iCloud & iCloud Photos · Troubleshooting iCloud space

Why do I see copies like "file 2" in iCloud Drive?

Short answer: They're usually copies iCloud keeps when the same file changed in two places, so no work is lost. Compare and delete the one you don't need. Storage Studio's Duplicates window groups only files that are exact copies.

Those are usually copies iCloud made to avoid losing work — for example when the same file was changed on two devices before they synced, or when a folder was copied back in. Rather than overwrite one version, iCloud keeps both with a number added to the name.

To tidy them up:

  1. Open both versions and decide which one to keep — they may not be identical.
  2. Delete the one you don't need (it goes to the Trash first).

Storage Studio's Duplicates window can help with the iCloud Drive files on your Mac: it only groups files whose contents are exactly the same, recommends which copy to keep, and moves the extras to the Trash. Versions that differ aren't treated as duplicates. See duplicates in iCloud Drive.

Last reviewed

Related questions

Also available as Markdown and JSON.