Move a File to iCloud from a Mac with OS X Mountain Lion

From Mountain Lion onward, OS X now lets you move files directly into iCloud from your Mac, these files can then be opened on any other Mac or iOS device set up with the same iCloud account.

Not all apps support the feature yet, but here’s how to do it with the apps that are iCloud equipped. For this example we’ll use TextEdit, but you could use Pages, Preview, Numbers, etc.

• Click the file name in the title bar to pull down the contextual submenu and choose “Move to iCloud”
• Confirm the move from your hard drive into iCloud by clicking “Move Document”

Of course, some apps now choose iCloud as the default save location, a setting which can be changed back to local storage if you don’t like it. Whether or not that’s enabled though, you can still move current local documents to the cloud and the method above is the easiest way to do so. You can also pull down the “File” menu and select “Move To…” and choose iCloud as the destination, however.

Assuming you’re online it will be sent to iCloud immediately. You can verify the document is there by looking at the “Open” menu in apps that support iCloud storage, which will default to to showing you the iCloud file list of items compatible with that app.

Once the file is in iCloud, you’ll be able to open it from anywhere else configured with the same iCloud account. Any changes made to the document will also reflect everywhere else you use the file, so you can make a quick change on the go with your iPad and it’ll be the same when you get home to your Mac.

Not all apps support the iCloud storage feature yet, but with how integrated iCloud is becoming to iOS and OS X you can bet the supported app list will only grow.