Make Mac apps save to your Mac, not iCloud Drive

By default, macOS makes iCloud Drive the starting point when a document app asks where to save. If you'd rather the local disk be the default target — so files land in a folder you own before anything decides to sync them — one preference flips it for every app that follows the system convention.

Change the default save target

The global preference NSDocumentSaveNewDocumentsToCloud decides whether new documents point at iCloud or local storage. Set it in Terminal (Applications → Utilities):

# Default save target becomes your Mac's local disk
defaults write NSGlobalDomain NSDocumentSaveNewDocumentsToCloud -bool false

# Undo — make iCloud Drive the default target again
defaults write NSGlobalDomain NSDocumentSaveNewDocumentsToCloud -bool true

Apps read this once at launch, so quit and reopen anything already running. There's no System Settings checkbox for this exact default — Apple never exposed it in the interface — which is why the command is the reliable route on macOS 13 Ventura, 14 Sonoma, and 15 Sequoia.

Which apps actually follow it

This is a system convention, and only apps that use the standard macOS document architecture obey it. That covers most of Apple's own tools and many well-behaved third-party editors:

• Follow it: TextEdit, Preview, Pages, Numbers, Keynote, Script Editor, and similar document-based apps.
• Do their own thing: apps with custom save dialogs — many Electron apps, cross-platform editors, and pro tools — carry their own default-location settings you set inside the app's preferences.

So the command cleans up the built-in apps in one move; for the outliers, check that app's own settings for a "default save location" or "local files" option. There's no single switch that overrides an app determined to manage its own dialogs.

Give the local default a home folder

"Local" is a big place, so decide where these files should actually land and teach your apps that spot:

1. Run the command above and relaunch an app like TextEdit.
2. Create a new document and press Cmd+S.
3. In the Save sheet, navigate to the folder you want as home — Documents, a project folder, wherever — and save.
4. Most apps remember that folder and open there next time, so you're not re-navigating on every save.

If a sheet ever opens somewhere unexpected, it's usually remembering the last place that app saved, not iCloud creeping back in — just steer it once and it settles.

Set a smarter default for new Finder windows too

While you're deciding where files live, point new Finder windows at the same folder so browsing and saving agree. See how to change where new Finder windows open.