{"id":"freeing-space.what-does-the-storage-profile-free-up-button-do","url":"/faq/freeing-space/what-does-the-storage-profile-free-up-button-do","category":{"id":"freeing-space","title":"Freeing up space"},"subcategory":{"id":"profile-and-charts","title":"Storage Profile, charts and Home"},"question":"What does the Free up button next to a cloud file in Biggest space-users do?","alt_questions":["Free up button Storage Profile","Make an iCloud file online-only from Storage Studio","Biggest space-users cloud file","Why does Free up open Finder for Google Drive?","Remove Download Storage Studio","What does the Free up button do for an iCloud file in Storage Profile?","Storage Profile Free up iCloud","Free up one big iCloud file","Make a single iCloud file online-only","Biggest space-users iCloud file","Free up button cloud file storage studio"],"short_answer":"It frees a downloaded cloud file's local space without deleting it: iCloud files become online-only in place; for Google Drive, Dropbox and OneDrive it opens Finder at the provider's Remove Download control.","answer_markdown":"It reclaims the space a downloaded cloud file is using on your Mac, without deleting it.\n\n- For **iCloud** files, it makes the file online-only right there: it stays in iCloud and downloads again the moment you open it.\n- For **Google Drive, Dropbox and OneDrive**, macOS doesn't let one app free another provider's downloads, so Storage Studio opens the file in Finder and points you to the provider's own **Remove Download** control. Google Drive can also be switched to **Stream files** so it stops keeping local copies.\n\nIt's never a delete. More on online-only files: [iCloud FAQ](/faq/icloud/).","answer_html":"

It reclaims the space a downloaded cloud file is using on your Mac, without deleting it.

\n\n

It's never a delete. More on online-only files: iCloud FAQ.

","answer_text":"It reclaims the space a downloaded cloud file is using on your Mac, without deleting it.\n\n- For iCloud files, it makes the file online-only right there: it stays in iCloud and downloads again the moment you open it.\n- For Google Drive, Dropbox and OneDrive, macOS doesn't let one app free another provider's downloads, so Storage Studio opens the file in Finder and points you to the provider's own Remove Download control. Google Drive can also be switched to Stream files so it stops keeping local copies.\n\nIt's never a delete. More on online-only files: iCloud FAQ.","tags":["storage profile","cloud","online only","free up","icloud drive"],"related":[{"id":"freeing-space.why-dont-online-only-files-appear-as-space-hogs","question":"Why don't my big online-only cloud files show up in Biggest space-users?","url":"/faq/freeing-space/why-dont-online-only-files-appear-as-space-hogs"},{"id":"freeing-space.how-does-the-storage-profile-measure-cloud-usage","question":"How does the Storage Profile know how much I store in my cloud accounts?","url":"/faq/freeing-space/how-does-the-storage-profile-measure-cloud-usage"}],"applies_to":"all","last_reviewed":"2026-10-01","title":"What does the Free up button next to a cloud file in Biggest space-users do? — Storage Studio FAQ","description":"It frees a downloaded cloud file's local space without deleting it: iCloud files become online-only in place; for Google Drive, Dropbox and OneDrive it opens Finder at the provider's Remove Download control.","crumbs":[{"name":"Home","path":"/"},{"name":"FAQ","path":"/faq/"},{"name":"Freeing up space","path":"/faq/freeing-space/"},{"name":"What does the Free up button next to a cloud file in Biggest space-users do?","path":"/faq/freeing-space/what-does-the-storage-profile-free-up-button-do"}],"jsonld":{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"FAQPage","url":"https://storagestudio.us/faq/freeing-space/what-does-the-storage-profile-free-up-button-do","inLanguage":"en","dateModified":"2026-10-01","mainEntity":[{"@type":"Question","name":"What does the Free up button next to a cloud file in Biggest space-users do?","alternateName":["Free up button Storage Profile","Make an iCloud file online-only from Storage Studio","Biggest space-users cloud file","Why does Free up open Finder for Google Drive?","Remove Download Storage Studio","What does the Free up button do for an iCloud file in Storage Profile?","Storage Profile Free up iCloud","Free up one big iCloud file","Make a single iCloud file online-only","Biggest space-users iCloud file","Free up button cloud file storage studio"],"acceptedAnswer":{"@type":"Answer","text":"It reclaims the space a downloaded cloud file is using on your Mac, without deleting it.\n\n- For iCloud files, it makes the file online-only right there: it stays in iCloud and downloads again the moment you open it.\n- For Google Drive, Dropbox and OneDrive, macOS doesn't let one app free another provider's downloads, so Storage Studio opens the file in Finder and points you to the provider's own Remove Download control. Google Drive can also be switched to Stream files so it stops keeping local copies.\n\nIt's never a delete. More on online-only files: iCloud FAQ.","url":"https://storagestudio.us/faq/freeing-space/what-does-the-storage-profile-free-up-button-do"}}]},"fragment":"
\n
\n\n\n\n\n
\n
\n

Freeing up space · Storage Profile, charts and Home

\n

What does the Free up button next to a cloud file in Biggest space-users do?

\n

Short answer: It frees a downloaded cloud file's local space without deleting it: iCloud files become online-only in place; for Google Drive, Dropbox and OneDrive it opens Finder at the provider's Remove Download control.

\n

It reclaims the space a downloaded cloud file is using on your Mac, without deleting it.

\n
  • For iCloud files, it makes the file online-only right there: it stays in iCloud and downloads again the moment you open it.
  • For Google Drive, Dropbox and OneDrive, macOS doesn't let one app free another provider's downloads, so Storage Studio opens the file in Finder and points you to the provider's own Remove Download control. Google Drive can also be switched to Stream files so it stops keeping local copies.
\n

It's never a delete. More on online-only files: iCloud FAQ.

\n\n

Last reviewed

\n\n

Related questions

\n

Also available as Markdown and JSON.

\n
"}