iCloud and syncing with mac question

[SJGray1982]

Is there a way to sync icloud with your mac without it downloading every single file on your icloud?

I'm using a macbook air and noticed every file i put in icloud gets downloaded to my mac if they are synced. It would be great if I could see the file and just decide if I want it on my HD

I know through the web portal thats do-able but the convince of icloud right on my desktop is nice

 

[Weaselboy]

Nope... anything in iCloud will be synced to your Mac and use some drive space.

 

[SJGray1982]

Would this happen if I migrated over to google drive?

 

[Weaselboy]

Would this happen if I migrated over to google drive?

I'm not familiar with the Google Drive software, so I don't know. But I use DropBox and it has what is called selective sync where you can tell it not to sync certain folders, so they would only reside on the DropBox server. This sounds like it would be what you are after.

 

[SJGray1982]

Thanks for the reply

Would love to hear if anyone has any experience with google drive

I love icloud and I would assume I can just go through browser to get files I need without syncing. Still, a bit of a bummer.

Selective syncing is an option apple should think about. Wonder why it isn't implemented

 

[ApfelKuchen]

The basic reason has to do with working offline - the assumption is that access to documents on a laptop/desktop is too important to leave it dependent on whether you have an internet connection.

I agree that some sort of option in this regard would be useful. It already exists for iCloud Photo Library via the Optimize Storage setting. For iCloud Drive, a similar setting might remove files from the Mac's iCloud Drive cache that have not been accessed in a long time, re-downloading when needed.

This technique is already in use for iOS on a default basis, but there are two assumptions there; cellular data makes mobile access to the web a safer bet, and the smaller storage capacity of mobile devices makes management of storage a more critical issue. I wouldn't consider a 128GB MacBook to be large by today's standard, until you compare it to a 16GB iPhone.

 

[BrianBaughn]

Google Drive recently added folder-based selective sync.