Once you\u2019re ready, navigate to System Preferences > iCloud > iCloud Drive > Options and select Desktop and Documents Folders. Make sure Optimize Mac Storage at the bottom of the dialog is\u00a0not<\/i><\/b>\u00a0selected.<\/p>\n
![\"Desktop](\"https:\/\/www.computeradvantage.us\/v3\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/DD-folder-syncing-iCloud-prefs-1.png\")
<\/p>\n
When you do this, Sierra\u00a0moves<\/i>\u00a0your Desktop and Documents folders from your home folder to iCloud Drive, which could be disconcerting. They\u2019re still accessible from a Finder window\u2019s sidebar, from the Finder\u2019s Go menu, and within iCloud Drive itself. It may take some time for iCloud to slurp up all your data, so be patient. For your other Macs, make sure they\u2019re signed in to the same iCloud account, and repeat these steps.<\/p>\n
From then on, when you create, edit, or delete a file on the Desktop or in the Documents folder on any of your Macs, Sierra syncs that change up to iCloud and then down to all your other Macs. It\u2019s reasonably quick, depending on the speed of your Internet connection, but avoid working on the same file on different Macs without letting syncing complete first or you could end up with conflicted copies. If you\u2019re offline, you can work as normal, but your changes won\u2019t sync up until your Mac reconnects to the Internet.<\/p>\n
If necessary, you can work with the contents of these folders on non-Sierra Macs directly in iCloud Drive\u2014choose Go > iCloud Drive in the Finder to access them.<\/p>\n
Some Sierra users have found that the contents of subsequent Macs\u2019 Desktop and Documents folders end up in sub-folders named along the lines of \u201cDesktop \u2013 name-of-Mac.\u201d If you see this, make sure iCloud Drive has had time to upload and sync everything. If so, you can move the sub-folders\u2019 files into the main Desktop and Documents folders manually.<\/p>\n
Now, about that Optimize Mac Storage checkbox. When it\u2019s selected, if your Mac runs low on drive space, Sierra may delete old, large files from the local drive to free up more space. The files remain in iCloud Drive, and you can click a cloud button next to their names in the Finder to download them. What\u2019s unknown as yet is whether iCloud-only files will be backed up by Time Machine and other backup apps; you could end up with the iCloud Drive version of a file being the only extant copy. As a result, we don\u2019t recommend selecting Optimize Mac Storage on your primary Mac, though it should be fine on a secondary MacBook with minimal storage.<\/p>\n
Finally, if you decide to turn off this feature, Sierra creates new local Desktop and Documents folders in your home folder, but it doesn\u2019t populate them with content from the previously shared folders in iCloud Drive. You may need to copy files from the iCloud Drive folders to the local Desktop and Documents folders to get everything back the way you want it.<\/p>\n
Desktop and Documents folder syncing is designed to simplify the experience of using multiple Macs (and iOS devices!), but if you\u2019re accustomed to each of your Macs containing different files, it may be more confusing than it\u2019s worth.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
In macOS Sierra, you can use Desktop and Documents folder syncing via iCloud Drive to create unified Desktop and Documents folders across all your Macs, and as an added bonus, you can access the contents of those folders from all your iOS devices. But you should be aware of the ramifications of enabling this feature before you do so\u2014read more on our blog.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":25946,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"wds_primary_category":0,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[39,53,86,87,40],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-25945","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-blog","category-mac-blog","category-macos","category-sierra","category-tips"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.computeradvantage.us\/v3\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/DD-folder-syncing-photo-1080x675.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p6YLEm-6Kt","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":25886,"url":"http:\/\/www.computeradvantage.us\/v3\/whats-hot-in-macos-10-12-sierra\/","url_meta":{"origin":25945,"position":0},"title":"What\u2019s Hot in macOS 10.12 Sierra","author":"computeradv","date":"September 27, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"Apple will be releasing macOS 10.12 Sierra this fall, with a slew of new features that could enhance your experience of using Apple devices. On our blog, we have a rundown of the top new features, including Siri (finally!), Universal Clipboard, Desktop and Documents folder syncing, Optimized Storage, app document\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Blog"","block_context":{"text":"Blog","link":"http:\/\/www.computeradvantage.us\/v3\/category\/blog\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.computeradvantage.us\/v3\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/Sierra-photo-1080x675.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.computeradvantage.us\/v3\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/Sierra-photo-1080x675.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.computeradvantage.us\/v3\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/Sierra-photo-1080x675.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.computeradvantage.us\/v3\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/Sierra-photo-1080x675.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.computeradvantage.us\/v3\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/Sierra-photo-1080x675.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":27291,"url":"http:\/\/www.computeradvantage.us\/v3\/stop-paying-too-much-for-a-familys-icloud-drive-storage\/","url_meta":{"origin":25945,"position":1},"title":"Stop Paying Too Much for a Family\u2019s iCloud Drive Storage","author":"computeradv","date":"November 12, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"Apple gives iCloud users 5 GB of free storage, but that fills up fast with iCloud Photo Library, iOS backups, iBooks, and more. 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