Clean up the junk in your Apple iCloud storage and free up space

There are junk files and folders cluttering up your iCloud storage and they may be using valuable space. However, they are hidden and are not obvious. Let's see how to make them visible and to remove them.

Where do junk files come from?

Many apps on the Apple Mac, iPhone and iPad store data and documents in iCloud because it makes them easy to access across computers and devices. Save a document on the iPhone and it can be opened and viewed on the Mac, for example.

This is very useful, but what if an app stores data and documents in your iCloud storage and you then stop using the app? Maybe you get bored with it or maybe you find a different app that is better.

Deleting the app does not always delete the files and folders stored on iCloud. The advantage of this is that you could reinstall the app and access your files and app settings again. The disadvantage is that folders and files for apps you removed and no longer have are cluttering up your iCloud storage.

To be honest, if you are paying for extra storage and have 200GB of space or even just 50GB, you aren't going to notice the small amount of space lost to junk files. However, it can make a significant difference if you are struggling with the 5GB of free storage you get.

It is soon filled, especially if iPhones and iPads are backing up to it, so you might want to clear out files and folders you no longer need.

Maybe I am just obsessive about being organised, but it just irritates me seeing junk files. I have to get rid of them, even though the space used by them is negligable.

Show hidden files in Finder

If you open a Finder window and select iCloud Drive in the sidebar, (add an icon to the Dock to open iCloud directly), it looks something like this.

Everything is neat and tidy and there are no junk files. However, the junk is there and it is hidden. We must configure Finder to show hidden files.

Open Terminal in the Utilities folder and enter:

defaults write com.apple.finder AppleShowAllFiles TRUE

This basically tells Finder to show all files instead of just some of them.

After changing Finder's settings, it must be restarted. One way to do this is to log out and then log back in. However, there is a simpler method. Go to the Apple menu at the left side of the menu bar and select Force Quit. Select Finder and click Relaunch.

Now open a Finder window again and select iCloud Drive in the sidebar. Many more folders are displayed and you might recognise them from apps you once used a long time ago, but have since deleted.

Be careful not to delete any folders belonging to apps you use.

Delete iCoud junk in System Preferences

Even showing hidden files did not seem to find all the junk and there is more to be found. Open System Preferences and click iCloud. Click the Manage button at the bottom and a list of apps and the storage they use is displayed.

Select apps you no longer have or will use again, then click Delete Documents and Data on the right.

iCloud storage usage will vary from one person to the next. Some people may only free up a megabyte or two, while other people could free uo hundreds.

If you want to stop seeing hidden files in Finder, open Terminal and enter:

defaults write com.apple.finder AppleShowAllFiles FALSE