iCloud & iCloud Photos · iCloud and external drives
Does Storage Studio ever move online-only cloud files to my external drive?
Short answer: No. Storage Studio's rules skip online-only files and anything inside iCloud Drive or other cloud folders, so nothing is downloaded just to be moved and iCloud's sync is never disturbed.
No. Storage Studio's rules skip online-only files and anything inside iCloud Drive or other cloud folders, so they never download a cloud file just to move it, and never shift files that iCloud is syncing.
That matters for two reasons: moving an online-only file would force it to download first, filling the disk you're trying to free, and moving any iCloud file elsewhere would look to iCloud like a deletion.
Cloud files have their own space-saver — online-only — which keeps them in iCloud and frees your Mac. See why rules skip iCloud.