---
title: "Storage Studio's cloud accounts and iCloud Drive"
url: https://storagestudio.us/wiki/compared-with-icloud-drive
category: "Compared with macOS"
tags: ["cloud accounts", "finder", "comparison"]
summary: "Your own iCloud Drive is built into macOS and needs nothing from Storage Studio. Storage Studio adds other accounts, including another Apple ID's iCloud Drive, to Finder in one place."
updated: 2026-10-01T05:32:29.000Z
---

# Storage Studio's cloud accounts and iCloud Drive

Your own iCloud Drive is built into macOS and needs nothing from Storage Studio. Storage Studio adds other accounts, including another Apple ID's iCloud Drive, to Finder in one place.

iCloud Drive is built into macOS, and Storage Studio leaves it exactly as it is. What Storage Studio adds is a home in Finder for your **other** cloud accounts.

## What iCloud Drive does

Signed in with your Apple ID, your Mac shows **iCloud Drive** in Finder's sidebar. Files sync across your Apple devices, you can choose to keep your Desktop and Documents folders in iCloud, and Optimise Mac Storage can make older files [online-only](https://storagestudio.us/wiki/glossary-online-only-file) when space is short. You don't need to add it to Storage Studio — it's already on your Mac.

## What Storage Studio adds

- **Other accounts in Finder.** Accounts you connect in **Remotes & Accounts** — such as Google Drive, Dropbox, OneDrive or Box — appear as folders inside the **Storage Studio** location in Finder's sidebar, with files online-only until you open them.
- **Another Apple ID.** You can add the iCloud Drive of a different Apple ID, such as a family member's. That Apple ID needs Advanced Data Protection off and **Access iCloud Data on the Web** on, and Apple asks for a new verification code about once a month. Its iCloud Photos can appear too, read-only.
- **Space back from your own iCloud Drive.** **Optimize Cloud Storage…** in the More menu can make the downloaded files in your iCloud Drive online-only in one pass.

```mermaid
%% caption: Where each account shows up in Finder
flowchart TD
  A[Your cloud storage] --> B{Which account?}
  B -->|Your own Apple ID| C[iCloud Drive in Finder's sidebar]
  B -->|Another Apple ID| D[Storage Studio location]
  B -->|Google Drive, Dropbox, OneDrive, Box and others| D
```

*Flowchart — Where each account shows up in Finder. Outline:*

- Your cloud storage
  - leads to Which account?
- Which account?
  - Your own Apple ID: leads to iCloud Drive in Finder's sidebar
  - Another Apple ID: leads to Storage Studio location
  - Google Drive, Dropbox, OneDrive, Box and others: leads to Storage Studio location

## Using both

Keep using iCloud Drive for your own Apple ID as you always have. Use Storage Studio for everything else, so all your accounts are reachable from Finder without filling your Mac.

See also: [Cloud accounts](https://storagestudio.us/wiki/cloud-accounts) · [iCloud Drive for another Apple ID](https://storagestudio.us/wiki/icloud-drive-for-another-apple-id) · [The Storage Studio location in Finder](https://storagestudio.us/wiki/the-storage-studio-location-in-finder)

- **Can I see all my cloud accounts in Finder on a Mac?** Yes. Storage Studio adds a "Storage Studio" location to Finder's sidebar, with each connected cloud account and paired device as a folder inside, and a Finder button in the app's main window opens it. Files stay in the cloud until you open them. Folders you have visited open straight away and… (https://storagestudio.us/faq)

## What links here

- [Accounts Storage Studio doesn't connect](https://storagestudio.us/wiki/accounts-we-dont-connect)
- [Cloud accounts](https://storagestudio.us/wiki/cloud-accounts)
- [Signing in to another Apple ID's iCloud fails](https://storagestudio.us/wiki/icloud-sign-in-problems)
- [The Storage Studio location in Finder](https://storagestudio.us/wiki/the-storage-studio-location-in-finder)
- [iCloud Drive for another Apple ID](https://storagestudio.us/wiki/icloud-drive-for-another-apple-id)