Learn about several ways macOS can automatically offload large files to iCloud Drive in order to free up local storage space on your Mac’s drive.
If your Mac’s storage is low but you have sufficient free space in your iCloud account, you can tell macOS to offload files to your iCloud Drive on the fly, or you can do it manually. Doing so will also let you access offloaded files in your iCloud Drive on other devices, including iPhones, iPads, and Windows PCs.
However, you may want to purchase an iCloud+ or Apple One subscription with at least 50 GB of cloud storage because every Apple account only gets 5 GB for free. I also recommend offloading only files that you access rarely, as downloading them from iCloud requires a few extra steps and a fast internet connection.
Option 1: Drag a file to iCloud Drive and remove its downloaded copy
1) Open System Settings on your Mac and click your Apple Account name from the top left corner. Then, go to iCloud > Drive and ensure ‘Sync this Mac’ is ON.
2) Click the Finder icon in the Dock to open a new Finder window, then select iCloud Drive in the sidebar.
3) Copy and paste or drag one or more files or folders from your Mac and drop them on the iCloud Drive window, then wait for the items to finish uploading. This may take some time, depending on file size and the speed of your internet connection. To see upload status, hit the info icon ⓘ next to ‘iCloud Drive’ in the Finder sidebar.
4) Right-click or Control-click uploaded items in the iCloud Drive window and choose Remove Download in the menu. Doing so will delete local copies on your Mac, freeing up local storage space. Don’t worry, you now have copies of your files in your iCloud Drive. If you want to use an offloaded file locally, select it in the iCloud Drive window and choose ‘Download Now’ in the right-click menu.
Option 2: Sync your Desktop and Documents folders with iCloud Drive
macOS lets you synchronize the Desktop and Documents folders in your macOS account with iCloud Drive. Doing so will automatically save everything in your Documents folder and on the desktop to iCloud Drive, allowing you to access your documents and desktop items on any device. You can turn on iCloud sync for the Documents and Desktop folders in four ways, as explained below.
Method 1: Navigate to System Settings > Apple account > iCloud > Drive and turn on the switch next to “Desktop & Documents Folders.”
Method 2: Click the Finder icon in the Dock, hit Finder > Settings in the top menu bar, select the General tab, and tick the box next to “Sync Desktop & Documents folders.”
Method 3: Venture into System Settings > General > Storage and click the “Store in iCloud” button under the Recommendations heading.
Method 4: Go to System Settings > General > Storage and click the info button ⓘ next to iCloud Drive, then hit “Enable iCloud Desktop and Documents.”
When you turn this option on, macOS will create separate Documents and Desktop folders in iCloud Drive. Everything you save in the Documents folder or the desktop on your Mac will be automatically uploaded to their corresponding locations in iCloud Drive. This lets you free up storage space on your Mac by deleting cached offline copies of files. To do so, Control-click or right-click the Downloads or Desktop folder in your iCloud Drive and choose Remove Download. Conversely, to retain local copies on your Mac for faster access, choose ‘Keep Downloaded’ from the menu.
Option 3: Upload files to iCloud Drive on the web
You can also upload files to your iCloud Drive via a web browser if you don’t prefer the Finder method. Visit icloud.com/iclouddrive and log in with your Apple account. Next, hit the upload icon that looks like a cloud with an upwardly-pointed arrow to upload selected files from your Mac. Once that’s done, you can safely trash said files on your Mac to free up local storage space.
Option 4: Use the Optimize Mac Storage feature
You can have macOS dynamically offload files to iCloud Drive. Simply go to System Settings > Apple Account > iCloud > Drive and turn on “Optimize Mac Storage.” Now, all iCloud files will be cached locally on your Mac if you have sufficient space on the internal drive. However, if your internal drive fills up and there is less space available, iCloud Drive will automatically remove offline copies of old files, making space on the local drive. You can always download these items again if needed.
If you don’t use iCloud Drive or don’t want to pay Apple for iCloud storage, you can also offload your files to Dropbox, Google Drive, Google Photos, Backblaze, or an external hard drive.
Other storage-saving tips
For other storage-saving tips, be sure to check out 30 techniques to free up storage space on a Mac, some of which involve the Optimized Storage feature, clearing your Downloads folder, and deleting old email attachments. And if you use iCloud Drive frequently, you may want to put an iCloud Drive shortcut to the desktop or the Dock for one-click access.