The problem though was that I created several iDraw documents on my Mac, not storing them on iCloud, and I now wanted to access them on my new iPad mini. I quickly found that there is no easy way to move multiple files from my Mac to iCloud. Or is there? Find out after hitting the link below.
In order for iCloud to function, files must be cached and synced on a local Mac drive. I read somewhere that Apple neatly tucked away these files in the user’s Library file, which they had hidden in Finder (more on that below) recently. Because of my frustration that this was not an easy task, I was determined to figure this out and to make future file moves easier. So I started clicking around and developed the process below:
- On the Mac containing the files to move to iCloud, select Go from the pull-down menus - the Go menu will appear
- While this menu is displayed, press and hold the option key on the keyboard - the Library menu will appear in about the center of the menu
- Select the Library option - the /User/username/Library folder will open
- Scroll down the list and select the Mobile Documents folder - the Mobile Documents will appear as shown in the image below and at first, the folder names may seem a bit cryptic; however, if you look at them closely, it is easy to decipher the code since application names appear in folder titles
- Take a look at the window name - notice that the name of the directory is not Mobile Documents as expected, rather iCloud - HUH? (Are we seeing a future option for iCloud? Maybe, maybe not, be we are going to take advantage of this find)
- As pointed out in the image above, the iDraw folder I need is easily recognizable even though there are some odd characters prefacing the folder name - that’s the folder I want to drop my .idraw files into
- As you review the rest of the listing, you can easily recognize the folders needed to sync Pages, Numbers, Keynote and other application data files - its important to note that everyones listing will be differ depending on the applications used
- Once you move the files to the appropriate folder, iCloud will begin its work and the files will appear within iCloud on any other Mac or iOS device - below is an image of the .idraw files, some of which I moved to this hidden iCloud folder
To make things easier in the future you can create aliases to either the Mobile Documents folder or the individual application folders. You can then rename these aliases to something a little more recognizable. Place these aliases on your Desktop or even better, into the Favorites area in the Finder window. Then when you find a file on your Mac you wish was in iCloud, simply drag and drop it onto one of the aliases.
Not the easiest solution, but at least until we see some Apple sanctioned way to do this, it will suffice and isn’t overly complicated. Drop a comment if you have other neat ways to use this feature.
