iCloud 2 TB of iCloud stops at less than 100 GB

[Mark McDermott]

Facing a need to reformat my external backup drive, with 300 gb of data, I bought into the iCloud 2TB plan. However, it does not let upload anywhere near that kind of data. After I was able to back up some of my data, and get the iCloud drive up to 84 GB, it informs me that there's "Not Enough disk space to copy" any more files. For a 21 GB file folder, I supposedly need another 18.5 GB of space. Yet my iCloud window says I still have 2.13 TB available. Why can't I use it? And why does the bottom of the window say it's still uploading file that have already uploaded?
In short, why am I paying for disk capacity that I can't use?

 

[usagora]

Facing a need to reformat my external backup drive, with 300 gb of data, I bought into the iCloud 2TB plan. However, it does not let upload anywhere near that kind of data. After I was able to back up some of my data, and get the iCloud drive up to 84 GB, it informs me that there's "Not Enough disk space to copy" any more files. For a 21 GB file folder, I supposedly need another 18.5 GB of space. Yet my iCloud window says I still have 2.13 TB available. Why can't I use it? And why does the bottom of the window say it's still uploading file that have already uploaded?
In short, why am I paying for disk capacity that I can't use?

It sounds like your local disk (the one in your Mac) is nearly full? That would cause issues copying data. You might need to temporarily MOVE (not copy) some large files to another external disk to clear space before you continue. You can press Command + spacebar then search Disk Utility to open the Disk Utility app to see how much space is on your internal drive.

 

[Mark McDermott]

Interesting thought, and most likely culprit. My HD has 250 GB capacity, of which 227.5 is used, plus 19.73 is "Other Volumes" (local storage for Google Drive?) and 3.48 GB free. I do see a repository for an older Google Drive taking up 4.5 gB. Maybe I can check against my active Drive and dump the old one.
Kind of guessed the problem was not having enough "head space" somewhere to drag a file from an attached drive to the Cloud.
Will check

 

[usagora]

Interesting thought, and most likely culprit. My HD has 250 GB capacity, of which 227.5 is used, plus 19.73 is "Other Volumes" (local storage for Google Drive?) and 3.48 GB free. I do see a repository for an older Google Drive taking up 4.5 gB. Maybe I can check against my active Drive and dump the old one.
Kind of guessed the problem was not having enough "head space" somewhere to drag a file from an attached drive to the Cloud.
Will check

Yep, that's the issue. The "rule of thumb" is to keep at least 15% of your system drive free to avoid slowdowns and other issues, which means about 38GB for you. You only have 3.5GB free (about 1%). You might find this article informative:

Macs

Macs are awesome! Discover how to do fun and cool things with yours, plus learn how to fix things when they (inevitably) go wrong.

www.lifewire.com

 

[Mark McDermott]

Just now tried having all my Document stored on iCloud, which only gave me lass than 1GB. Think I'll have to burn some files to DVD-Roms

 

[usagora]

Just now tried having all my Document stored on iCloud, which only gave me lass than 1GB. Think I'll have to burn some files to DVD-Roms

Probably best just to buy a large USB drive. These are good ones:

SAMSUNG BAR Plus 256GB - 400MB/s USB 3.1 Flash Drive Champagne Silver (MUF-256BE3/AM)

Redefine everyday file transfers with the SAMSUNG BAR Plus. Fast and convenient read speeds up to 400MB/s, so that you have more time to work, play, watch, and create. A reliable and secure solution for your personal photos, videos, music, documents, and files. Water proof, shock proof, magnet pr...

www.amazon.com

 

[Mark McDermott]

Got a 32 GB usb already loaded. Hey, I still have more hub slots.

 

[Mark McDermott]

But doesn't this mean 2Tb on iCloud is worthless if I only have a 250 Gb hard drive?