You can create folders and organize files in iCloud Drive any way you darn-well please!
iCloud Drive lets you store all your files up on Apple's servers and sync them across all your devices, including iPhone, iPad, and Mac. While you can let iCloud create files for you and drop files where it thinks they belong, you can also create your own folders and move any of your files into them. Here's how!
- How to manually create a folder in iCloud Drive on Mac
- How to manually create a folder in iCloud Drive on iPhone and iPad
- How to move files to new folders in iCloud Drive on iPhone and iPad
- How to create a new folder in iCloud Drive on a PC
- How to move files to new folders in iCloud Drive on a PC
How to manually create a folder in iCloud Drive on Mac
- Click the Finder icon in your Mac's dock.
Click on iCloud Drive in the menu on the left in your Finder window.

- Right-click inside the Finder window.
- Click on New Folder
Enter a name for the new folder.

You can create folders inside of folders in iCloud Drive on Mac. Just double-click a folder and then follow steps 3 - 5 above.
How to manually create a folder in iCloud Drive on iPhone and iPad
You can also create new folders right on your iPhone or iPad without needing access to a PC or Mac.
- Open the iCloud Drive app on your iPhone or iPad.
- Tap Select in the top right corner of the screen.
Tap New Folder in the bottom left corner of the screen.

- Enter a name for the new folder.
Tap Create.

You can also create folders inside of folders in iCloud Drive on iPhone and iPad. Just tap to open a folder and then follow steps 2 - 5 above.
How to move files to new folders in iCloud Drive on iPhone and iPad
You can move files into new folders in iCloud Drive on your Mac the same way you would move any file to a new folder. On iPhone and iPad, however, it is a little bit different.
- Open the iCloud Drive app on your iPhone or iPad.
- Open the folder of the file or files you want to move.
Tap Select in the upper right corner of the screen.

- Select the file or files you want to move.
- Tap Move at the bottom center of the screen.
Select the folder you wish to move the files to.

Note: If you do not have another app in iCloud Drive that supports the file you want to move, you will be asked to create a new folder instead.
How to create a new folder in iCloud Drive on a PC
If your Mac or iPhone is not handy, you can also create folders in iCloud Drive from any other Mac or PC thanks to iCloud.com.
- Open your web browser and navigate to iCloud.com. (click the link!)
- Enter the email address and password associated with your Apple ID.
Click on iCloud Drive.

- Click on the New Folder icon at the top of the screen. It looks like a folder with a plus (+) symbol inside of it.
Enter a name for the new folder.

How to move files to new folders in iCloud Drive on a PC
You can also move files to different folders on any other Mac or PC thanks to iCloud.com.
- Open your web browser and navigate to iCloud.com. (click the link!)
- Enter the email address and password associated with your Apple ID.
Click on iCloud Drive.

- Select the folder you want to move the file or files from.
- Select the file or files you want to move to a different folder.
Drag the file or files to iCloud Drive in the bottom left corner of the window.

- Click the back arrow button in the upper left corner of the window to navigate back to the main iCloud Drive folder.
- Select the file or files you just moved into iCloud Drive.
Drag and drop them into the folder you want to move them to.

Any questions?
Do you have any questions about creating folders or moving files around in iCloud Drive on your Mac, iPhone, or iPad? Let me know in the comments and I'll be sure to respond.

Reader comments
How to manually create folders and move files in iCloud Drive
How can you then view these files on IOS?
There's an app called Cloud Opener.
Don't listen to the above poster, there's a native app for this, it's just hidden.
Launch the Settings app from your Home screen.
Tap on iCloud.
Tap on iCloud Drive.
Switch Show on Home Screen to On.
It is unconscionable and inconceivable that Apple has still not found a way to create folders within folders. I can only create TWO levels of folders in iCloud: off the first level (i.e., "Pages" or "Numbers"), and then only one more in that "root" folder - and no others. Unbelievable. Stupid.
Eh? I just created 6 nested folders.. worked fine..
I don't think it's an issue with "can't" as you can create your own folder in iCloud Drive as deep as you want (at least four deep as I just did anyway). I do see that if you create a folder in an Apple auto-created folder like the Pages or Numbers folders for some reason you can only add that one level more. It's bizarre I grant you but there doesn't seem to be any technical reason you can't do it. My guess is it's just a weird oversight/bug or there's some Apple reasoning (good or bad) behind the way this currently works.
Can you do it for a widows laptop ?
Sent from the iMore App
Can you do it for a windows PC ?
Sent from the iMore App
This is a web interface, you can do it from Windows, Mac, Linux, maybe even an Android tablet
Does the app or program have to support iCloud Drive in some way to get one of those nifty program folders (marked by their icon)? I've moved a bulk of my files off my desktop and like the idea of organizing by program. So I created some of my own, e.g. an Acorn folder, but was just wondering how to get one with the program's icon in it. No biggie though...
Is there a way to move files saved to application folders within iCloud Drive (like Workflow) into a regular user-created folder. I currently have a bit of files that I'm only able to move within that same Workflow folder.
If you have files that are synced via an app, like Workflow, they can only be saved in a folder that is inside that app's iCloud Drive folder. You can make a copy of the file and save it to a user-created folder outside of the app's root folder, but it won't be updated when you make changes to it.
By default when i add files to icloud its put then in root directory (unless i create folder)
From the get go iCloud Drive was supposed to be able to sync anything you would throw at it, but it didn't work. Only the Apple app folders synced reasonably well.
In Sierra the Desktop and Documents folders can be added to iCloud Drive, and I have moved all the stuff I wanted to have synced initially into my Documents folder, where it now syncs perfectly and fast. I wish the other standard user home folders would get the same status as Desktop and Documents.
Is there any possibility to add files to iCloud Drive on an iPhone?
Let's say a case as simple as - I have picture I have taken on my iPhone and I want to add it to iCloud Drive.
It appears that there are a lot of options (including adding to Google Drive) except adding to iCloud Drive.
The same goes to adding a pdf file from Adobe Acrobat - via Open In... I can do a lot of things (again including adding to Google Drive) but not adding to iCloud Drive.
iCloud Drive seems to be one of the poorest and least functional apps there is - even though it is native.