How to save files locally instead of iCloud on Mac

When you hit ⌘S on a new document, macOS quietly defaults the save location to iCloud Drive. It's designed to keep files in sync across your devices — but if you'd rather keep files on your Mac by default, one setting changes that behaviour permanently.

Why macOS defaults to iCloud Drive

Apple introduced iCloud-first saving back in OS X Mountain Lion. The idea was that files saved to iCloud Drive are automatically available on your iPhone and iPad, and are backed up without any effort. If you have multiple Macs, you can pick up where you left off on any of them.

That's genuinely useful for a lot of people. But it can catch you off guard — especially if you work with large files, keep sensitive documents off cloud services, or simply prefer your folder structure to live on the local drive where you can see it. The default also means files can disappear from a Mac when iCloud decides to offload them to free up space.

What actually changes

Flipping this setting means the save dialog in every app that follows Apple's document model — TextEdit, Pages, Keynote, Preview, and most native Mac apps — will default to your local Documents folder instead of iCloud Drive. You can still choose iCloud Drive manually in any save dialog; this just changes where the cursor lands when the dialog opens.

Files already stored in iCloud Drive stay there. This setting only affects where new documents are saved by default going forward.

Where to find it in System Settings

1. Open System Settings and click your name at the top (Apple ID).
2. Click iCloud, then click iCloud Drive.
3. Turn off Desktop & Documents Folders if you want those to stop syncing entirely — or leave that on and use the Terminal command below to change only the default save location in dialogs.

The "Desktop & Documents Folders" toggle is the most aggressive option — it stops syncing those folders to iCloud entirely and moves them back to your local drive. If you just want to change the default save dialog location without moving existing folders, the Terminal command is the more surgical fix.

The Terminal command

Open Terminal (Applications → Utilities → Terminal) and run:

# default new documents to local storage instead of iCloud Drive
defaults write NSGlobalDomain NSDocumentSaveNewDocumentsToCloud -bool false

To go back to iCloud Drive as the default:

# undo — restore iCloud Drive as the default save location
defaults write NSGlobalDomain NSDocumentSaveNewDocumentsToCloud -bool true

No restart required. Open a new document in TextEdit or Pages and hit ⌘S — the save dialog will now show your local Documents folder by default.

How to verify it worked

Open TextEdit and press ⌘N to create a new document, then ⌘S. The save dialog should open with your local Documents folder selected on the left, not iCloud Drive. If you still see iCloud Drive highlighted, log out and back in — a session restart is occasionally needed for this default to pick up.

What stays in iCloud

Anything already in iCloud Drive stays put — this isn't a migration. Your existing Keynote decks, Pages documents, and anything else already syncing will continue to sync. You're only changing where the system points when you save something brand new.