Go further with icloud drive

3 min read

You might be surprised by what you can do with iCloud Drive...

You can set up iCloud Drive on a Mac, mobile device or Windows PC. On a Mac, open System Settings/ Preferences (depending on which version of macOS you’re using), go to [your name] > iCloud > iCloud Drive and turn on ‘Sync this Mac’. On an iPad, iPhone or iPod touch, open Settings and tap [your name] > iCloud > iCloud Drive and tap ‘Sync this [Device]’. On a Windows PC, download iCloud for Windows, open it, select iCloud Drive then click Apply. Naturally, you can use iCloud Drive on iCloud.com, on any device with a web browser.

You can sync documents and folders found on your desktop using iCloud Drive. On your Mac’s iCloud settings, click iCloud Drive and turn on Desktop & Documents Folders. A folder called Desktop now appears in your mobile device’s Files app; files and folders on your Mac’s desktop are synced here. To find these items on another Mac, simply look for the Desktop & Documents folder in the iCloud Drive section of the Finder sidebar.

To access your iCloud Drive on a Mac, just click this option in a Finder window’s sidebar. As well as saving files directly to your iCloud from apps such as Pages, Numbers and Keynote, you can create new folders in the iCloud Drive and drag items into and out of it, just like with any other Finder folder. This is useful if you want to access data from a third-party app in the cloud.

EXPLAINED iCloud Drive explained >

On a mobile device, access iCloud Drive in the Files app. The sidebar icon (top left) gives access to these options.

Tap iCloud Drive in the sidebar (as per the highlighted option above) for access to the files and folders in your iCloud Drive.

These buttons create a new folder, change the way they’re displayed and let you select more than one item respectively.

Tap a folder to open it, and view the files inside. If you tap and hold a folder you get various options, including deleting it.

A cloud icon with a down-pointing arrow means there’s no local copy of that item on your device. Tap the icon to download it.

HOW TO Use iCloud Drive on Mac, iPhone & iPad >

On a Mac, your iCloud Drive folder should be accessible in a Finder window’s sidebar. If not, hold the Option key and use the menu bar’s Go menu to open the Library folder, then drag it