Save new documents to your Mac instead of iCloud by default
· 6 min read
Two separate settings decide whether a new document ends up in iCloud. The first is a Save dialog default that points TextEdit, Preview, Pages and similar apps at iCloud Drive; it has no switch in System Settings and is changed with one Terminal line. The second is “Desktop & Documents Folders” in your iCloud Drive settings, which moves those two folders into iCloud wholesale. Check which of the two is doing it before you change anything, because turning off the second one has a consequence people do not expect.
Work out which one you have
Open TextEdit and press Command-S. If the Save dialog opens on iCloud Drive with a list of your other documents, that is the first setting. Now open a Finder window and look at the sidebar. If Desktop and Documents appear under the iCloud heading rather than under Favorites, and their folders show cloud icons, the second setting is on as well.
You may have one, both or neither. Many Macs have both, because the setup assistant offers Desktop and Documents sync during setup and the Save dialog default is on regardless.
The Save dialog default
This is the one most people mean. New documents in apps that use the standard macOS Save dialog start in iCloud Drive. To make them start on the Mac instead:
defaults write NSGlobalDomain NSDocumentSaveNewDocumentsToCloud -bool false
Quit and reopen any app you want to pick up the change. From then on, Command-S in a new document opens wherever that app last saved, which for a fresh app is usually Documents on the Mac. To go back:
defaults delete NSGlobalDomain NSDocumentSaveNewDocumentsToCloud
Nothing is moved by either command. Files already in iCloud Drive stay there; files on the Mac stay on the Mac. It only changes where the dialog opens. What defaults write does explains the command and why delete is the right way to undo it.
Mainspring offers the same change as a power-up called “save to local not iCloud”, which is worth knowing about if the idea of typing a domain name into Terminal is the reason you have not fixed this already. It records the previous value so the revert is a click.
The Save dialog also has its own habits. Press Command-D inside any Save or Open dialog and it jumps to the Desktop; Command-Shift-H jumps to your home folder. And the dialog remembers the last folder per app, so after you have saved once to the right place, that app keeps going there.
Desktop and Documents in iCloud
This is the bigger switch. When it is on, the Desktop and Documents folders live in iCloud Drive and sync to every Mac signed in to the same account. Files can also be evicted from the local disk to save space, leaving a placeholder that downloads when opened.
To find it:
- Open System Settings and click your name at the top of the sidebar. On Ventura the entry is labeled Apple ID; on later versions it is Apple Account.
- Click iCloud, then iCloud Drive (on some versions the entry is labeled Drive).
- Look for “Desktop & Documents Folders”.
Before turning it off, read this paragraph. When you turn the switch off, macOS does not move the files back. It leaves them in iCloud Drive, inside folders named Desktop and Documents, and gives you new, empty Desktop and Documents folders on the Mac. Your Desktop will appear blank. Nothing is lost, but you have to open iCloud Drive in Finder and drag everything back yourself. Do it with a Wi-Fi connection, because anything that was evicted must download before it can be moved.
If you have more than one Mac on the account, remember that turning it off on one leaves it on for the others, and the files in iCloud Drive are the same files they are still using.
Optimize Mac Storage
While you are in the iCloud Drive settings, look at “Optimize Mac Storage”. With it on, macOS is allowed to remove local copies of files that are also in iCloud when disk space is tight, replacing them with the cloud-icon placeholder. That is the behavior behind the file that is “on the Mac” but takes a minute to open on a train.
Turning it off keeps a full copy of everything on the disk. It is the right setting for anyone who works offline, or who backs the Mac up with Time Machine and expects the backup to contain the files rather than placeholders. It needs the disk space to hold everything, which on a base-model Mac may be the reason the switch was on.
When iCloud is actually the right default
For a single Mac and an iPhone, with modest files and a reliable connection, the iCloud default is a decent one: documents appear on the phone, the Desktop survives a lost laptop, and version history goes back further than most people back up. The reasons to change it are specific. Large files that should not be uploaded. A work policy about where documents live. Slow or metered internet. Or simply wanting to know that Command-S puts the file on the disk in front of you and nowhere else.
The privacy angle is related but separate. If the concern is what leaves the Mac in general, Turn off Siri suggestions and lookups that send data off your Mac covers the other channels.
Questions
I ran the defaults command and Pages still opens in iCloud. Quit Pages fully (Command-Q, not just closing the window) and reopen it. Apps read the setting on launch. If it persists, check the last folder you saved to in that app; the dialog returns there, and if that was iCloud Drive, save once to a local folder to reset it.
Will turning off Desktop & Documents delete anything? No. The files remain in iCloud Drive until you move or delete them. The disconcerting part is the empty Desktop, which is new and local, not your old one emptied.
Can I keep Documents in iCloud but not the Desktop? Not with this switch; it covers both folders together. The workaround is to leave it off and put a folder you want synced inside iCloud Drive directly, then drag it to the Finder sidebar.
Does this affect apps from the App Store that use iCloud on their own? No. Apps with their own iCloud storage (Notes, Photos, and third-party apps with sync) keep working as before. These settings cover the Save dialog and the two folders, nothing else.