Removing a file from the Mac using iCloud Control does not delete it. The
original is online and can be opened in any app.SomeadvancedMacusersspenda lotof
timein Terminalenteringcommandsrather
thanpointingandclickingin themacOS
graphicaluserinterface.iCloudfilesand
folderscanbeaccessedfroma Terminal
commandprompt,althoughthefolder
locationis rathera longandcomplicated
one.Oncethere,youcancopyormove
filesandfolders.If youwanttogetreally
geeky,usethe‘ln’commandtocreatea
shorterpathlike~/myicloud.Type‘man
link’forinstructions.iCloud from Terminal
1
Find iCloud storage
Open Terminal from Utilities and type ‘cd’
followed by a space. Drag a folder from iCloud
in Finder and drop it on Terminal. You’ll see
where on the Mac the iCloud folder is stored.2
iCloud file operations
Once in iCloud or a subfolder, use ‘ls’ to
list the files and folders. Type ‘cd foldername’
to open a folder and ‘..’ to go up a folder. Use
‘cp’ to copy files and ‘mv’ to move them.Step-by-step Free up Mac drive space
1
Install iCloud Control
iCloud Control (http://bit.ly/30zknHS)
is not in the Mac App Store, so it must be
downloaded and unzipped. Ctrl+click the app
(the first time only) and then click ‘Open’.4
Remove local files
There is a new toolbar icon in Finder.
Select iCloud in the sidebar, select a file on
the Mac’s drive (you can tell from the icon) and
click ‘Remove selected item locally’.2
Enable the extension
The app shows this help screen. Open
System Preferences>Extensions and enable
the iCloud Control Finder extension. The app
can be closed and is not required again.5
Check the space
The file is still there, but the icon shows
it is only online. Press Cmd+I and notice the
disk space used is tiny. If it is copied, moved or
opened, Finder downloads it.3
Restart Finder
After enabling the Finder extension, either
log out and log back in or go to the Apple
menu, Force Quit and relaunch Finder. These
three steps are not needed in future.6
Free up space
Not only can files be removed locally,
whole directory structures can. Select a folder,
like this 3GB one, and remove it to free up the
space. Everything remains online.Image Source: Robbert Brandsma