{"id":"privacy-safety.does-storage-studio-scan-my-icloud-by-downloading-it","url":"/faq/privacy-safety/does-storage-studio-scan-my-icloud-by-downloading-it","category":{"id":"privacy-safety","title":"Privacy & safety"},"subcategory":{"id":"what-leaves-your-mac","title":"What leaves your Mac"},"question":"Does Storage Studio download my online-only files to scan them?","alt_questions":["Will Storage Studio download my whole iCloud Drive?","Does duplicate checking download cloud files?","storage studio online only files scan","Does scanning use up my bandwidth?"],"short_answer":"No. Online-only iCloud files are skipped, and for connected cloud accounts Storage Studio reads the provider's own fingerprints instead of downloading files, so nothing is fetched just to scan it.","answer_markdown":"No. Online-only iCloud files are skipped when checking for duplicates, so nothing is downloaded just to compare it. For connected cloud accounts, Storage Studio reads the fingerprints the provider already keeps rather than fetching the files.\n\nIn the Storage Profile, online-only files take up no local space, so they never show up as space hogs on your Mac.","answer_html":"<p>No. Online-only iCloud files are skipped when checking for duplicates, so nothing is downloaded just to compare it. For connected cloud accounts, Storage Studio reads the fingerprints the provider already keeps rather than fetching the files.</p>\n<p>In the Storage Profile, online-only files take up no local space, so they never show up as space hogs on your Mac.</p>","answer_text":"No. Online-only iCloud files are skipped when checking for duplicates, so nothing is downloaded just to compare it. For connected cloud accounts, Storage Studio reads the fingerprints the provider already keeps rather than fetching the files.\n\nIn the Storage Profile, online-only files take up no local space, so they never show up as space hogs on your Mac.","tags":["online-only","icloud","duplicates"],"related":[{"id":"privacy-safety.does-storage-studio-access-my-cloud-files-in-the-background","question":"Does Storage Studio look through my cloud accounts in the background?","url":"/faq/privacy-safety/does-storage-studio-access-my-cloud-files-in-the-background"},{"id":"icloud.will-i-lose-icloud-files-if-i-make-them-online-only","question":"Will I lose my iCloud files if I make them online-only?","url":"/faq/icloud/will-i-lose-icloud-files-if-i-make-them-online-only"}],"applies_to":"all","last_reviewed":"2026-10-01","title":"Does Storage Studio download my online-only files to scan them? — Storage Studio FAQ","description":"No. Online-only iCloud files are skipped, and for connected cloud accounts Storage Studio reads the provider's own fingerprints instead of downloading files, so nothing is fetched just to scan it.","crumbs":[{"name":"Home","path":"/"},{"name":"FAQ","path":"/faq/"},{"name":"Privacy & safety","path":"/faq/privacy-safety/"},{"name":"Does Storage Studio download my online-only files to scan them?","path":"/faq/privacy-safety/does-storage-studio-scan-my-icloud-by-downloading-it"}],"jsonld":{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"FAQPage","url":"https://storagestudio.us/faq/privacy-safety/does-storage-studio-scan-my-icloud-by-downloading-it","inLanguage":"en","dateModified":"2026-10-01","mainEntity":[{"@type":"Question","name":"Does Storage Studio download my online-only files to scan them?","alternateName":["Will Storage Studio download my whole iCloud Drive?","Does duplicate checking download cloud files?","storage studio online only files scan","Does scanning use up my bandwidth?"],"acceptedAnswer":{"@type":"Answer","text":"No. Online-only iCloud files are skipped when checking for duplicates, so nothing is downloaded just to compare it. For connected cloud accounts, Storage Studio reads the fingerprints the provider already keeps rather than fetching the files.\n\nIn the Storage Profile, online-only files take up no local space, so they never show up as space hogs on your Mac.","url":"https://storagestudio.us/faq/privacy-safety/does-storage-studio-scan-my-icloud-by-downloading-it"}}]},"fragment":"<div class=\"wrap fl-wrap\"><div class=\"fl-layout\"><aside class=\"fl-side\" aria-label=\"FAQ topics\"><details open><summary>All topics</summary><ul class=\"fl-tree\"><li><a href=\"/faq/getting-started/\">Getting started</a> <span>70</span></li><li><a href=\"/faq/freeing-space/\">Freeing up space</a> <span>182</span></li><li><a href=\"/faq/moving-folders/\">Moving folders</a> <span>144</span></li><li><a href=\"/faq/apps/\">Apps</a> <span>146</span></li><li><a href=\"/faq/external-drives/\">External drives</a> <span>169</span></li><li><a href=\"/faq/finder-location/\">Finding things in Finder</a> <span>70</span></li><li><a href=\"/faq/cloud-accounts/\">Cloud accounts</a> <span>158</span></li><li><a href=\"/faq/icloud/\">iCloud &amp; iCloud Photos</a> <span>168</span></li><li><a href=\"/faq/data-transfers/\">Data Transfers</a> <span>119</span></li><li><a href=\"/faq/backups/\">Backups &amp; restore points</a> <span>126</span></li><li><a href=\"/faq/delta-drive/\">Delta Drive, Delta Trust &amp; My Drive</a> <span>125</span></li><li><a href=\"/faq/bridge-devices/\">Bridge &amp; your devices</a> <span>111</span></li><li><a href=\"/faq/duplicates/\">Duplicate files</a> <span>74</span></li><li><a href=\"/faq/junk-yard/\">Junk Yard</a> <span>113</span></li><li><a href=\"/faq/tuhi-assistant/\">Tuhi, your storage assistant</a> <span>105</span></li><li><a href=\"/faq/settings/\">Settings &amp; keep-time</a> <span>88</span></li><li><a href=\"/faq/performance-battery/\">Performance &amp; battery</a> <span>62</span></li><li class=\"fl-open\"><a href=\"/faq/privacy-safety/\" aria-current=\"true\">Privacy &amp; safety</a> <span>85</span><ul><li class=\"fl-on\"><a href=\"/faq/privacy-safety/#what-leaves-your-mac\">What leaves your Mac</a> <span>25</span></li><li><a href=\"/faq/privacy-safety/#permissions\">Permissions and access</a> <span>6</span></li><li><a href=\"/faq/privacy-safety/#file-safety\">Keeping your files safe</a> <span>14</span></li><li><a href=\"/faq/privacy-safety/#undo-and-recovery\">Undo and recovery</a> <span>4</span></li><li><a href=\"/faq/privacy-safety/#accounts-and-credentials\">Accounts, passwords and keys</a> <span>6</span></li><li><a href=\"/faq/privacy-safety/#clipboard-and-devices\">Clipboard, Junk Yard and your devices</a> <span>3</span></li><li><a href=\"/faq/privacy-safety/#ai-privacy\">Tuhi, Apple Intelligence and AI access</a> <span>2</span></li><li><a href=\"/faq/privacy-safety/#trust-and-security\">App trust, updates and security</a> <span>12</span></li><li><a href=\"/faq/privacy-safety/#your-data-and-rights\">Your data, uninstalling and your rights</a> <span>13</span></li></ul></li><li><a href=\"/faq/licensing-payments/\">Licensing &amp; payments</a> <span>131</span></li><li><a href=\"/faq/troubleshooting/\">Troubleshooting &amp; messages</a> <span>180</span></li><li><a href=\"/faq/comparisons/\">Comparisons &amp; alternatives</a> <span>75</span></li><li><a href=\"/faq/mac-storage-basics/\">Mac storage basics</a> <span>315</span></li></ul></details></aside><div class=\"fl-main\"><nav class=\"fl-crumbs\" aria-label=\"Breadcrumb\"><ol><li><a href=\"/\">Home</a></li><li><a href=\"/faq/\">FAQ</a></li><li><a href=\"/faq/privacy-safety/\">Privacy &amp; safety</a></li><li aria-current=\"page\">Does Storage Studio download my online-only files to scan them?</li></ol></nav>\n<form class=\"fl-search\" action=\"/faq/search\" method=\"get\" role=\"search\" data-fl-search>\n<label class=\"fl-visually-hidden\" for=\"fl-q\">Search the FAQ</label>\n<input id=\"fl-q\" type=\"search\" name=\"q\" value=\"\" placeholder=\"Search 2,816 questions…\" autocomplete=\"off\" spellcheck=\"false\">\n<button type=\"submit\">Search</button>\n<div class=\"fl-suggest\" role=\"listbox\" hidden></div>\n</form>\n<article class=\"fl-entry\">\n<p class=\"eyebrow fl-eyebrow\"><a href=\"/faq/privacy-safety/\">Privacy &amp; safety</a> · <a href=\"/faq/privacy-safety/#what-leaves-your-mac\">What leaves your Mac</a></p>\n<h1>Does Storage Studio download my online-only files to scan them?</h1>\n<p class=\"fl-short\"><strong>Short answer:</strong> No. Online-only iCloud files are skipped, and for connected cloud accounts Storage Studio reads the provider&#39;s own fingerprints instead of downloading files, so nothing is fetched just to scan it.</p>\n<div class=\"fl-answer\"><p>No. Online-only iCloud files are skipped when checking for duplicates, so nothing is downloaded just to compare it. For connected cloud accounts, Storage Studio reads the fingerprints the provider already keeps rather than fetching the files.</p>\n<p>In the Storage Profile, online-only files take up no local space, so they never show up as space hogs on your Mac.</p></div>\n\n<p class=\"fl-meta\">Last reviewed <time datetime=\"2026-10-01\">October 1, 2026</time></p>\n\n<section class=\"fl-related\"><h2>Related questions</h2><ul><li><a href=\"/faq/privacy-safety/does-storage-studio-access-my-cloud-files-in-the-background\">Does Storage Studio look through my cloud accounts in the background?</a></li><li><a href=\"/faq/icloud/will-i-lose-icloud-files-if-i-make-them-online-only\">Will I lose my iCloud files if I make them online-only?</a></li></ul></section>\n<p class=\"fl-formats\">Also available as <a href=\"/faq/privacy-safety/does-storage-studio-scan-my-icloud-by-downloading-it.md\">Markdown</a> and <a href=\"/faq/privacy-safety/does-storage-studio-scan-my-icloud-by-downloading-it.json\">JSON</a>.</p>\n</article></div></div></div>"}