How do I disentangle myself from iCloud Drive?

May 18, 2021 8:20 AM

A while back, I set up iCloud Drive to store my desktop and documents folders. I'd like to end that arrangement, but when I uncheck that particular box, all of my documents vanish from my computer (i.e., iCloud doesn't seem to copy them back to my hard drive). How can I terminate this usage of iCloud Drive and restore my documents? Thanks!
posted by Conrad Cornelius o'Donald o'Dell to Computers & Internet (4 answers total)

Best answer: According to this website, after you disable iCloud Desktop & Documents on your Mac, you can then copy the files from iCloud to your local Desktop and Documents folders.
posted by brianogilvie at 8:27 AM on May 18, 2021

Is there any reason you can't just copy the files off iCloud to a new folder (that is, in the Finder hold down the option key as you drag the files so they are copied instead of moved).
posted by ShooBoo at 10:31 AM on May 18, 2021

Yeah, just drag them to another folder outside of iCloud Drive. It will ask if you want to remove them from iCloud, which you say yes to. Job done.
posted by Happy Dave at 12:16 PM on May 18, 2021

Response by poster: This turned into a huge hassle (my computer kept on insisting it didn't have sufficient drive space, even though it did), but it eventually worked. Thanks, all!
posted by Conrad Cornelius o'Donald o'Dell at 3:29 PM on June 12, 2021