iCloud iCloud: Sr. Citizen With Some Very Basic Questions On, Please

[Robert4]

Hello,

In my mid 80's now, wow, so please put up with some very basic questions re iCloud.

Thought it would be a good idea, finally, to back up(automatically)) whatever I have on my Mac.
So, for the dollar a month, I signed up for the 50 GB iCloud. Should probably be enough storage.

Questions:

a. Regarding all my WORD and Excel's documents: Can I designate which ones, only, I want to go to iCloud ? How ?

b. For any that were over the years automatically backed up to via the original 5 GB that iCloud had, can
I (now) go into iCloud and delete these ? (I'm not even sure if iCloud was ever on or off)

And not have them backed up anymore, per (a) ?

c. Do the backups happen automatically when something is added or changed, or periodically, or,...?
Is there an option as to set the "when" ?

d. Is there a Link that goes over the very, very, basics that would be a good read for me ?

Much thanks, as always,
Stay well,
Bob

 

[mystery hill]

Hi Bob,

b. For any that were over the years automatically backed up to via the original 5 GB that iCloud had, can
I (now) go into iCloud and delete these ? (I'm not even sure if iCloud was ever on or off)

You can sign in to icloud.com from your web browser (Safari or Google Chrome) and then go to the Photos section which will show you all photos that have been backed up to iCloud. You will also be able to delete any photos that you don’t want backed up.

 

[mystery hill]

c. Do the backups happen automatically when something is added or changed, or periodically, or,...?
Is there an option as to set the "when" ?

Files are backed up automatically when something is added or changed. There isn’t an option to set a time when the backup occurs.

 

[mystery hill]

a. Regarding all my WORD and Excel's documents: Can I designate which ones, only, I want to go to iCloud ? How ?

Have you considered using cloud storage from another provider like Dropbox, Google Drive, or Microsoft OneDrive?

All of the above mentioned services offer version history for files, allowing you to revert to a previous version of a file in case you accidentally made a change. iCloud Drive doesn’t have this feature.

They also work better on other operating systems, like Windows.

 

[Robert4]

Hi,

Much thanks.

"You can sign in to icloud.com from your web browser (Safari or Google Chrome) and then go to the Photos section
which will show you all photos that have been backed up to iCloud. You will also be able to delete any photos that
you don’t want backed up."

Can I delete e.g. an individual MS WORD document that I presume has been backed up ? (as well as a photo)

Thanks,
Bob

 

[Robert4]

One more quick one, please:

Is iCloud Drive different ? Shows up on my MAC.

Are all the items here, the same as what is presently backed up into what is just termed, apparently "iCloud" ??

Thanks again,
Bob

 

[mystery hill]

s iCloud Drive different ? Shows up on my MAC.

Are all the items here, the same as what is presently backed up into what is just termed, apparently "iCloud" ??

iCloud Drive is the file storage component of iCloud. This is where you would store your word documents, spreadsheets, and PDF files.

iCloud is also used for syncing and backing up mail, contacts, calendars, notes, messages etc.

 

[mystery hill]

Can I delete e.g. an individual MS WORD document that I presume has been backed up ? (as well as a photo)

Yes, you can delete an MS Word document from the iCloud Drive section, and a photo from the Photos section.