How to Access iCloud Files From the Finder

How to Access iCloud Files From the Finder

One of the most useful features from OS X Mountain Lion is a (finally) finished version of Documents in the Cloud, allowing you to store documents on iCloud and sync them across your devices. Sometimes, however, you just want to be able to access these files directly, without going through an app as Apple currently requires. 

Fortunately, as Macworld points out, there’s an easy way to access all of your files stored in iCloud directly from the Finder! As we’ve noted in the past as part of various tips (iCloud’s Hidden ‘Drop Box’ Feature and Using Documents in the Cloud), OS X stores all of these files locally. Here’s how to access them, and how to create a shortcut to quickly navigate to the folder in the future.

To access your iCloud documents, just open Finder, select the Go tab, and then Go to Folder…, and type in “/Users/[your user folder]/Library/Mobile Documents/”, replacing the brackets with your user folder. This is the folder that stores all of your documents, and sorts them by which app created them.

You can also create a shortcut to this folder in your Finder sidebar. To do this, simply navigate to the folder, select the File menu, and then Add to Sidebar. If you press the Shift key while the File menu is open, you’ll also see an option to add the folder to your dock! The folder will appear as “Mobile Documents.”