Networking

We help to solve your Wi-Fi woes and connection conundrums

- PHIL THOMPSON

Accounting for iCloud space

Q According to my iCloud account, I have 127GB of documents, but I can only identify a few files. How can I account for all that missing space?

A Both macOS and iOS now provide detailed listings of what is held in your iCloud storage. In macOS, open the Apple ID pane and at its foot click on the Manage button. After a moment loading, it shows a detailed breakdown by app; it then suggests ways to reduce used space for each item. iPhones and iPads offer similar through Settings > [Apple ID] > iCloud > Manage Storage. These won’t be the same – each Mac and device also has its own data as well as that common to all that can access that account.

Some but not all of these files are also visible in the Finder’s iCloud Drive. My free tool Cirrus from bit.ly/mac355cirrus lets you explore what’s in those and other hidden folders in more detail. Although you can control which files are also stored locally on your Mac by evicting or downloading them with Cirrus or Bailiff, that doesn’t affect how much space they take up in iCloud, as all files kept in iCloud occupy their full size there.