iCloud is a service that allows files to be stored online on Apple devices and accessed from multiple devices. When uploading files to iCloud, you may experience slow uploads due to various factors affecting the file upload speed. But there are steps and tips you can follow to speed up your iCloud file downloads, including the following:
1- Make sure your device's operating system is up to date:
Apple regularly updates its iCloud servers. However, updating your devices' operating system ensures that they have the latest updates in iCloud. And whether you're uploading files to iCloud using an iPhone, iPad, or Mac computer, here's how to make sure your operating system is updated to the latest version:
- On iPhone: Go to (Settings), then select (General) and tap on the (Software Update) option.
- On a Mac computer: Go to (System Preferences), select (General), and then click the (Software Update) option to install the latest available version of macOS.
2- Reset the file:
If uploading files to iCloud is very slow or stops after a while, there may be a problem with a file or group of files. When this happens, you'll notice that the little clock icon next to iCloud Drive in the Finder app has stopped, not in progress, indicating that the download has stopped.
In this case, you can sign out of iCloud and then sign back in. To do this, follow these steps:
- On a Mac computer, go to System Preferences and click on your Apple ID.
- Scroll down and tap Sign Out.
This will reset any files that may be causing the download delay. You can follow the same steps in the Settings app on your iPhone or iPad.
3- Name the file correctly:
The macOS operating system on Mac computers does not limit your choices regarding characters and symbols in file and folder names. iCloud does not accept certain characters in file names. Therefore, make sure that the file name you are uploading does not contain any of the following characters:
- < (less than) symbol.
- > (greater than) symbol.
- # symbol (hashtag).
- % symbol (percentage).
- $ symbol (dollar sign).
- ' or ' symbol (quotes).
- Symbol: (colon).
- symbol | (vertical bar).
- Code ? (A question mark).
- * (asterisk) symbol.
- The / or \ (forward slash or backslash) symbol.
- Additionally, avoid starting the file name with a blank space.
Using these symbols in file or folder names in iCloud can lead to error messages or slow file downloads without knowing which files are causing them.
4- Avoid downloading large files at once:
It is possible to store large files in iCloud, but trying to upload multiple files at once slows the process down considerably. The best way to download large files is to download one file at a time, wait for the download to finish, and then start downloading another file.
5- Choose a short file name:
Sometimes you may want to use long file names that contain information about the content of the file, but this can negatively affect the speed of uploading the file to iCloud because the long file name creates a long path when uploading. Therefore, try to choose short file names to make sure that they load faster.
6- Use a wired internet connection instead of Wi-Fi:
You can often rely on Wi-Fi to upload files to iCloud. However, this can affect the download speed of files, and despite advances in wireless networks such as Wi-Fi 6 and 6E, wired (Ethernet) connections are still faster and more reliable. Therefore, when uploading files to iCloud on a Mac computer, especially very large files, use wired Ethernet instead of Wi-Fi whenever possible.
7- Make sure you have enough space on your device and iCloud:
Before you start downloading files, make sure you have enough storage space on your device and on iCloud, as file downloads will slow down when your device and iCloud storage gets full.
If your iCloud storage is low, you can upgrade your iCloud plan to increase available storage or delete some files you no longer need.