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.iCloud files, how can we open them and how do we stop it from changing?

Hi Guys, we have a business DB account, and more frequently we are finding files are turning into .iCloud files, is there a way we can stop this happening and also the files that are showing as iCloud files/documents how do we open them especially if we are operating PC's and not mac's.

Thanks in advance for any help as this is causing no end of problems opening old files

Rob

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Jane

Thanks for getting back in touch with me here Rob (@Rob72)! To re-iterate my previous message, kindly bear in mind that these files are mere placeholders that have been synced instead of the original file. In order to gain some insight, I’d suggest checking back at the Version History of the file in question on your account online (tip: it’s on the on the 💬 ).

I hope that this helps you determine the most appropriate next steps & please do let me know here if you have more questions about any of the above & I’ll check back with you asap!

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Jane

Hey Rob (@Rob72), it seems that the file that you're referring to seems to be a file generated by iCloud, as it's possible that iCloud generated a placeholder of the original file when you moved it to iCloud originally.

If this was the case, the placeholder file could have been created prior to you adding it to the Dropbox folder, in which case the iCloud placeholder has been synced to Dropbox instead of the original file.

Since this pertains to an implementation that Apple made on the latest versions of macOS, I’d suggest running a search on our preferred browser, that will bring up some results pointing you towards the best next steps to get going on this matter.

Additionally, I’ll leave this question open to our Community of users; maybe someone could offer their insight on how you’d best go about on this query. I’m always here in case you have more Dropbox-related questions or you’d like to share your thoughts & I’m wishing you a lovely rest of your day!

Rob72

Hi Jane, thanks for the reply, but the issue is the files were not originally placed by me they were originally created or uploaded through another team member and the files existed as standard doc, xls, ppt, etc...Now for some weird reason they are turning in to iCloud files which no one in the team can open?

Thanks,

Rob

Jane

I hope that this helps you determine the most appropriate next steps & please do let me know here if you have more questions about any of the above & I’ll check back with you asap!

trishhansn

Did this ever get a firm resolution??

Jane

Hey @trishhansn, thanks for checking in with us on the Community! Now, your best course of action to resolve your concern would be reaching out to apple directly for guidance regarding this matter Trish, as they should be able to advise you accordingly.

Hopefully this points you towards the right direction & please do let me know if you have more questions!

andyve

IF THESE .ICLOU FILES ARE PLACEHOLDERS, WHY ARE THEY THE SAME SIZE AS THE ORIGINAL FILES?

Rich

@andyve wrote:
IF THESE .ICLOU FILES ARE PLACEHOLDERS, WHY ARE THEY THE SAME SIZE AS THE ORIGINAL FILES?

They likely aren't the same size. The operating system is probably reporting the true size of the original files, rather than the actual size of the placeholder.

andyve

Thanks for the quick response.

I always practiced tertiary backups in my medical practice on hard drives. So, when iCloud, Dropbox, Google Drive, etc all offered 1-2 tb of cloud storage I figured why not have tertiary backup in the cloud. So, now that I have over 1800 .icloud files I feel I mad a mistake. At this point I located all these files and put them on an external SSD. Now I am going to validate that the real files exist as it's decades of music lessons on video, audio, and PDF. In my case the file size seems to be significant as it filled a 2TB SSD

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