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Moving Documents folder to computer from iCloud

How do you take documents folder off iCloud and move to computer (MacBook Pro)?

MacBook Pro 15”, macOS 10.15

Posted on Oct 28, 2019 12:55 PM

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Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Posted on Oct 28, 2019 8:15 PM

Initially if iCloud Drive is turned as on and desktops and documents box are checked https://support.apple.com/en-in/guide/mac-help/mchle5a61431/10.14/mac/10.14

The documents can be moved out to another folder see the article https://support.apple.com/en-gb/guide/mac-help/mchl1a02d711/10.14/mac/10.14

  • On your Mac, drag items from iCloud drive to another folder in the Finder sidebar or on the desktop, such as Downloads, Movies, Music and Pictures. 
  • The items are copied to your Mac and removed from iCloud Drive on all your devices set up for iCloud. If you change your mind, you can drag items back to iCloud Drive.


You can delete documents by signing in with Apple ID and password at www.icloud.com , they will also get deleted from iCloud Drive also ( it works like a mirror ) .

4 replies
Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Oct 28, 2019 8:15 PM in response to ACH44

Initially if iCloud Drive is turned as on and desktops and documents box are checked https://support.apple.com/en-in/guide/mac-help/mchle5a61431/10.14/mac/10.14

The documents can be moved out to another folder see the article https://support.apple.com/en-gb/guide/mac-help/mchl1a02d711/10.14/mac/10.14

  • On your Mac, drag items from iCloud drive to another folder in the Finder sidebar or on the desktop, such as Downloads, Movies, Music and Pictures. 
  • The items are copied to your Mac and removed from iCloud Drive on all your devices set up for iCloud. If you change your mind, you can drag items back to iCloud Drive.


You can delete documents by signing in with Apple ID and password at www.icloud.com , they will also get deleted from iCloud Drive also ( it works like a mirror ) .

Oct 28, 2019 6:23 PM in response to macjack

I tried those steps but once I deselected Documents and Desktop I got the message “If you continue, items will be removed from the Desktop and the Documents folder on this Mac and will remain available in iCloud Drive.” I’m confused because I thought they are only in iCloud and not on my computer. And the message implies they won’t be on my computer but in iCloud. Am I misinterpreting?

Moving Documents folder to computer from iCloud

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