Optimise Cloud Storage Locally

Cloud services such as iCloud Drive, Google Drive, OneDrive, Dropbox and Box keep a downloaded copy of many files on your Mac, and those copies can add up to many gigabytes. Optimise Cloud Storage turns downloaded files back into online-only files. Nothing is deleted: each file stays in your cloud account and downloads again the moment you open it.

Three ways to do it

• Automatically, in Smart Care. When you have cloud storage set up, a Smart Care run includes Keep cloud files online-only. This step works on downloaded iCloud Drive files of 50 MB or more.
• For one cloud folder, now. Open the More menu (•••) → Optimize Cloud Storage… and pick a cloud folder from the list. Storage Studio goes through that folder and makes each downloaded file online-only. If none are found, the list says No cloud storage detected.
• As part of Free Up Space. In Settings → Rules, under Free Up Space includes, turn on Optimise cloud storage locally for the providers you choose. It's off for every provider until you turn it on, because it's more thorough than the other steps. The same section shows how much of your Mac's disk is currently holding downloaded cloud files.

What stays downloaded

%% caption: How each downloaded cloud file is handled
flowchart TD
  A[A cloud file on your Mac] --> B{Already online-only?}
  B -->|Yes| C[Nothing to do]
  B -->|No| D{Is an app using it?}
  D -->|Yes| E[Left downloaded]
  D -->|No| F{Will the provider let an app do this?}
  F -->|Yes| G[Made online-only - space comes back]
  F -->|No| H[Left downloaded - use Remove Download in Finder]

• Files you're using are skipped and stay downloaded.
• Files that are already online-only take almost no space and are left as they are.
• Small files are skipped by Smart Care's step, which only goes after files of 50 MB or more.
• Files from providers that don't allow it. On recent versions of macOS, some providers don't let other apps make their files online-only. Storage Studio can't change that, so it leaves those files downloaded and tells you to use Remove Download in Finder instead: right-click the file or folder and choose Remove Download.

Doing it file by file

Your Storage Profile lists your Biggest space-users. A downloaded cloud file there has a Free up button that makes just that file online-only. If the provider won't allow it, the button changes to Remove Download… and opens the file in Finder, so you can finish with the provider's own command. See Your Storage Profile.

Good to know

• Opening an online-only file needs an internet connection. If you'll be offline, keep the files you need downloaded.
• This doesn't change anything in your cloud account. The files, and their sync, are untouched.
• Results show up in Job Insights under Optimise Cloud Storage.

See also: Keep opened files on this Mac · Storage Studio and Optimise Mac Storage · Keep opened files versus iCloud's Remove Download · Freeing up space: the options