---
id: freeing-space.why-dont-online-only-files-appear-as-space-hogs
url: https://storagestudio.us/faq/freeing-space/why-dont-online-only-files-appear-as-space-hogs
category: "Freeing up space"
subcategory: "Storage Profile, charts and Home"
question: "Why don't my big online-only cloud files show up in Biggest space-users?"
alt_questions:
  - "Online-only files show a big size"
  - "Are cloud files really using my disk?"
  - "Biggest space-users ignores cloud files"
  - "Huge cloud files not listed"
  - "Do online-only files take space?"
short_answer: "Online-only files take no space on your Mac until opened, and Biggest space-users ranks files by space actually used on disk, so they're left off. Downloaded cloud files do appear, with a Free up button."
tags: ["storage profile", "online only", "cloud"]
related: ["https://storagestudio.us/faq/freeing-space/what-does-the-storage-profile-free-up-button-do", "https://storagestudio.us/faq/freeing-space/what-is-the-storage-profile"]
applies_to: "all"
last_reviewed: 2026-10-01
---

# Why don't my big online-only cloud files show up in Biggest space-users?

Because they aren't using your disk. An online-only cloud file shows its full size in Finder, but takes no local space until you open it. Biggest space-users is measured by the space files actually use on this Mac's disk, so online-only files drop off the list.

What you see is the space you can genuinely reclaim, not a misleading total. Cloud files that *are* downloaded do appear, with a **Free up** button. See [what Free up does](https://storagestudio.us/faq/freeing-space/what-does-the-storage-profile-free-up-button-do).