iCloud auto backup - iMac OSX 10.9

[Captain Sulu]

Hi folks. I guess this one has been done to death a hundred times on this forum but please humour me. I'm a MacRookie

I understand that iCloud is supposed to automatically back up my iMac as I go along and I have signed up for iCloud. So far so good.However, can anyone tell me where I can check when the last backup was done and where I can find the data that has been backed up?

To check on my Pages backup for example I have followed the path: system preferences>iCloud>manage>Pages where I can see the 5 documents I saved direct to the Cloud. However, there is no record of the other 10 Pages documents that I have saved directly to the hard drive and which I can see in Finder.

If iCloud is backing up all my stuff, why can't I find the other 10 documents in the Pages backup, or have I fundamentally misunderstood the Cloud.

Thanks guys

 

[ApfelKuchen]

Yes, there's a misunderstanding or two.

iCloud for Mac does not backup the computer - it saves and synchronizes certain information including (but not limited to): mail, Contacts, Calendars, Notes, Keychain, documents created/saved by iCloud-compliant programs like Apple's Pages, Numbers, Keynote, TextEdit... the list gets longer with every year and new version of OS X. Exactly what it will and will not sync to the cloud is determined in System Preferences > iCloud. As you make additions/deletions/changes to the info you're syncing with iCloud, it gets updated immediately in the cloud (presuming you have an active internet connection), and updated on any computers and iOS devices signed into that same iCloud account.

Further, just as with saving documents to folders on your hard drive, Pages documents are not necessarily going to be saved to the folder you intended. They could be saved on a folder in your computer instead. That's a setting you need to make, and documents created prior to connecting to iCloud must be re-opened and saved to iCloud to get them into the cloud.

Now, for iOS (iPhone, iPad, iPod Touch), yes, iCloud can be setup to do a full backup. Since Apple does not yet sell iOS devices with 3 TB hard drives, it's a bit more practical to provide it as a free service (up to 5gb).

The way iCloud works with documents in the cloud: You open and edit the document on your iMac. All changes are immediately copied to the cloud. If you have other Macs or iOS devices signed into the same iCloud account, the revised document will be available to those devices.

In addition to working with Macs and iOS devices, the iCloud.com web site can also be used to create and edit those documents, calendars, contacts, etc.

If you want a full backup of your iMac, get an external hard disk, and setup TimeMachine, a built-in feature of OS X. Not only does it backup the current info on your hard disk, but you can go back in time and find data you may have inadvertently deleted, find a previous version of a document, etc.

 

[Captain Sulu]

Thanks.

So are you saying that with Pages for example, only documents saved directly to the Cloud in the first instance will appear in the Cloud. Other documents that were created in Pages but saved direct to the hard drive must be copied and then saved to the Cloud manually before they will appear. I have ticked the Pages box in the in the System preferences > iCloud.

When you say therefore "...it saves and synchronizes certain information including (but not limited to) ...compliant programs like Apple's Pages...", where do those other 'saved' Pages files go?

Sorry to be so dumb.

Sulu

 

[ApfelKuchen]

Thanks.

So are you saying that with Pages for example, only documents saved directly to the Cloud in the first instance will appear in the Cloud. Other documents that were created in Pages but saved direct to the hard drive must be copied and then saved to the Cloud manually before they will appear. I have ticked the Pages box in the in the System preferences > iCloud.

When you say therefore "...it saves and synchronizes certain information including (but not limited to) ...compliant programs like Apple's Pages...", where do those other 'saved' Pages files go?

Sorry to be so dumb.

Sulu

Those other saved Pages files are somewhere on your hard drive, probably in your Documents folder, as that's Page's default fresh out of the box.

Pages is, at its base, a word processor in competition with MS Word. As such, it's going to work just as you'd expect any "regular" word processor to behave (save a file to the location you select). iCloud is just one of many possible places to save the file.

Please note that selecting Pages in System Preferences > iCloud > Documents & Data is simply enabling access to iCloud - when it's selected, you may save Pages documents to iCloud and access Pages documents saved in iCloud. It does not change the default location when you save a file.

There are several ways to move files from your hard drive to iCloud. One is in the Pages File menu: File > Move To...

In the case of documents, backup is only part of the benefit of iCloud. It also allows you to access your work with whatever computer or iOS device you're using at the moment.

 

[Captain Sulu]

Many thanks. Sorry for taking so long to get back.

 

[Reaghay]

More help on cloud and pages

Hi,

An Editor I work with swears his pages docs automatically synch to the cloud without him doing anything at all. My iPad does this but I can't make my Mac do it. I couldn't get my 09 Mac to do it either. Just bought this one on Saturday.

 

[ApfelKuchen]

Hi,

An Editor I work with swears his pages docs automatically synch to the cloud without him doing anything at all. My iPad does this but I can't make my Mac do it. I couldn't get my 09 Mac to do it either. Just bought this one on Saturday.

What version of Pages are you using? You need Pages 4.2 or later

Naturally, you need to select Pages in System Preferences > iCloud > Documents & Data > Options...

Finally, the only way to access iCloud documents ("Documents in the Cloud") from your Mac is through an iCloud-compliant program (like Pages). You can't open a Finder window and drag a document into iCloud - iCloud doesn't appear in Finder. You have to use Pages > File > Open... (or Save..., or Move To...) to manage documents. The File browser windows for "participating iCloud apps" have "iCloud" and "On My Mac" buttons in the upper left corner to toggle between those locations - iCloud does not appear in the sidebar (Favorites, Devices, Shared). The File Save dialog boxes include iCloud in the "Where" drop-down list.

Once your document appears in iCloud, it will update and synchronize as desired.

I guess a distinction worth making is that iCloud (and iOS) are application-centric environments - you open the application first, then open the file. We're more used to the application-neutral environments of traditional OSes, and cloud services like DropBox. In those, you have the option to browse the file system (with OS X Finder, Windows Explorer, etc.) to access, move, and copy data stored on the device.