CAN I TRANSFER
SYNCED CONTENT
TO A NEW APPLE ID?SHOULD I SYNC
DESKTOP AND
DOCUMENTS
FOLDERS TO iCLOUD
DRIVE?iCLOUD PROBLEMS
Check out these tips to ensure that your
files are in sync and available
WHAT DOES iCLOUD PHOTOS DO, AND SHOULD I USE IT?
HOW CAN I GET MY
NON–APPLE EMAIL
IN THE MAIL APP?
CAN I SWITCH MY
iOS DEVICE TO A
DIFFERENT APPLE ID?WHY ISN’T MY STUFF SYNCING
BETWEEN MY MACS AND DEVICES?The Mail app can handle all
types of email account, but
turning on Mail in iCloud’s
settings (in System
Preferences on the Mac or
Settings on iOS) only activates
your iCloud address. Add
others (Gmail, your ISP email,
etc) in Mail > Add Account in
Mail on macOS or Settings
Passwords & Accounts > Add
Account in iOS.
iCloud can magic all your
photos, emails, contacts,
calendar events and so on
from each of your Macs
and iOS devices to the
others. If content fails to
materialize on a device,
most likely you’re not
logged in to iCloud on it, or
you’ve used the wrong
account, or haven’t turned
on the service. Look in
System Prefs > Apple ID (oriCloud) on your Mac; in iOS’
Settings, tap your name to
see who you’re logged in
as, then iCloud to see
what’s set to sync. Also go
to bit.ly/apple-sysstat for
any faults at Apple’s end.IN iOS’ SETTINGS > Apple ID > iCloud
Photos and in macOS Catalina’s
Photos > Preferences, what used to
be iCloud Photo Library is now just
called iCloud Photos. If you activate
iCloud Photos in iOS, all your photos are
kept online until your iCloud storage
Ľlls up. To buy more, go to Settings >
Apple ID > iCloud > Manage Storage
Change Storage Plan, or in macOS’
System Preferences go to Apple ID (or
iCloud) and click Manage.
On your Mac, check iCloud Photos to
upload all photos from your Mac in the
same way (check “Copy items to the
Photos library” in Photos > Preferences
> General to include newly imported
pics) and display all iCloud photos. If
you select “Download Originals to this
Mac”, all iCloud photos (from all your
devices) are also kept on your hard disk,
but note: as long as they’re synced to
iCloud, deleting one anywhere deletes
it everywhere.Not as such, but when you
turn off Contacts, Calendars
or Reminders you can opt
to keep their data on the
device. When you log in with
a new Apple ID and turn the
service back on, you can opt
to merge the data into that
account. Family Sharing
might also help: see bit.ly/
apple-sufs.This is set in System
Preferences > Apple ID (or
iCloud) > iCloud Drive >
Options). It may be handy to
give access to files in those
locations when away from
your Mac, and also serves
as a backup. But this could
quickly fill up your iCloud
storage, so uncheck it if
you don’t need this.In Settings > Apple ID, scroll
down to Sign Out, then sign
in with the new account. If
you try to switch again, you
may have to wait 90 days
to do so: see bit.ly/apple-
assocdevit. Separately, in
Settings > iTunes & App
Store, you can freely switch
the Apple ID used for
purchases.Image rights from: Apple.
Genius Handbook
maclife.com MAR 2020 27