Hi.
I'm trying to backup the files I have stored in iCloud onto an external hard drive, but it has stopped working multiple times, usually citing disk full. Should I copy the folder to the Mac first, then copy to the drive? Any advice would be appreciated.
Thanks
DJH
MacBook Pro 16″, macOS 12.5
djaytch Said:
"icloud backup to external drive: Hi. I'm trying to backup the files I have stored in iCloud onto an external hard drive, but it has stopped working multiple times, usually citing disk full. Should I copy the folder to the Mac first, then copy to the drive? Any advice would be appreciated. Thanks DJH"
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Downloading All of iCloud:
If you wanted to, you could get a larger external hard drive. As from transferring it, perform the transfer using my user tip: Use my User Tip: Getting a Quick and Direct "iCloud Drive-to-External Hard Drive" Download - User Tip
djaytch Said:
"icloud backup to external drive: Hi. I'm trying to backup the files I have stored in iCloud onto an external hard drive, but it has stopped working multiple times, usually citing disk full. Should I copy the folder to the Mac first, then copy to the drive? Any advice would be appreciated. Thanks DJH"
-------
Downloading All of iCloud:
If you wanted to, you could get a larger external hard drive. As from transferring it, perform the transfer using my user tip: Use my User Tip: Getting a Quick and Direct "iCloud Drive-to-External Hard Drive" Download - User Tip
See a thread Cloud and Hard Drive - Apple Community
Connect and use other storage devices with Mac - Apple Support
It depends the iCloud Drive and desktops and documents box is turned so all files are synced , if you have moved all files to some other location Work with files and folders in iCloud Drive – Apple Support
Drag those files to an external hard drive .
djaytch Said:
"icloud backup to external drive: Thanks for this. I thought I had it, but when I got to iCloud and selected drive and looked for the download icon, it was greyed out and not allowing me to proceed. I switched to Chrome and it did the same thing... I don't know what I could have done...? Any thoughts?"
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You are welcome.
Re-Mount the Drive:
Boot into Recovery Mode (Intel or Silicon) . Then, using Disk Utility, see if the Hard Drive is seem. If it is, then see if you need to click the “Mount’ button for it. Try rebooting once more. If of no success, then click unmount button, and then the mount button. Try rebooting once more.
Thanks for your reply, but this has nothing to do with Time Machine. I want to backup my iCloud files to an external hard drive so I have them if I don't have access to the cloud for whatever reason.
Cheers
DJH
Thanks for this. I thought I had it, but when I got to iCloud and selected drive and looked for the download icon, it was greyed out and not allowing me to proceed. I switched to Chrome and it did the same thing... I don't know what I could have done...? Any thoughts?
Thanks
DJH
The easiest way by far, is to copy your iCloud folder from your Mac. Provided you do not have optimize Mac turned on, all of your files are already resident on the Mac and easily copied or backed up using Time Machine or equivalent.
If you optimize, you'll want to download folders/files first (which can take some time), and then copy to the external drive.
It seems to only want to enable "download" when it is a single file. It doesn't work for a folder, which seems sadly lacking...
icloud backup to external drive
