---
id: freeing-space.what-does-the-storage-profile-free-up-button-do
url: https://storagestudio.us/faq/freeing-space/what-does-the-storage-profile-free-up-button-do
category: "Freeing up space"
subcategory: "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."
tags: ["storage profile", "cloud", "online only", "free up", "icloud drive"]
related: ["https://storagestudio.us/faq/freeing-space/why-dont-online-only-files-appear-as-space-hogs", "https://storagestudio.us/faq/freeing-space/how-does-the-storage-profile-measure-cloud-usage"]
applies_to: "all"
last_reviewed: 2026-10-01
---

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

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

- 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.

It's never a delete. More on online-only files: [iCloud FAQ](https://storagestudio.us/faq/icloud/).