Downgrading HD Storage with iCloud

[clarencek]

I currently have a 1TB MBP M1... with the coming 14" or 16" I'm thinking of moving down to 512GB.
I also have the 2TB iCloud option and all my documents and files are on iCloud - using about 1.2TB.

In the iCloud panel on my Mac - it says all the contents of iCloud are stores locally on my mac. But in theory, I should be able to move down to 512GB and store less locally.

Has anyone does this downgrade of local storage?
I'm worried that not everything in my computer is on iCloud. It looks like it's all there, but there's no way to be sure.
And how would this migration be done?

In the past I've connected my new Mac to my old Mac and mounted the old one as a drive... and used migration assistant to move all the files.
I'm sure if I do that with my 1TB MBP to a 512GB MBP it's going to tell me there's not enough room.

Alternatively, I could just move my Mac apps - and connect to iCloud and cross my fingers all the files load up and Mac OS optimizes my space.

Any insights from people who have done this would be appreciated. Thanks.

 

[clarencek]

Well... in case anyone is wondering whether this is possible - it is. However, the way to do it is copy all your documents, music (not iTunes), applications, etc. anything that can't be stored on iCloud on an external drive.
Reformat your machine, don't restore from Time Machine backup... and just drag your files and applications back over. You may need to reinstall some.
But it's amazing how much space you save. it's a pain, definitely time consuming, you have to re-setup all your preferences, etc. but this can be done if you want to downsize your storage size / options. I went from using almost 900GB to less than 500GB.