---
id: icloud.do-online-only-files-show-in-storage-studio-space-totals
url: https://storagestudio.us/faq/icloud/do-online-only-files-show-in-storage-studio-space-totals
category: "iCloud & iCloud Photos"
subcategory: "Storage Studio and iCloud"
question: "Do online-only iCloud files count in Storage Studio's space figures?"
alt_questions:
  - "Does Storage Studio count iCloud files as used space?"
  - "Why doesn't my iCloud file appear in biggest files?"
  - "Space used by cloud placeholders"
  - "Storage Studio disk usage cloud files"
  - "Online-only not listed as space hog"
short_answer: "No. Storage Studio measures the space files actually use on disk, so online-only iCloud files never appear as space hogs. Downloaded iCloud files do count — and those are the ones Free up and Run Tuhi can free."
tags: ["storage profile", "online-only", "disk usage"]
related: ["https://storagestudio.us/faq/icloud/why-does-finder-show-a-big-size-for-an-online-only-file", "https://storagestudio.us/faq/icloud/how-much-space-is-icloud-using-on-my-mac"]
applies_to: "all"
last_reviewed: 2026-10-01
---

# Do online-only iCloud files count in Storage Studio's space figures?

No. Storage Studio measures files by the space they actually take on your disk, and an online-only file takes almost none. So online-only iCloud files never show up as space hogs in Storage Profile's **Biggest space-users**, and they don't inflate your used-space figures.

Files that are downloaded do count, because they're really using your SSD — that's where **Free up** and **Run Tuhi** can help.

The cloud share shown under **Where it lives** comes from your accounts' real usage, so you can still see how much lives in the cloud overall. See [how much space iCloud is using](https://storagestudio.us/faq/icloud/how-much-space-is-icloud-using-on-my-mac).