You can make a difference in the Apple Support Community!

When you sign up with your Apple Account, you can provide valuable feedback to other community members by upvoting helpful replies and User Tips.

Looks like no one’s replied in a while. To start the conversation again, simply ask a new question.

User profile for user: shantzart
shantzart Author
User level: Level 1
8 points

Will icloud back up on a new mac replace the information on my icloud drive?

Hello,

I just got a new mac.

I had the old mac set up with icloud back up and want to do the same with this new one, but I would like to know what will happen when I do it:

  1. Will the information, folders, etc, from my new mac and my icloud drive merge on my icloud drive?
  2. Will the information, folders, etc, on my icloud drive be replaced with the information on my new mac? In that case, will it be deleted from my icloud drive?


Please could anyone shed some light on this?

MacBook Air (2020 or later)

Posted on Apr 11, 2021 8:34 AM

Reply
Question marked as Top-ranking reply
User profile for user: léonie
léonie
User level: Level 10
196,989 points

Posted on Apr 11, 2021 8:51 AM

Which iCloud services have you been using on your old Mac? There is no iCloud Backup on a Mac, only on an iPhone or iPad. Have you been syncing with iCloud Drive? Or iCloud Photos? And using iCloud with other apps, like Calendar, Notes, etc?


You can use iCloud Drive and on several Macs. All Macs will be seeing the same documents and data on iCloud Drive. If all Macs are syncing Desktop and Documents, the Desktop and Documents folders will be identical on all Macs and kept in sync. Turning on iCloud on another Mac will not delete files, but merge the contents from all Macs in iCloud, also the data for all synced applications. Add your Desktop and Documents files to iCloud Drive - Apple Support


View in context

Similar questions

4 replies
Question marked as Top-ranking reply
User profile for user: léonie
léonie
User level: Level 10
196,989 points

Apr 11, 2021 8:51 AM in response to shantzart

Which iCloud services have you been using on your old Mac? There is no iCloud Backup on a Mac, only on an iPhone or iPad. Have you been syncing with iCloud Drive? Or iCloud Photos? And using iCloud with other apps, like Calendar, Notes, etc?


You can use iCloud Drive and on several Macs. All Macs will be seeing the same documents and data on iCloud Drive. If all Macs are syncing Desktop and Documents, the Desktop and Documents folders will be identical on all Macs and kept in sync. Turning on iCloud on another Mac will not delete files, but merge the contents from all Macs in iCloud, also the data for all synced applications. Add your Desktop and Documents files to iCloud Drive - Apple Support


Reply
User profile for user: shantzart
shantzart Author
User level: Level 1
8 points

Apr 11, 2021 9:51 AM in response to léonie

I just did this and now I can't see them on my mac. I can see they are still on the cloud but can't access them from the mac.

When I click on documents or icloud a message appears that says:


"icloud for documents

You can move your existing documents to icloud by dragging them here from the Finder or other apps."


I clicked on the download little cloud icon that appears on the corner and hope this allows me to see them and work with them. Will it?


Note: It's all kinds of files and documents from work, illustrator files, images, videos, word, excel, powerpoint documents, etc.


Reply

Will icloud back up on a new mac replace the information on my icloud drive?

Welcome to Apple Support Community
A forum where Apple customers help each other with their products. Get started with your Apple Account.
Learn more Sign up