Cannot remove iCloud Drive folders with Optimize Mac Storage

Question

Cannot remove iCloud Drive folders with Optimize Mac Storage

Hello there, for at least months now I am having this problem where I can't remove a downloaded folder from iCloud Drive while "Optimize Mac Storage" is activated. I can still remove independent files but not a whole folder wich is a big pain obviously since I'd have to go through hundreds of subfolders and select thousands of files sometimes.

So the thing is that when right-clicking on a folder the option is displayed in the context menu and not grayed out:

"Download entfernen" is german for "Remove Download".

But when clicking on it I would only get this error wich translates to "The folder "Adobe" can not be ejected" wich is a very weird wording in the first place. And no, it's not just the Adobe folder, that's just an example.

The "Remove Download" works when "Optimize Mac Storage" is activated though but then I don't have manual control over what's offline accessible and whats not wich is not an option.

Basically what that means is that my whole iCloud is downloaded on my Mac at all times and that obviously takes up a whole lot of space wich does not need to be blocked.

Does anyone else experience the same issues? Are there any solutions to the problem?

Best regards from Germany,

Felix

MacBook Pro 14″

Posted on Dec 2, 2025 2:51 AM

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Answer 1

Dec 2, 2025 11:07 AM in response to JuicyMacintosh

You've restarted the Mac, of course. Try re-starting in Safe Mode. This bypasses certain potentially disruptive processes, and it often helps. Safe Mode is different for different computers, so see this:

Start up your Mac in safe mode - Apple Support

You can't operate permanently in Safe Mode, so restart after you see if things change.

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Answer 2

Dec 2, 2025 8:27 AM in response to JuicyMacintosh

Reset iCloud File Provider (mild reset)

This refreshes the underlying sync engine.

Terminal:


killall bird

This restarts the iCloud sync daemon.

Sometimes it restores folder offloading behavior without reboot.

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Answer 3

Dec 3, 2025 6:23 AM in response to JuicyMacintosh

Using Safe Mode clears out caches and things which often is what it takes. But if it works but doesn't last, that's also a clue.

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Answer 4

Dec 2, 2025 1:01 PM in response to JuicyMacintosh

EDIT FOR EVERYONE TO MAKE IT CLEAR: I made a Mistake - the "Optimize Mac Storage"-Option is DEactivated, not activated. But when it is actually activated, the removal works. Anyways, it should actually work both ways, that's for sure.

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Answer 5

Dec 2, 2025 9:59 AM in response to Richard.Taylor

Hey Richard, **** I just realized that I mixed things up in the text. Optimize Mac Storage is indeed deactivated! And that's the point of course. Funny thing is though, as soon as I activate it, I can actually decide what to download and what not. But then, as you describe, MacOS takes care of it as well and makes its own decisions which I don't want.

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Answer 6

Dec 2, 2025 8:47 AM in response to azaksalmarzur28

Nope, no changes unfortunately...

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Answer 7

Dec 2, 2025 10:17 AM in response to Richard.Taylor

It's like this for ages already and I checked it at a friends Mac and for him it's working as expected.

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Answer 8

Dec 2, 2025 3:39 PM in response to Richard.Taylor

I will try that. But do you think this will have a permanent impact?

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Answer 9

Dec 2, 2025 9:43 AM in response to JuicyMacintosh

Hi back to you from Texas,

I'm not using Optimize, and I can Remove or Keep folders as I like. Optimize is there to take care of that stuff automatically, though. If you don't want to rely on Optimize's auto decisions,I wonder why you don't just turn it off and then Remove the ones you want removed manually? It seems like that's what you really want, isn't it?

What do you think?

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Answer 10

Dec 2, 2025 10:10 AM in response to JuicyMacintosh

That makes sense!

When I first started messing with iCloud Drive, in Sequoia, I think, I found that I could manipulate files but not folders-- seems just what you're experiencing. However, "Remove Download" wasn't even offered. But that got better-- I just figured they'd changed it. Have you been doing this awhile? It might be that things have to settle down before we get full control. I'm pretty sure I didn't get a message with the word "ejected" in it, though.

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