No one is sticking floppies to their fridge anymore, but we still occasionally see the modern equivalent: saving data or documents in places that are likely to disappear. Just as you shouldn’t write the only copy of essential information on an easily erased whiteboard, you shouldn’t store important data in any of these locations:

• Unsaved documents: While autosave is becoming more common, it isn’t universal and often doesn’t activate until a document has been saved for the first time. When you create a new document, always save it right away, before you do anything else. Otherwise, you risk losing all your work if the app crashes, the Mac kernel panics, or the power goes out.
• Trash: We know, we know! Who would put something in the Trash that they want to keep? But it happens. Don’t do that! On the other hand, there’s also no reason to empty your Trash regularly unless you’re low on space. A good compromise is to choose Finder > Settings > Advanced and select “Remove items from the Trash after 30 days.” This way, you’ll always have a 30-day grace period to recover mistakenly deleted items.
• Clipboard: Most people know that the clipboard serves as a temporary holding place, overwritten with each new Copy or Cut. However, if you’re unaware of this, you might write something lengthy, use Cut to place it on the clipboard with the intention of pasting it elsewhere, and then forget to do so right away, resulting in data loss on the next use of Copy or Cut. Always paste anything you cut immediately. Many utilities (such as Copy ‘Em, Keyboard Maestro, LaunchBar, Pastebot, and Raycast) provide clipboard history so you don’t lose clipboard data immediately, but you still shouldn’t rely on it persisting indefinitely.
• Email Drafts mailbox: There’s nothing wrong with starting an email and coming back to it later to finish—that’s the point of the Drafts mailbox. It’s also a sensible way to begin a message on one device and complete it on another. However, avoid storing anything in Drafts for an extended period, and be aware that items there may disappear without warning. (And never, ever store anything in your email Trash mailbox—it will be deleted eventually.)
• Temporary folders: Thanks to its Unix roots, macOS includes several temporary folders, one located at /tmp and others specific to each user. These folders are cleared regularly, such as when the Mac is restarted, left idle for a long time, or when drive space is low. Storing important data in a temporary folder is a digital version of Russian roulette.
• Downloads folder: Although the Downloads folder isn’t inherently volatile, it’s unwise to store anything important there. You might forget about that document while tidying up and accidentally delete it, or you might use a cleanup tool in the future that does it for you.
• USB flash drives: There is nothing wrong with putting files on a USB flash drive. However, avoid storing the only copy of an important file on one, as it is too easy for the drive to be lost or damaged.
• Public computers, virtual machines, and sandboxed environments: This scenario is unlikely but not impossible. Imagine you’re working on a public computer in a lab and save a file on the desktop. When that computer reboots, it will likely delete all data to return to a fresh state for the next user. The same could apply to a virtual machine used for testing or a sandboxed environment that you log in to remotely.

There are also a few locations that generally aren’t problematic but deserve extra attention due to the higher likelihood of losing data:

• Third-party app folders in ~/Library: Some apps store their data in folders they maintain within your user account’s Library folder. While this is acceptable for data managed by those apps, we advise against putting anything else in these folders since it’s impossible to know how the app might deal with data it doesn’t recognize during a cleanup or major update.
• Desktop: It’s fine to work on documents stored on the desktop, but we recommend filing them away carefully when you’re finished. If you frequently move files in and out of your desktop, it’s all too easy to delete something important accidentally. Additionally, if you have iCloud Drive’s Desktop & Documents folder syncing enabled, you might unintentionally delete files from another Mac due to being in a different context.
• Box, Dropbox, Google Drive, iCloud Drive: Cloud storage services are entirely acceptable locations for important data, but they all offer options that store files only online, downloading them only when necessary. These options may prevent online-only files from being accessible when you’re offline or from being backed up locally. Worse, if you share cloud storage with others for collaboration, they could accidentally delete your data. Be sure to enable any available version history options and ensure everything is backed up locally.
• External drives or network storage: Many individuals and organizations store essential files and data on external drives and network storage. This approach is perfectly valid, provided that these locations are backed up. When designing your backup system, remember to include your external drives, network servers, and NAS devices. Lastly, if an external drive is encrypted, ensure that you have a backup of both its data and the decryption key.

If you want to avoid all these issues, save your files in your Documents folder and make sure you have a solid backup strategy.

Don’t Leave Your Important Work to Chance

At MacTech Solutions, we’re jealously protective of our customers’ data — and we can help you build a backup strategy that fits your life.

Whether it’s organizing your files, setting up Time Machine, or choosing the best storage options, you don’t have to do it alone.

Visit MacTech Solutions today in Finishing Touch Plaza, Wichita Falls — and let’s keep your digital life safe, secure, and stress-free.

(Featured image based on an original by iStock.com/shutjane)

The post Never Save Your Work in These Locations first appeared on MacTech Solutions.

Apple gives everyone 5 GB of storage for free, which is enough for core services, like iCloud Keychain, and to try the other services. However, those who wish to take full advantage of iCloud Photos and iCloud Drive, in particular, must subscribe to iCloud+. Along with extra storage, iCloud+ subscribers can use:

• iCloud Private Relay, which blocks tracking of Safari traffic, DNS queries, and most non-HTTP Web traffic
• Hide My Email, which creates random, unique email addresses that automatically forward to your inbox
• Custom Email Domains, which lets you register your own custom email domain and use it in a personalized email address

For now, though, we’ll focus on storage. Apple’s iCloud+ rates are similar to those for storage at Google Drive and Microsoft OneDrive, though the specifics vary slightly by service. Apple charges:

• 50 GB: $0.99 per month
• 200 GB: $2.99 per month
• 2 TB: $9.99 per month
• 6 TB: $29.99 per month
• 12 TB: $59.99 per month

Audit Your Storage Needs

How much you should get depends on how much data you wish to upload to start and how quickly you expect that amount to grow. For most people, iCloud Photos consumes more storage space than anything else, although syncing your Desktop and Documents folders between Macs using iCloud can also chew up space.

If you’re not currently using iCloud, use File > Get Info to determine the size of your Photos Library (located in your Pictures folder), and do the same for your Desktop and Documents folders if you want to sync them. You can also anticipate iPhone and iPad backups consuming up to 20 gigabytes or more.

Remember that you can share iCloud+ storage space with people in your Family Sharing group. Checking how much space others in your family would also like to use is worthwhile.

Get Started with iCloud+

Subscribe to iCloud+ in Settings/System Settings > Your Name > iCloud > Upgrade to iCloud+. (In pre-2024 versions of Apple’s operating system, tap Manage Account Storage and Change Storage Plan.)

Then, you can turn on iCloud Photos in Photos > Settings > iCloud on the Mac or Settings > Apps > Photos on the iPhone and iPad. (We recommend having one Mac use “Download Originals to this Mac” so you have a local copy of everything.) If it’s compelling for you, turn on Desktop and Documents folder syncing in System Settings > Your Name > iCloud > iCloud Drive on each of the Macs you want to participate—you don’t need to do anything on iPhones or iPads because everything from your Macs automatically appears in the iOS Files app. The initial sync, which uploads and deduplicates everything, can take days, depending on the upstream bandwidth of your Internet connection.

Once you’re set up, you can see and manage all the apps and services using iCloud. Go to Settings/System Settings > Your Name > iCloud, and next to Saved to iCloud, tap See All. Tap any app to see more information and change its settings.

Running Low on Storage Space

Like a physical drive, your iCloud account can run out of space. When that happens, you can delete data or pay for more space. To see how much you’re using and how that breaks down across different apps, open Settings/System Settings > Your Name > iCloud and, at the top, tap Storage or click Manage. You can then drill down to see more details about each app. For Photos, iCloud Drive, Backups, and Messages, Apple provides suggestions for removing large files to save significant amounts of space quickly. Most other apps offer only an option to delete all your data. Generally speaking, you should delete an app’s data only if you don’t anticipate ever using the app again.

As you get close to your space limit, your devices will prompt you to upgrade so you don’t encounter failures caused by a lack of space. Unsurprisingly, Apple makes it easy to upgrade to a larger tier.

Although there’s nothing exciting about online cloud storage, having more iCloud+ storage significantly improves the experience for those with multiple Apple devices who would appreciate a seamless photo experience with iCloud Photos, accessing their files anywhere, and backing up their iPhones and iPads without needing to connect to a Mac. iCloud storage works well and is reasonably economical for what you get.

For more information on all the great Apple products, features, and services, give us a call!  940-767-MACS (6227).  Or stop by MacTech Solutions, 4020 Rhea Rd, Suite 3B, Wichita Falls.  We’re open Monday thru Friday, 10am to 6pm

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The post Setting Up and Managing iCloud+ Storage first appeared on MacTech Solutions.

• Email: It’s easy to attach a file to an email message, but most email providers limit the attachment size, such as 20 MB (iCloud) or 25 MB (Gmail). Thus, email is best for sharing small files with other people—there are better ways of moving files among your own Macs. Attachments also take up significant space in your email account, and running out of space will cause new messages to bounce.
• Messages: For relatively small files, dropping a file in an iMessage (blue bubble) conversation in Messages works well as long as the file is smaller than 100 MB. Remember that files sent in Messages consume iCloud and local storage space unless deleted, so this approach is also best reserved for occasional use.
• AirDrop: To copy a file to another Mac in the same room, AirDrop is the most convenient solution. Make sure it’s turned on in Control Center on both Macs and the discovery options are correctly set. Bluetooth and Wi-Fi must be on, but the Macs don’t need to be connected to any network or to iCloud. To transfer a file, select AirDrop in a Finder window sidebar (enable it in Finder > Settings > Sidebar if necessary) and drop the file on the icon for the other Mac. Or Control-click the file, choose Share, click AirDrop, and select the desired Mac. AirDrop has no file size limits, but it’s not the fastest approach and might have issues with multi-gigabyte files or older Macs. Received files appear in the Downloads folder.
  
• File Sharing: Regularly copying files between Macs on the same network is best done with network file sharing. It’s fussy to set up, requiring one Mac to be set as the file server in Settings > General > Sharing > File Sharing. Then click the info icon to add shared folders, designate users, and set access privileges. (In macOS 14 Sonoma, the temporary “Allow full disk access for all users” option for the server Mac may simplify things.) To connect to the server Mac, in the Finder, choose Go > Network, and click the Connect As button to log in if necessary. On the plus side, once you’ve configured everything and made aliases or sidebar items for quick access, file sharing is easy and fast.
  
• Network server or NAS device: If you need to copy files between several Macs on a network, it may be better to use a dedicated server or NAS (network-attached storage) device as an intermediary. (Or, instead of copying files locally, you can access the files directly on the server or NAS. This requires a fast network.)
• Target Disk Mode: The fastest option for moving huge files around occasionally is Target Disk Mode over a Thunderbolt connection between two Macs. The setup differs between Intel-based Macs and Macs with Apple silicon, but once one Mac is in Target Disk Mode, it appears in the Finder of the connected Mac as an external drive, and you can drag files to and from it. It’s most appropriate for transferring many gigabytes of files.
• External storage: Never underestimate the speed and ease of copying files to external storage, whether an SSD, hard drive, or USB flash drive, and then copying them off to another Mac.
• Cloud storage service: Box, Dropbox, Google Drive, and iCloud Drive can all work well for moving files between Macs, although they’re best used with files under a few hundred megabytes. For sharing among your Macs, they’re particularly convenient, and it’s usually easy to copy a link to a file to share it with someone else, though that sometimes requires setting sharing permissions first. iCloud Drive sometimes has problems updating quickly.
• File sending service: The best way to send a large file via email, Messages, or another messaging service is to send a link. That’s easy if the file is already in a cloud storage service, and some email apps and services automatically create links for attachments over a certain size. Otherwise, try a file sending service such as Files to Friends or WeTransfer, which email links to files up to 1–2 GB in size for free. Many other services exist but allow only smaller files for free.

With so many options, you should have no trouble finding one that meets your needs in any particular situation.

(Featured image by iStock.com/LightFieldStudios)

The post 9 Ways of Moving Data from One Mac to Another first appeared on MacTech Solutions.

At a basic level, many people seem to equate the cloud with anything that’s online or with the Internet as a whole. That’s not incorrect, since everything in the cloud does take place online and is on the Internet, but it’s also not helpful.

Cloud Services Replace Local Hardware and Software

It’s more useful to think of the cloud as a way of referring to services made available over the Internet as a replacement for hardware or software on your Mac. These services largely fall into three broad categories: storage and backup, data syncing, and apps.

• Storage and backup: To add storage directly to your Mac, you’d connect an external hard drive or SSD. Cloud-based services like Dropbox, Google Drive, iCloud Drive, and OneDrive all provide the same basic function—more space to store data. Of course, they also go further, providing syncing between your devices and sharing with other people. Plus, just as you probably use Time Machine to back up to an external drive, you can use Backblaze to back up to the cloud.
• Data syncing: Before the cloud was a thing, syncing your contacts, calendar, and email between two Macs generally required either special software (like ChronoSync) or going through the export/import dance. Cloud-based services for such bits of data—including Apple’s iCloud syncing for Calendar and Contacts and Google Calendar—make it so the same information is available on all your devices all the time. They often provide a Web-based interface as well so you can access your data from someone else’s computer.
• Apps: An app like TextEdit runs on your Mac, but cloud-based apps like Google Docs provide app-like functionality while running in a Web browser. These days, many things that can be done directly on a computer can be done in a Web browser: word processing, spreadsheets, image editing, video streaming, video chat, and more.

Cloud Services Rely on “Cloud Computing”

Apps on your Mac use its processor and memory. You might also have used a network server; you use the apps on the server over the network, but they’re running on that particular server. In contrast, cloud services run on massive clusters of computer resources spread across many computers and even multiple data centers. When you’re typing into Google Docs, the processing resources that make that possible don’t come from a single computer dedicated to you—they’re provided to you and millions of others simultaneously by Google’s worldwide computer clusters.

Pros of the Cloud

There’s a lot to like about the cloud and what it makes possible:

• It’s accessible from nearly anywhere: As long as you have a high-speed Internet connection, you can access cloud-based services from anywhere in the world. And while not everywhere in the world has high-speed Internet access, it’s becoming more widely available all the time. Heck, you can now use the Internet on many commercial airplanes.
• It’s somebody else’s problem: That’s not entirely true, of course, but using a cloud-based service means the staff of the data center deals with failing computers or hard drives, network problems, and other maintenance. You just need a functional computer and Internet connection.
• It’s easy to switch devices and even platforms: Moving to a new iPhone or iPad is nearly trivial these days, thanks to being able to restore from an automatically created iCloud backup. And if you use Gmail, for instance, it would work just the same if you wanted to switch from an Android phone to an iPhone.
• It’s more flexible: If you decide to try a cloud service, it’s usually just a matter of setting up an account or signing in with an existing one. There’s no need to download and install software, or to clean up after the installer. Plus, if you need more storage space or additional features, it’s usually just a matter of upgrading an account and paying more—you don’t have to buy another hard drive or a whole new app.
• Costs are lower and more predictable: Many cloud services are entirely free, like Gmail and Google Docs, whereas others rely on monthly or annual subscriptions. Generally speaking, such subscriptions cost less than buying equivalent desktop software and all their upgrades. Whether or not a cloud app is cheaper, it’s a predictable expense you can build into a budget.

Cons of the Cloud

Of course, not everything about the cloud falls into the silver lining category. Some problems include:

• You can’t control when apps are upgraded: With desktop software, you can pick and choose when to upgrade, at least to some extent. Cloud apps, on the other hand, are upgraded whenever the developer wants, sometimes at inconvenient times or in major ways that might be hard for you to use. On the other side of the equation, you don’t have to spend time downloading and installing upgrades, or even thinking about whether to install them.
• You have limited control over your data: Although well-run cloud services are significantly less vulnerable to failure, damage, or theft than your Mac is, there’s no avoiding the fact that you can’t do much to prevent such problems. Backing up cloud-based data can be challenging, as can exporting it for use elsewhere.
• Subscriptions can add up: Any one cloud service may be reasonably priced, but if you end up with 10–15 subscriptions, the total annual cost may seem exorbitant. To be fair, major software packages used to cost hundreds or even thousands of dollars, and we all use many more apps and services than we did in the past.
• Security is a concern: While cloud providers may do a better job than you could of guaranteeing uptime and even backing up data, the fact remains that everything on the cloud is protected by passwords. If you reuse passwords or rely on weak ones, you could be in for a world of hurt. That’s why we always bang the drum for relying on a password manager for strong, unique passwords and turning on two-factor authentication whenever possible.
• Privacy can be a problem: Many free and ad-supported cloud services—most notably Facebook and Google—make their money by collecting data about you and using it to sell advertisers access to you. One reason to pay for a cloud service is that then you’re the customer, and as the saying goes, if you’re not the customer, you’re the product.

We’re not here to sell you on the cloud in general or scare you away from using it. In today’s world, there’s almost no way to avoid it, nor should you try to do so. Hopefully, now that you have a better idea of what the cloud really is, you can make more informed decisions about which cloud services can improve your technological life and which ones won’t.

(Featured image by Jordan M. Lomibao on Unsplash)

The post What Is the Cloud? first appeared on MacTech Solutions.

Pros and Cons

Why use iCloud Drive Folder Sharing instead of the more established services? Cost is the main one. Say you’re already paying Apple $9.99 for 2 TB of storage so you can use iCloud Photos with a large library. Why pay one of the other services another $9.99 per month—$240 per year—when you can get the same capabilities using iCloud? (Dropbox used to be entirely usable at its free level for those who didn’t need much shared storage, but users at that tier are also limited to just three devices, rendering it problematic for anyone with an iPhone, iPad, and desktop and laptop Macs.)

The main reason not to use iCloud Drive Folder Sharing is if the people with whom you want to share documents aren’t Apple users. Such people can get a free iCloud account if they create an Apple ID and then access iCloud Drive in a Web browser. Windows users can instead install iCloud for Windows to access it in Windows Explorer. But that may be too much effort for many.

iCloud Drive Folder Sharing on the Mac

First off, make sure iCloud Drive is selected in System Preferences > Apple ID > iCloud. If you have plenty of storage, leave Optimize Mac Storage unchecked. It’s worthwhile only if your Mac’s internal drive is nearly full.

On the Mac, iCloud Drive creates a special folder to hold all the data mirrored to iCloud. You can access it by choosing Go > iCloud Drive in the Finder. It’s usually available in the sidebar of Finder windows too. If not, open Finder > Preferences > Sidebar and select iCloud Drive.

You’ll likely see quite a few folders in iCloud Drive already, with names and icons matching apps that synchronize their data and files via iCloud. These folders exist purely for you and your apps—you can’t share them. However, you can create and share other folders within iCloud Drive.

To share a folder you’ve created, Control- or right-click it and choose Share > Share Folder to display a Share Folder dialog. You need to do three things here:

• From the Who Can Access pop-up menu, choose between “Only people you invite” and “Anyone with the link.” With the latter, you’re opting for security only through obscurity, so avoid that option if the data in the folder is confidential or important.
• From the Permission pop-up menu, choose between “Can make changes” and “View only.” Think carefully about this choice—view-only users can still copy files out of the folder and change them locally on their computers. However, they won’t be able to change your versions of shared files or add new files to the folder.
• Despite its position at the top of the dialog, choose the manner of sending the invitation last. If you’re sharing only with people you invite, you can select a sharing method and enter their email addresses or phone numbers. For folders shared with anyone who has the link, you don’t need to enter information for specific users.

When the people with whom you’re sharing the folder receive the sharing invitation or link and open it, the shared folder is added to their iCloud Drive folder. Its icon will have silhouettes of multiple people to indicate it’s a shared folder.

What if you need to invite more people, change permissions, get the sharing link again, or stop sharing entirely? Control- or right-click and choose Share > Manage Shared Folder (there’s also a Copy Link option there). A new dialog appears.

Most of the controls here are self-explanatory, but note that you can revoke a person’s access and change their permission level by clicking the ••• button in the row next to their name.

iCloud Drive Folder Sharing in iOS/iPadOS

The process is similar in iOS and iPadOS. Follow these instructions in the Files app:

1. Press and hold on the folder you want to share.
2. In the sheet that appears, tap Share.
3. In the Share sheet that appears, tap Share Folder in iCloud.
4. On the Share Folder screen, first tap Share Options and set Who Can Access and Permission.
5. Tap Back to return to the Share Folder screen, and tap the app through which you want to send your invitation (Messages below).
6. Enter the name of your recipient or pick them from your contacts list.
7. Enter a message to your recipient and send them the link to the shared folder.

Managing a shared folder in the Files app is similar. Once you press and hold on an already shared folder and tap Manage Shared Folder in the Share sheet, you can do the following:

• Tap Share Options to change Who Can Access and Permissions options, or to copy the link to the shared folder.
• Tap a person’s name to change their permissions or remove access entirely.
• Tap Stop Sharing to stop sharing the folder.

One final tip. Although iCloud Drive generally works well, we’ve occasionally seen it get stuck syncing on the Mac. You may see files or folders fail to sync between devices or have a file or folder permanently display the little cloud icon in the Finder that indicates iCloud Drive is updating. To resolve such problems and reset the local state of iCloud Drive, first make a copy of any critical files to the desktop, just in case. Then open System Preferences > Apple ID > iCloud, deselect iCloud Drive, click Remove from Mac when prompted, and then select iCloud Drive again. Give it some time to resync with iCloud and download new copies of your files.

(Featured image by sendi gibran on Unsplash)

The post Try iCloud Drive Folder Sharing Instead of Paying More for a File Sharing Service first appeared on MacTech Solutions.

(Featured image based on originals by Denny Müller on Unsplash and Mahir Uysal on Unsplash)

The post Reclaim Local Storage Space by Removing iCloud Drive Downloads first appeared on MacTech Solutions.

Apple will, of course, sell you more iCloud space. $0.99 per month gets you 50 GB, $2.99 per month provides 200 GB, and for $9.99 per month, you can use a whopping 2 TB. The latter two plans can even be shared with others in your Family Sharing group.

As we’ve noted elsewhere, using iCloud Photos almost certainly requires you to pay for extra storage. But if you’re paying $2.99 per month and nudge up against the 200 GB limit, you may not be enthused about increasing your payment to $9.99 per month when you’re unlikely to need anywhere near 2 TB.

That said, you don’t want to run out of storage space. Email to your iCloud email address will be rejected, photos won’t upload from your iPhone, and app data will fail to sync. Happily, Apple alerts you when you’re running low on space, before things get bad.

It’s often easy to recover space that’s not being used in a helpful way. First, check how much space you have and how much you’re using. In macOS 10.14 Mojave, look at the graph at the bottom of System Preferences > iCloud. In 10.15 Catalina, the graph is in System Preferences > Apple ID > iCloud. In iOS, you’ll find a similar graph at Settings > Your Name > iCloud.

Then, to clear space, work through these five approaches.

1. Remove Unnecessary iCloud Device Backups

The biggest win comes from deleting iCloud device backups for devices you no longer use. It’s common for these to stick around, so if you recently upgraded from an iPhone X to an iPhone 11 Pro, the iPhone X backup is probably still consuming gigabytes.

Navigate to Settings > Your Name > iCloud > Manage Storage > Backups to see what you have. If you find backups for a previous iPhone or iPad, tap it and then tap Delete Backup.

2. Delete Unnecessary Data from iOS Apps

While you’re in the iCloud Storage screen (the leftmost screenshot above), look through the other apps at the top of the list. The Photos app will likely be using the most storage, but all you can do to minimize its space usage is delete unnecessary screenshots, duplicate photos, and accidental videos from Photos. That will likely require lots of manual effort.

However, some other apps—think about third-party camera or video apps—may be using space unnecessarily. Investigate any apps reporting a lot of usage in the iCloud Storage screen, and if possible, clear out the unnecessary data.

Finally, consider Messages. If you regularly trade photos and videos in chats, it could be another place you can save significant space. In the iCloud Storage screen, tap Messages > Top Conversations to see which conversations are the largest. Tap one to switch to Messages, tap the person’s avatar at the top of the conversation, tap the Info button, scroll down to see the photos, and tap See All Photos. Tap Select, tap photos you have no desire to keep within that Messages conversation, and then tap Delete at the bottom-right of the screen.

3. Avoid Backing Up Apps with Massive iCloud Data Stores

If one of your apps is storing a lot of data that you don’t want to delete, but that you don’t care if it were to be lost, you can prevent it from being backed up by iCloud Backup and reduce the size of your backups.

To find such apps, navigate to Settings > Your Name > iCloud > Manage Storage > Backups and tap the name of the device you’re on. That screen shows which apps consume the most space in your backup. Tap the toggle switch next to an app to stop backing it up and delete its data from your backup.

4. Scan for and Delete Large Files in iCloud Drive

It’s hard to know if you’re likely to be using lots of space in iCloud Drive—it all depends on what iCloud-savvy apps you use and if you store other files in iCloud Drive via the Mac’s Finder or the Files app in iOS.

There’s no need to guess, however, thanks to free Mac apps that help you identify especially large files and folders. Our favorites are GrandPerspective and OmniDiskSweeper. GrandPerspective uses a graphical view so you can see at a glance where your space is going, whereas OmniDiskSweeper opts for a classic text-based approach that gives you hard numbers. In GrandPerspective, choose File > Scan Folder and select iCloud Drive in the sidebar of the Open dialog. For OmniDiskSweeper, choose File > Size Folder.

Whichever app you use, it’s easy to select large files or folders and click Delete (GrandPerspective) or Trash (OmniDiskSweeper). You may have to set an option in GrandPerspective > Preferences to enable deletions if its Delete button is disabled.

5. Delete Old Email from iCloud Mail

All the email you store at iCloud counts against your free space, so it can be worth clearing out unwanted old messages (and their large attachments). To delete individual messages using Apple’s Mail, just select them and click the Trash button in the toolbar. Some messages are much bigger than others, however, and to find them, choose View > Sort By > Size. That puts the largest messages at the top.

Of course, deleting messages normally just moves them to the Trash mailbox; to reclaim the space they occupy on iCloud, choose Mailbox > Erase Deleted Items > AccountName. Once you do that, the messages are gone for good.

If you want to remove an entire mailbox and its contents, select it in the sidebar and choose Mailbox > Delete Mailbox. That deletes all of its messages immediately and can’t be undone.

When you put all these space-clearing techniques together, you’ll likely be able to clear enough cruft that you won’t have to pay Apple for more iCloud storage space. But if you’re uncomfortable deleting such data, there’s no shame in upgrading to a larger iCloud storage plan.

(Featured image by stokpic from Pixabay)

The post What to Do If You Run Low on iCloud Storage Space first appeared on MacTech Solutions.