iCloud storage a disaster of access and random files

Full disclosure, I’m kind of an idiot when it comes to iCloud. I never really use the storage but somehow stuff ends up in it and I can’t see a rhyme or reason. Well, today, I finally decided to put my big boy pants on and try and figure it out. What I’m finding my main two issues are is;

1) I have files saved in both the cloud and on my iPad but when I go to access them, they’re greyed out. More specifically, if I look in the files app itself, I can access them. When I go to post them on a message forum using safari, I cannot access hardly anything. They’re pretty basic files but even trying to use pages or numbers, they’re grayed out.

2) The cloud is saving very random items, at least to me. Random webpages, shortcuts, very old documents I swore I deleted, etc. it’s just a hodgepodge of “stuff”. How can I edit what it saves and when?

I thak you in advance for your patience and assistance.