Are you ready to go all-in with iCloud Drive? You can move files and folders from Dropbox, Google Drive, or OneDrive right now!
iCloud Drive is Apple's answer to a cloud-based storage system. Over the years, it has improved a lot in terms of usability, including working across various platforms. If you've been storing files in another storage service, like Dropbox, Google Drive, or OneDrive and you want to condense down to just iCloud Drive, you can easily move all of your data with just a few steps.
- How to move data from Dropbox to iCloud Drive on a Mac
- How to move data from Google Drive to iCloud Drive on a Mac
- How to move data from OneDrive to iCloud Drive on a Mac
- How to copy files from Dropbox, Google Drive, and OneDrive into iCloud Drive
How to move data from Dropbox to iCloud Drive on a Mac
Dropbox automatically creates a Favorites shortcut in the sidebar of your Finder window, so you can drag and drop files on your Mac.
- Open Finder from your Mac's dock.
- Click on Dropbox in the sidebar.
- Select the files and folders you want to move (or select them all if you want to completely move away from Dropbox reliance).
Drag the files to iCloud Drive in the sidebar of the Finder window.
Your files will sync with iCloud Drive and be removed from Dropbox. If you change your mind (like you forgot you were sharing a folder with someone), you can always drag files and folders back from iCloud Drive into Dropbox the same way.
How to move data from Google Drive to iCloud Drive on a Mac
After you've download Google's Backup and Sync app for Mac and set it up, Google Drive automatically creates a Favorites shortcut in the sidebar of your Finder window, so you can drag and drop files on your Mac.
- Open Finder from your Mac's dock.
- Click on Google Drive in the sidebar.
- Select the files and folders you want to move (or select them all if you want to completely move away from Google Drive reliance).
Drag the files to iCloud Drive in the sidebar of the Finder window.
Your files will sync with iCloud Drive and be removed from Google Drive. If you change your mind, you can always drag files and folders back from iCloud Drive into Google Drive the same way.
Apple occasionally offers updates to iOS, watchOS, tvOS, and macOS as closed developer previews or public betas for iPhone, iPad, Apple TV and Mac (sadly, no public beta for the Apple Watch). While the betas contain new features, they also contain pre-release bugs that can prevent the normal use of your iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch, Apple TV, or Mac, and are not intended for everyday use on a primary device. That's why we strongly recommend staying away from developer previews unless you need them for software development, and using the public betas with caution. If you depend on your devices, wait for the final release.
A note about Google Drive and macOS High Sierra
While Google's Backup and Sync previously only worked with the older HFS+ file system, the utility has recently been updated to work with the Apple File System (APFS).
How to move data from OneDrive to iCloud Drive on a Mac
One Drive does not automatically create a Favorites shortcut in the sidebar of your Finder window, but you can manually create one.
- Open Finder from your Mac's dock.
- Click the search bar in the upper right corner of the Finder window.
- Enter OneDrive to find the folder.
- Select the OneDrive folder (Make sure it is the folder where your files are stored and not the application itself).
Drag the OneDrive folder to the sidebar.
After you have created a Favorites shortcut for OneDrive in your Finder window's sidebar, you can easily move files to iCloud Drive.
- Open Finder from your Mac's dock.
- Click on OneDrive in the sidebar.
- Select the files and folders you want to move (or select them all if you want to completely move away from OneDrive reliance).
- Drag the files to iCloud Drive in the sidebar of the Finder window.
Your files will sync with iCloud Drive and be removed from OneDrive. If you change your mind, you can always drag files and folders back from iCloud Drive into OneDrive the same way.
How to copy files from Dropbox, Google Drive, and OneDrive into iCloud Drive
If you don't want to actually remove files from Dropbox, Google Drive, or OneDrive, but want a secondary security measure for backing up your data, you can make copies of files.
- Open Finder from your Mac's dock.
Click on Dropbox, Google Drive, or OneDrive from the sidebar.
- Select the file or files for which you want to make copies.
- Right-click inside the Finder window.
- Select Copy item(s) from the dropdown menu.
- Click on iCloud Drive from the sidebar.
- Right-click inside the Finder window.
Select Paste item(s) from the dropdown menu.
Any questions?
Do you have any questions about how to migrate files and folders from Dropbox, Google Drive, or OneDrive to iCloud Drive? Post them in the comments section and I'll help you out.
Update September, 2017: Updated the note about APFS in macOS High Sierra, as Google Backup and Sync now works with the newer file system.
Reader comments
How to move your files from Dropbox, Google Drive, or OneDrive to iCloud Drive on a Mac
iCloud Drive is fine for storing personal files, but it's going to be hard for me to use it seriously without proper collaboration features. I'd love to be able to add people to files / folders with permissions, or even just create a shareable link.
iCloud Drive is not a real option until you can share a folder with someone. When I finish a shoot with someone and owe them digital files, I share a google drive or dropbox folder with them and all is good. I have 200gb of icloud storage and can't share a folder with people.
iCloud Drive has a long way to go before I can use it for my work or personal life. Too many short comings and limitations, for now Google Drive works well for my needs.
Yeah, not overly impressed with iCloud.
I've only got a few files in it, but don't get the same results on all devices, whereas Dropbox, GDrive, Onedrive etc all sync perfectly. A long way to go before I'd consider moving over to it.
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Give us an example what you mean by same results. I've had no problems. Now Drive is another story. I had my dads work use it and found out really fast that file modification dates don't sync. One person changes a file and the other persons sees the old date and doesn't think the file has been updated which it has. Deal killer wright there!
E.g. I use Readdle Scanner Pro app - iCloud Drive displays the folder on my iPhone & iPad but it's absent on my iPod Touch.
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Dropbox FTW!
Dropbox has never let me down. Used it for a countless number of years
Off topic - but :
how can I disable quick access camera from lock screen in iOS 10?
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But why would anyone move to iCloud Drive? It certainly hasn't more features, especially connected to sharing and collaboration, than the other services and last time I checked it wasn't cheaper either.
Let's see...I have 1TB of OneDrive space FREE with my Office 365 subscription. It syncs perfectly and reliably. All my photos and documents are available across my MacBooks, MacPro, iPad and iPhone. Full search capabilities, rock solid operation, always there.
So the reason to leave it for iCloud Drive, which has nothing additional to offer - for a higher price would be????
None
Hey, I'm only asking on this comment cause I'm new, impatient, and you are using the same devices. So... I have an iPhone 6 with the one drive app, and I have a surface pro. I logged into one drive on my phone with my surface info and only some of my folders and files copied over. Why not all ? Do you have any insight you could offer? thanks in advance !
I don't get any error messages on my phone .
For Google Drive I really wouldn't just copy and paste...... Anything created using the Google Docs editor sat in the Google Drive folder will just be a web link to the online doc. Even if you have offline access enabled it is still in Google proprietary format so you need to download from! The website first to get it in a format like MS office that other programmed can use
Google Docs can save files in Microsoft and OpenDocument formats. If you care about your data being interoperable, you don't use formats like those of Google Docs and iWork (though, I believe internally Google Docs *is* using ODF, it just isn't exposed as such cause they want you on their web properties - for obvious reasons). You use Microsoft Office or ODF.
This is also why I believe Microsoft has a superior services package to Apple, and arguably superior to Google from an interoperability standpoint. The files are exposed as files, and you can set Office or Office Web Apps to use ODF by default. Even WordPad on Windows can open ODT documents out of the box ;-)
Apple really is the only one with such poor compatibility with interoperable formats (completely missing ODF support, and their Office Compatibility isn't anything to rave about once you get beyond the basics).
For me the biggest problem with iCloud Drive is the extremely poor functionality of its iOS apps.
The whole point of using such services for me is to be able to do a lot of stuff with my files (create, add, organise, share etc and have it synchronised across all my devices) irrespectively of the device I use.
At the moment it isn't possible - try adding a photo, a pdf file etc to iCloud Drive from an iOS device.
It seems that currently even such a simple use case isn't supported (or it is so cumbersome that I just haven't found out how to do it - if someone knows, please correct me!). However, it is very easy to add a photo or a pdf to Google Drive from an iOS device just with a few taps.
Until Apple can give its own app on its own operating system at least the same functionality as Google Drive on iOS - for me at least - there is no point in using iCloud Drive at all.
Apple is not good at services. They're notoriously bad at them, but sites like this give them way too much leeway when it comes to these things (and yes, I understand that it's a "fan" site). IMO, too many sites are "fan sites" and don't give it to you straight.
iCloud Drive has terrible Mobile Clients, a Terrible Windows Client, and a very lackluster (i.e. pretty much terrible) web client. The Mac client is "okay." Just okay.
I have had lots of issues with Apple's web service and software. Mail takes FOREVER to Sync, especially if you are/were used to the Sync Speed of Windows Mail, Microsoft Outlook, or Gmail's mobile clients on Android. This thing can take 20-40 seconds just to sync on an iPhone at times, and the Mac isn't much better. If you quit iOS Mail after deleting 10 emails littering your inbox before it finishes synching, those emails will pop back up, in your Inbox when you check back later on your Mac or iPhone. Clearly it is not propagating the changes quickly to the server. Additionally, the Apple Mail software on OS X doesn't check mail unless it is open. You have to keep it open, ALL-THE-FREAKING-TIME or you will not get notifications for any new emails.
I have absolutely no clue why it seemed to bad to implement a System Task at lest for iCloud that could sync mail and mail notifications in the background.
If I set up my iCloud email on a Windows machine, it works as expected. If I set it up on an Apple PC, it works like it's 2001 again, complete with sync speeds that make you feel like you're still on dial-up.
I'm not even going to start on iCloud Photo Library and how horrible Photos is for workflow (even fairly BASIC workflow).
I'm thinking about selling my iMac and going back to a Windows PC + Android Phone, and Apple's services and software has a lot to do with it.
The OS is amazing, the devices are extremely attractive and performance and reliability is great...
But the software and services are the anathema of productivity.
iCloud Drive's "app" on iOS resembles more the file picker on Android than the Google Drive or OneDrive apps. Apple can download both of those apps and see just how terrible theirs is. The fact that they have done almost nothing about it, tells me something that isn't positive at all in regards to how much they value my productivity and user experience.
Basically. it would be like moving, copying any other folder but to the iCloud drive folder instead of whatever folder u create. :)
I am trying to migrate to iCloud drive as my only "go to" solution, but i still need others for sharing with other non-Apple users. The good thing i like about iCloud drive is storage price...
$.0.99 cents is a steal.
I'm not sure if anyone else has run into this issue yet, but macOS has broken my iCloud/OneDrive dual sync. I had previously embedded my OneDrive folder within the iCloud folder on my MBP and everything synced perfectly. I could open up the OneDrive folder from any iOS device through iCloud Drive (it seemed to load faster than the OneDrive app) without needing to duplicate or move documents. Ever since I updated to Sierra, however, all of my OneDrive files and folders now say 'Ineligible" below them and will no longer sync with iCloud Drive. Has anyone else had this issue?
I don't have *quite* the same issues, H0071gan, but I'm getting something related. I have been keeping my OneDrive Folder inside my MacBook Pro's "Documents" folder. All was well until 10.12 happened. Now, every file in my OneDrive has its cloud icon crossed out —and the OneDrive folder itself is sub-labeled "Ineligible."
I think this must have something to do with the new iCloud properties. I didn't INTEND to place my OneDrive inside of iCloud — and in fact I don't have the iCloud space to do so. (Perhaps this is the reason for the "ineligible" label? But it seems that anything inside my MacOS Documents folder is considered part of iCloud, hence my problem.
I'd like to remove OneDrive from iCloud, but am not sure where to put it instead.
Hi,
I tried to transfer files from google drive sync to icloud, specifically WhatsApp backup, but I could not do it. The file is hidden, and even when I found it, it would not be moved. This is really ridiculous that these two cloud services be so incompatible. Any other idea? I am at a loss how to move the files from android to iPhone. thanks
Assuming you are trying to migrate your chat backup from an android to an iPhone, I believe the backup files are incompatible between the two operating systems.