---
id: icloud.why-are-icloud-desktop-and-documents-listed-separately
url: https://storagestudio.us/faq/icloud/why-are-icloud-desktop-and-documents-listed-separately
category: "iCloud & iCloud Photos"
subcategory: "Desktop & Documents in iCloud"
question: "Why does Optimize Cloud Storage list iCloud · Desktop and iCloud · Documents separately?"
alt_questions:
  - "iCloud · Documents in storage studio menu"
  - "Two iCloud entries in Optimize Cloud Storage"
  - "What is iCloud · Desktop?"
  - "Separate iCloud Desktop option"
  - "Optimize only my iCloud Documents"
short_answer: "When Desktop & Documents Folders syncs to iCloud, Storage Studio lists iCloud · Desktop and iCloud · Documents as separate rows so you can make one online-only without touching the other."
tags: ["optimize cloud storage", "desktop and documents", "icloud drive"]
related: ["https://storagestudio.us/faq/icloud/what-is-desktop-and-documents-folders-in-icloud", "https://storagestudio.us/faq/icloud/how-do-i-make-icloud-drive-files-online-only-with-storage-studio"]
applies_to: "all"
last_reviewed: 2026-10-01
---

# Why does Optimize Cloud Storage list iCloud · Desktop and iCloud · Documents separately?

So you can free one without the other. When **Desktop & Documents Folders** is on, your Desktop and Documents are iCloud folders too, and Storage Studio shows each as its own row — **iCloud · Desktop** and **iCloud · Documents** — next to **iCloud Drive** itself.

That lets you, for example, free an old Documents archive while keeping everything on your Desktop downloaded for quick access. On macOS 14 and later, macOS no longer lets apps free a whole folder this way, so the menu points you to Finder's **Remove Download** for the folder you pick.

The rows only appear when the option is on. If you turn it off, they disappear the next time you open the menu, because those folders are no longer iCloud folders.