How Apple's iCloud Drive works — and how to use it

Hither'south how to take complete command of iCloud Drive on Mac, iOS, iPad and Windows.

Table of Contents
  • How iCloud Bulldoze works
  • How to ready iCloud Bulldoze
  • Online and on device
  • iCloud for Windows
  • How to share files and folders with iCloud Drive
  • How to go more iCloud storage
  • iCloud Drive FAQs

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iCloud Bulldoze is Apple tree's essential connectedness betwixt all your devices, Mac, iPhone, iPad, even your Windows PC.

While the toll of storage seems expensive in comparison to other online storage services, its advantage is that it works natively across all your devices.

You can use it to maintain access to all your documents and other items across your Apple devices, Macs, iPhones, and  iPads. It also works with Windows using an application. Ameliorate yet, it works to ensure all your items are up to date across all your devices.

You demand to exist running iOS 13 or afterwards or macOS Catalina or later your iPhone, iPad, or Mac. A PC must run Windows x to access iCloud for Windows.

How iCloud Drive works

You can shop documents, images and spreadsheets using iCloud Drive; you tin can as well keep files and folders upward-to-date across devices, piece of work on them, and access these items from anywhere.

On iOS devices, y'all access your iCloud Bulldoze through the Files app. Open Files and y'all'll find iCloud Drive every bit a location. Changes applied to a re-create of a file on 1 device volition automatically sync across all your other systems.

This is a real file system, and so you can create and save items to your own self-created folders, which is useful if you work across multiple devices.

If you use iCloud Bulldoze across multiple Macs and then changes fabricated to the Documents and Desktop files on both Macs will sync. The Mac you lot activate last will create its ain folder for the contents of its Documents and Desktop, and this will also sync.

How to set up iCloud Drive

iCloud Bulldoze is automatically set up on any current Apple tree device running the latest operating system. (More than information is available here.)

Apple tree's macOS volition automatically relieve files saved to your Desktop and Documents folders to iCloud, making these files bachelor across all your devices. That's useful but volition eat into your online bulldoze capacity, particularly as (at 5GB) Apple however doesn't provide sufficient gratuitous drive space.

iCloud Drive Apple tree

iCloud Drive lets y'all open, edit, and sync documents and files beyond devices.

Y'all can buy more storage if you like, or disable the feature in System Preferences>iCloud>iCloud Drive Picksouthward – Uncheck Desktop & Documents folders at the top of the list.

Y'all can shop any file format on iCloud Drive with an upper limit of 50GB.

Hint: iCloud Drive will sync data using your mobile connexion unless you tell it not to practice so. That'southward fine if y'all can beget the information, merely (particularly) if you travel abroad, you may want to disable this. To practice then, open Settings>Cellular Information> iCloud Drive and toggle 'Mobile Data' to Off (it's Light-green – On – by default).

Online and on device

If you employ Desktop & Documents so you will find everything you file there on iCloud Drive or via the Files app on your Mac or iOS device.

You can also access these files online through your business relationship at www.icloud.com, which means these files tin easily be edited on a Windows PC.

iCloud for Windows

Apple tree offers iCloud for Windows, an application that makes photos, videos, postal service, files, and bookmarks accessible on both your Windows PC and iOS devices. Any changes you brand on these files on any device, online, or Windows or Mac, will be replicated across your other devices.

In that location's a more detailed explanation of iCloud for Windows here.

Hint: You can also admission these files from some Macs running older operating systems. Open a new Finder menu, click the Get menu item and select iCloud Bulldoze. If y'all work on files, don't forget to manually save those changes to the iCloud Bulldoze, as they will not relieve automatically as they do on macOS.

mac911 sharing files in icloud drive IDG

Files and folders can exist shared in iCloud Drive.

How to share files and folders with iCloud Bulldoze

Taking a lead from Dropbox, y'all can share and collaborate on specific files and entire folders of documents, images, and other items using iCloud Drive. When you share an item with someone this fashion, they will receive a link that lets them access the original file — and if you move that file, they no longer have admission.

Hither is how to share an item with others using iCloud Drive:

  • Affect and hold the binder or file;
  • Tap Share and then choose Add People;
  • You then choose your share options and how you want to share the item.

There are four dissimilar share options when you share items from iCloud Bulldoze. You likewise cull how to send the person(southward) a link to the folder or file once the required share selection is created:

  • Let only invitees to view and edit the contents: Tap Share followed by "Only people y'all invite," and "Can brand changes."

  • Allow simply invitees to view the contents: Choose "Only people you invite," and "View only," to set this upwardly.

  • Permit anyone with the link to view and edit the contents: The least secure choice is to choose "Anyone with the link," and "Can make changes."

  • Allow anyone with the link to view the contents: Select "Anyone with the link," and "View only," if you lot want everyone to run across the item.

Once you begin sharing something, you can add other people to the share. If you lot ain a shared file or binder, yous tin can change the admission choices for i person or all the people concerned retrospectively. To do so, select the detail, tap Share, so choose Show People.

windows10 icloud for windows10 icloud drive Microsoft

You tin can also choose specific folders and files to download.

How to get more iCloud storage

You lot begin with a miserly 5GB of free storage, which is swiftly consumed if you make apply of multiple devices, forcing most users to upgrade to a dissimilar storage program.

Before yous practise upgrade, make certain to follow this advice on how to get the best possible use of the free storage allocation Apple provides.

But once you do decide to invest in a different plan, the easiest mode to do then is to open iCloud in your Settings or Arrangement Preferences.

There yous should see an item called iCloud Storage, which volition show y'all the electric current state of your storage. For virtually people, a huge chunk of space is used by Photos and videos.

To switch to a different storage plan, tap Manage and then choose Buy More Storage. Or tap Downgrade Options if you desire to reduce your storage.

Storage is available in 5G (complimentary), 50GB (99 cents/month), 200GB ($two.99/month) and 2TB ($9.99/month). You can as well become storage included within your Apple One programme.

iCloud Drive FAQs

Controlling apps:Many 3rd-political party apps want to use iCloud Drive to shop their own data. This is useful for some apps you programme to use across all your systems, just may not ever be what you want. To control which apps can shop data to your online drive:

On iOS: Open up Settings>iCloud> and switch any app you don't want accessing your drive off (toggle to white).

On Mac: Organization Preferences>Apple ID>iCloud Bulldoze> cull Options and uncheck the apps yous don't want to support.

Fourth dimension Zones:If you lot detect that emails and calendar entries take begun showing the wrong time zones its possible your account settings are wrong.

To cheque, login to your business relationship online at world wide web.icloud.com and tap Settings. At the top of the next page, you should see Time Zone/Region, which should land where you are. If it doesn't, yous can alter this and the fourth dimension zone problem volition be resolved across all your devices.

Reclaim deleted files:If you accidentally delete something stored on iCloud Drive, you lot can easily get information technology back once again from iCloud.com. All you demand to practise is login to the account, cheque Settings>Advanced and click Restore Files. Wait a few moments and you will be presented with a list of files that you accept previously deleted in the Restore Files window. Tick the box beside the file(s) yous desire to restore and tap Done. Files are simply bachelor in this way for 30-days.

Version disharmonize:If you accept files open up on two devices at once, modifications made on one device may exist out of sync. iCloud Drive should warn yous when this kind of version disharmonize takes place. When it does, you tin can double-click a version's thumbnail to come across its contents, and delete the other one.

How to sync fast: You may sometimes notice files aren't syncing across your devices every bit swiftly as you want. You can strength sync some iCloud apps by turning your device off and switching information technology on once more, though there are several additional approaches available.

What well-nigh Android? You tin access some iCloud features (Photos, Notes, Reminders, and Find iPhone) using the Android browser.

Learn more than virtually iCloud:

  • How to use iCloud Keychain
  • 5 clever trivial iCloud tips you'll probably use
  • How do I run across what's in my iCloud storage?
  • How to gear up iCloud when it stops working
  • How to use iCloud with Windows

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Jonny is a freelance writer who has been writing (mainly about Apple and technology) since 1999.

Copyright © 2021 IDG Communications, Inc.