar 7, 2015 at 10:31
  • I see it in Google Drive, but not in Dropbox
    – Tetsujin
    Commented Mar 7, 2015 at 10:33
  • Just go to your OSX Dropbox app preferences -> Account tab -> Selective Sync
    – Dannie P
    Commented Mar 12, 2015 at 17:59
  • ah, yup - found it ;)
    – Tetsujin
    Commented Mar 12, 2015 at 18:22
  • @DannieP - new idea posted, but meta tells me edits don't send notifications to interested parties
    – Tetsujin
    Commented Mar 12, 2015 at 20:33
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To expand on Stuart's comment to your question, I think the question you want to ask is "can I move my iTunes media to my iCloud folder?"

Apple has a document telling you how to move your iTunes media. Since iCloud Drive shows up as a regular folder there shouldn't be any problem with moving your media to it.

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  • There's definitely a way to store custom files on iCloud Drive; how about having files in the cloud without having a local copy? E.g. for intention to make some room on your macbook SSD and still keep the files in the cloud. Like an external drive in the cloud.
    – Dannie P
    Commented Mar 12, 2015 at 18:01
  • I think that's not possible without maybe iTunes Match. The question I was answering was about not having two copies of the music on the local computer.
    – miken32
    Commented Mar 12, 2015 at 18:04

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