Plz help cause iCloud is driving me nuts

[dapork]

Hey everyone. I recently stopped paying for iCloud storage. Now, whenever I'm in a document I keep getting these pop-ups telling me I don't have enough iCloud storage for the file. I don't care. I only want to save things on my computer.

I go to System Preferences to turn off iCloud but it says that everything on my desktop will be deleted! How can I copy everything from the iCloud back onto my computer? In other words make all the aliases real. After doing that I can finally turn off iCloud and work without being bombarded by pop-ups!

 

[techwarrior]

When you turn off iCloud Drive, an archive will be created in your user file path (~/username/iCloud Drive). I don't recall if it automatically does this, or if it prompts, but either way, everything will end up there.

Under the hood, when you activate iCloud Drive, it moves everything from your user account (~/user/Documents and ~/user/Desktop) to a hidden folder deeper in the ~/user file structure and copies all files to the cloud. So, when you deactivate, everything in the archive can be moved back to default locations if the OS doesn't do it for you.

FYI, ~/ is a shortcut the file system uses to reference and access /Users/yourusername/, So, if your Mac username is dapork, it would be /Users/dapork/Documents, etc.

 

[dapork]

When you turn off iCloud Drive, an archive will be created in your user file path (~/username/iCloud Drive). I don't recall if it automatically does this, or if it prompts, but either way, everything will end up there.

Under the hood, when you activate iCloud Drive, it moves everything from your user account (~/user/Documents and ~/user/Desktop) to a hidden folder deeper in the ~/user file structure and copies all files to the cloud. So, when you deactivate, everything in the archive can be moved back to default locations if the OS doesn't do it for you.

FYI, ~/ is a shortcut the file system uses to reference and access /Users/yourusername/, So, if your Mac username is dapork, it would be /Users/dapork/Documents, etc.

Hey, thanks for your help. I went and did what you said, basically I tried to follow these steps:
http://osxdaily.com/2017/07/06/disable-icloud-desktop-documents-mac/

But something weird happened. I went and deselected desktop and documents in iCloud but it just said "disabling". I did a search to try and find out how long the process takes but nothing. I left it like that for a while. I tried opening some files and the mail app and they wouldn't open. My computer froze up. I force-restarted and found that all the files are still on my desktop and iCloud is still on! Is turning off iCloud a long process that I have to let it sit and not do anything with my computer?

 

[techwarrior]

turning it off may take some time, the files need to be archived and if you have a lot of stuff in iCloud, it will take time.

 

[Fishrrman]

Problems like this exemplify why I will NEVER use the "Manage" option (that shifts some of your on-disk files "up" to iCloud).

I want my files on MY DRIVE. It's as simple as that.

Actually I don't use iCloud at all.
Signed in once for about 30 seconds to take a "quick look around", then signed out.
Haven't been back.

 

[BigMcGuire]

I've done this before - and @techwarrior is correct. It creates an archive of all your iCloud data locally. I like iCloud because I can access my data on my iPhone and when I'm out and about on the road or at work (with my windows machines via iCloud.com). My family and I share the 2TB option and all chip in for it making it pennies for me. We're only using a few hundred GB too, which is nice so this will last us awhile.

If your data is important, definitely have a copy of it in more than one place. I use Backblaze, Time Machine, and several external drives in 2 different locations (70+ miles apart) for all my data.