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Top software for syncing your Mac with cloud drives

Easy iCloud sync Mac (and more cloud drives)

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Top choice

SyncMate

4.5 Rank based on 795+ users, Reviews(476)

We all know how important it is to backup our phones regularly, but what about your Mac? Do you regularly perform cloud sync between your Mac and cloud drives like iCloud or Dropbox? Ensuring you do this frequently makes sure you always have the relevant, most up-to-date information across all your devices, and a safe, secure backup of your data in the cloud. You can store your photos, videos, contacts, calendar appointments, and other important files in the cloud, as well as having them on your Mac and across all your devices. This means if your devices are lost or stolen or your Mac is damaged, you’ll always be able to access your data.

I. iCloud Sync - The Best Ways to Do This

There are times when you might need to perform an iCloud sync Mac. For example, perhaps you’re back from vacation and want to backup all your photos to your iCloud, or maybe you’re heading off on a business trip and need to backup your contacts and calendar appointments to iCloud, so you can view them on your iPhone while you’re traveling. There are a number of ways to do this, and we’ll guide you through some of the best options for syncing your photos, calendar, and more, step by step.


1. How to Sync iCloud Photos to Mac

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Requirements: macOS 10.13+. 60.62MB free space. Version 8.8.539. (18 Jun, 2024). 4.5 Rank based on 795+ users, Reviews(476)
Category: Utilities

In this guide, we’ll reveal some best practices to sync iCloud photos to Mac. You might need to do this if you want to edit photos you recently took, using software on your Mac, or if you simply want to ensure you have your photos on your Mac at home, as well as in iCloud.

iCloud Photos to Mac

• Sync photos from iCloud to Mac with SyncMate

One of the quickest and easiest ways to sync cloud storage with your Mac is to use a file sync software like SyncMate. You can download the software for free, although you’ll need to upgrade to Expert edition to sync photos.

Here’s how to sync iCloud photos to Mac with SyncMate:

  1. Download and install SyncMate, then launch it.
  2. Choose “Add New” in the left-hand menu, and select “iCloud Account” as the device type.
  3. Enter your iCloud login details.
  4. Once your account is connected, select the “Photos” plugin.
  5. Set the sync direction and tune the conversion settings if needed.
  6. Click “Sync” and the sync should start.

You only need to set this up once, and SyncMate will automatically sync your photos from iCloud to Mac in the future.

• Use iCloud to sync photos with Mac

If you don’t want to download sync software to sync iCloud photos with Mac, you can use iCloud Photo Library for your iCloud sync.

iCloud Photo Library


Here’s how to do it:

  1. Go to System Preferences -> iCloud and click “Turn on iCloud Drive”.
  2. Next to Photos, click “Options” to select which features you want to turn on.
  3. To sync photos to iCloud, select the “Upload photos” icon, select the photos to upload (in the new window), then click “Choose”.
  4. To sync iCloud photos to Mac, just select the photos you want to download and click on “Download selected item”.

It’s quick and easy to do.

2. Sync iCloud Calendar with Outlook for Mac

What if you need to sync your calendar appointments rather than your photos? Perhaps you need to ensure your Mac is updated with your appointments, or maybe you want to sync your Outlook calendar with iCloud to ensure you can access your appointments while you’re out and about. In this guide, we’ll reveal some best practices for syncing iCloud Calendar with Outlook for Mac.

• Sync Calendar from Outlook to iCloud with the pro app

For a fast, reliable way to sync Outlook to iCloud, SyncMate is a powerful, professional tool that makes syncing all your appointments easy. Just follow the below steps:

sync iCloud Calendar


  1. Download and install SyncMate.
  2. Launch the software and click on “Add New” in the left-hand column.
  3. Select “Outlook account” as your device, then log into your account.
  4. Once your account is connected, select the “Calendar” plugin, set your sync preferences (choose which appointments to sync, or select them all), and set your sync direction as Outlook to Mac.
  5. Hit “Sync” and your Outlook calendar will sync to your Mac.
  6. Now select “iCloud account” as your device and again log into your account.
  7. Select the “Calendar” plugin and then set your preferences (don’t forget to set your sync direction as Mac to iCloud).
  8. Hit “Sync” and your data will sync from your Mac to iCloud.

Note: Only one-time events are synced; recurring events are not supported.

• How to sync Outlook Calendar and iCloud (Microsoft Office Tips)

If you don’t want to download sync software, you can manually sync iCloud calendar with Outlook for Mac. Here’s how:

Outlook Calendar to iCloud


  1. In your browser, sign into iCloud, click “Calendar”, then “Show Calendar” next to the calendar you want to sync.
  2. Ensure “Public Calendar” is checked.
  3. Under the calendar URL, click “Copy Link”.
  4. Open a new browser window and sign in to Outlook.
  5. Select “Calendar” at the bottom.
  6. In the toolbar, select “Add Calendar” then “From Internet”.
  7. Paste the copied link and add a unique name for your calendar (e.g. “Work Calendar”), and click “Save”.

You should see your iCloud Calendar listed under “Other Calendars” in Outlook on the web and in your Outlook for Mac Calendar.

3. Mac Contacts with iCloud - Sync in 2 Ways

What about if you want to sync your Mac contacts with iCloud? You might want to do this if you’ve recently started a new job or attended an event where you added a lot of new contacts to your phone, for example. Below, we’ll reveal two of the best ways to sync contacts between Mac and iCloud.

• Try SyncMate to sync contacts between Mac and iCloud

When it comes to how to sync iCloud on Mac, you can easily sync your contacts using SyncMate, for free!

Mac Contacts to iCloud


Here’s how to do it:

  1. Download and install SyncMate Free edition.
  2. Launch SyncMate.
  3. In the left-hand menu, click “Add New” and select “iCloud Account”.
  4. Log into your iCloud account.
  5. Select the “Contacts” plugin and set your sync parameters and direction (in this case, from Mac to iCloud).
  6. Select which contacts to sync.
  7. Hit “Apply” then “Sync” to start the sync process.

You can select all contacts or just specific ones, and once you’ve set up the sync process, SyncMate will automatically sync your contacts in the background in the future.

• How to sync contacts from Mac to iCloud (Apple team tips)

You can sync contacts from Mac to iCloud manually if you don’t want to download and install sync software. Follow the below steps:

iCloud Contacts to Mac


  1. Ensure your Mac is updated to the latest version of macOS.
  2. Sign in to iCloud.
  3. Go to the Apple menu and select “System Preferences”.
  4. Click “Apple ID”.
  5. Select “iCloud” and “Contacts”.
  6. That’s it - all your contacts should now sync to iCloud.

If you want to perform a one-time sync, and you’re running macOS Monterey, you can do this using Finder.

II. How to Sync Dropbox to Mac - Get the Answer

If you prefer Dropbox to iCloud, you might find you need to sync your Dropbox data to your Mac, and you might be wondering how to sync Dropbox to Mac. Perhaps your college essay is stored in your Dropbox and you need to work on it, or maybe you have photos stored in your Dropbox that you want to attach to an email or share on social media. You might even want to sync meeting notes from your last meeting with your Mac so you can access them before today’s meeting.

1. Sync Mac Photos with Dropbox [2 Tips]

One of the most common things you might need to sync with Dropbox is your photos. You might want to backup your photos from your Mac to Dropbox in case of a hard drive failure or data loss, or sync Dropbox on Mac to edit your photos at home. In this guide, we’ll reveal some best practices to sync Mac photos with Dropbox.

Here are two of the best ways to sync Mac photos to Dropbox.

• How to sync Mac photos to Dropbox using SyncMate

SyncMate is a professional tool that makes syncing all your photos from Mac to Dropbox easy and convenient. Here are the steps to follow to sync Mac photos to Dropbox:

Sync Photos to Mac


  1. Download and install SyncMate. To sync photos, upgrade to the Expert edition.
  2. Launch the software.
  3. Select “Add New” in the left-hand column and choose “Dropbox Account” as your device.
  4. Log into your Dropbox account with your username and password.
  5. Then click the “Photos” plugin.
  6. Add a pair for synchronization - in this case, select the folder with your photos on Mac, and the Dropbox folder.
  7. Set your sync direction from Mac to Dropbox.
  8. Tune your conversion settings.
  9. Select the sync pair from the list, then click “Sync”.

Your photos should now sync to Dropbox from your Mac. When syncing from your Mac to Dropbox, you can adjust the conversion settings to convert your videos and pictures into another format.

• Transfer Mac photos to Dropbox with Dropbox Website

Dropbox allows you to manually transfer photos to your Dropbox storage, without using any sync software. It’s a little more time-consuming, but here is the step-by-step guide.

Sync Dropbox Contacts


  1. Open your web browser and go to the Dropbox website.
  2. Sign into your Dropbox account.
  3. In the top right of the screen, click “Upload File”.
  4. In the popup window that appears, click “Choose Files” and select any photos you want to backup to Dropbox.
  5. Click “Start” to begin the transfer.

Note: You can also drag and drop files onto the Dropbox interface to transfer them to your Dropbox account.

2. How to Sync Folders between Mac and Dropbox

What if you have a folder of college work on your Mac that you need to backup in case of data loss or hardware failure, and you want to sync it to Dropbox? In this guide, we’ll reveal some of the best practices to sync folders from Mac to Dropbox.

The best way to sync folders between Mac and Dropbox is to use SyncMate. This is a professional, powerful tool that minimizes the risk of data loss, and it’s easy to use.

Sync Folders to Mac


Here are the steps to follow to sync folder on your Mac to your Dropbox account:

  1. Download and install SyncMate, then upgrade to the Expert edition.
  2. Launch the software.
  3. Choose “Add Device” in the left-hand menu and select “Dropbox account”.
  4. Log into your Dropbox account.
  5. Now, add a new pair for syncing, by selecting “Add New Pair” and select the folders you want to sync on your Mac, and your Dropbox folder.
  6. Set the sync direction, in this case, Mac computer -> Other side (Mac to Dropbox).
  7. Hit “Apply” then “Sync” to start syncing the selected folders to Dropbox.

3. Sync Files from Dropbox to Mac with Smart Sync

You might not want to sync whole folders between Mac and Dropbox, but still need to sync files. Perhaps you have college work stored on your Mac that you’d like to backup to Dropbox, to ensure it’s safe. In this guide, we’ll reveal some best practices to sync files between Mac and Dropbox.

Dropbox Smart Sync lets you sync files from Mac to Dropbox, and vice versa, freeing up space on your Mac.

Dropbox Smart Sync


Here’s how to use Smart Sync:

  1. Open the Dropbox folder on your Mac.
  2. Locate the files you want to sync.
  3. Right click or ctrl + click on the files.
  4. Choose “Smart Sync”.
  5. Select “Local” or “Online Only”.

You can also use the Desktop Dropbox app to sync files using Smart Sync. To download files from Dropbox to your Mac, just double click the file in question.

III. Sync Google Drive with Mac - Make your Choice

As well as Dropbox and iCloud, Google Drive is a popular online cloud storage service. You may want to sync Google Drive with Mac if, for example, you want to backup important contacts from your Mac safely, in case of accidental deletion or data corruption. Or you might want to sync data from Google Drive to Mac if your Mac hard drive has failed and you’ve lost your photos, contacts, calendar appointments, or other files or folders stored on your Mac.


1. Sync Google Drive Accounts with Mac

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Requirements: macOS 10.13+. 60.62MB free space. Version 8.8.539. (18 Jun, 2024). 4.5 Rank based on 795+ users, Reviews(476)
Category: Utilities

If you need to backup precious family vacation snapshots to your Google Drive from your Mac, you’re probably wondering how to sync Google Drive accounts with Mac. We’ll reveal some best practices for syncing your Mac with your Google Drive account in this guide.

Sync Google Drive

Here are two of the best ways to sync Google Drive accounts with Mac:

• Sync Google Drive account to Mac using SyncMate

SyncMate is a one-stop sync Google Drive account solution for Mac. It’s professional software that makes the syncing process quick and easy. Follow the below steps to sync your Google Drive account to Mac with SyncMate:

  1. Download and install SyncMate, and upgrade to the Expert edition.
  2. Launch the software.
  3. Add your Google account by clicking “Add New” in the left-hand menu and selecting “Google Account”.
  4. Login to your Google account.
  5. Once your account is connected, adjust your connection settings as needed.
  6. Don’t forget to set your sync direction.
  7. Select the files or folders to sync.
  8. Hit “Sync” to start the sync process.

You can now sync contacts, calendars, photos, videos, files, and folders between your Google Drive account and Mac.

• How to sync Google accounts with Mac manually

If you’d prefer, you can sync your Google Drive account with Mac manually, although it’s a little more complicated. Follow the below steps to manually sync your Google Drive with Mac:

Google Backup and Sync App


  1. You will need to download and install the Google Drive app for Mac.
  2. Click on the Google Drive icon in the menu bar and in the dropdown, click the vertical ellipsis in the top right and select “Preferences”.
  3. Adjust your settings to set up what you want to sync in the “My Mac” tab, or change your storage settings in the “Settings” tab. Don’t forget to set the sync direction.

That’s it - from now on, Google Drive will automatically sync with your Mac according to your settings.

2. How to Sync Google Drive Folder on Mac

What if you want to sync a specific Google Drive folder, or folders, to Mac, or vice versa? You might need to do this if, for example, you have important paperwork for a meeting stored on your Mac that you need to access from Google Drive on the go.

You can easily sync folders between Google Drive and Mac by following the below steps:

  1. Download and install the Google Drive app for Mac.
  2. Click the Google Drive icon in the menu bar, and in the dropdown, click the vertical ellipsis in the top right corner, and select “Preferences”.
  3. Open the “My Mac” tab to choose the folders you want to sync.
  4. Set the sync direction from “My Mac” to “My Drive” to sync from Mac to Google (or vice versa).

You only need to do this once and Google Drive will automatically sync with your Mac in the future.

3. Sync Google Drive Photos to Mac

Maybe you don’t want to sync files or folders from Google Drive to Mac, but need to securely backup precious photos following a family birthday party or event, in case of data loss or hard drive failure? Try SyncMate to sync Google Drive photos with Mac.

SyncMate is professional sync software that makes it easy to sync Google Drive photos with Mac, quickly and with minimal risk of data loss.

Here’s how to use SyncMate to sync your photos from Google Drive with Mac:

  1. Download and install SyncMate, then upgrade to Expert edition.
  2. Launch the software.
  3. Add your Google account by clicking “Add New” in the left-hand menu and selecting “Google Account”.
  4. Log in to your Google Drive account.
  5. Select the “Photos” plugin.
  6. Add a new pair for syncing - in this case, select your Google Drive folder and your Mac photos folder.
  7. Set the sync direction, and tune the conversion settings, if needed.
  8. From the list, select the sync pair, then hit “Sync”.

It’s that easy, and your sync should only take a few minutes, depending on how many photos you’re syncing.

IV. How to Sync Box Drive - The Easiest Way

If you’re using Box Drive rather than Dropbox or Google Drive, you might need to perform Box sync for Mac when your hard drive is getting full, to free up space. Or perhaps you don’t want to delete files from your Mac but simply create a backup in the Cloud, so you can easily access meeting papers, important files, and other documents from any device. Or you may need to sync Box Drive with Mac when you have backed up photos or videos that are no longer on your Mac, and you need to download them to share or edit.

1. Sync Box Folder with your Computer

When you need to sync Box Drive folders with your Mac - for example, when you’ve stored meeting papers in a folder on Box Drive and need to sync it to your Mac for your morning meeting - it’s quick and easy to do. In this guide, we’ll reveal the best practice for syncing Box Drive with Mac.

The quickest way to keep folders in sync between Box and Mac is to use Box Sync, which lets you mirror folders stored on Box Drive to your Mac desktop. Follow the below steps to sync Box folders to Mac:

  1. Download and install Box Sync for Mac.
  2. Launch Box Sync from your Applications folder.
  3. To mark a folder to be synced, go to your Box.com account.
  4. Select a folder by clicking on it, then click “Details”.
  5. Click “Sync to Desktop” to mark the folder for sync.

Your synced files are stored in a new folder called “Box Sync” which is located in the “Favorites” section in the left pane of Finder on your Mac.

2. How to Sync Box and Google Drive

What if you’re using both Box Drive and Google Drive to backup your most important files, and you need to ensure data is up-to-date across both cloud drives? This might be the case if you’re keeping two separate backups of your most precious family photos, to avoid losing them. In this guide, we’ll reveal how to use cloudHQ to sync Google Drive and Box.

You can easily sync Google Drive and Box with Mac by using cloudHQ. Here are the steps to follow:

  1. Go to the cloudHQ website, and start the synchronization wizard.
  2. Click the “Box” icon.
  3. Click “Add Box” to add your Box account details. When asked if you authorize cloudHQ to access your account, click “Grant access”.
  4. Choose whether to sync your entire Box account, an existing folder or create a new folder.
  5. Click the “Google Drive” icon.
  6. Enter your Google email and click “Add Google Drive”.
  7. Select the Google Drive folder to sync to or create a new one by clicking “Create Folder”.
  8. Adjust your options and sync will automatically start.

You’ll receive an email when the sync completes successfully.

V. Sync OneDrive Cloud - Nothing is Easier

OneDrive is a popular cloud drive that’s easy to sync with your Mac and other devices. But why might you need to do this? Ensuring contacts and calendar appointments are up-to-date and backed up across all your devices (like your Mac, tablet, and smartphone) is one of the main reasons, but you might also want to sync files or folders between your Mac and OneDrive if you’re working on an important project for work or school and need to protect against accidental deletion or hard drive failure.

1. Sync OneDrive Files to Mac

Do you store all your important files on your Mac or OneDrive? If your photos are stored on your Mac, an OneDrive sync Mac means you’re protected against losing them due to hard drive failure - or accidental deletion. In this guide, we’ll reveal the best practice to sync OneDrive with Mac using an Onedrive account.

When you install the OneDrive app on Mac, the OneDrive folder is created and files in it are kept in sync with OneDrive automatically.

Sync OneDrive Files


Here’s how to sync OneDrive with Mac using your OneDrive account:

  1. Download and install OneDrive for Mac.
  2. Start the setup process - the method varies slightly depending on if you have no accounts signed in or a personal account signed in - see here.
  3. You can change the location of your OneDrive folder on Mac by clicking on “Change Location” on the “This is your OneDrive folder” screen. Select where you want to save OneDrive files and click “Choose this location”.
  4. You’ll see a path to your chosen folder on the next screen, then click “Next”.
  5. On the next screen, you can choose which files you want to keep synced with your Mac.
  6. Click “Open my OneDrive folder” and you should see your files sync.

2. Sync OneDrive Folders to Mac

Syncing OneDrive folders to Mac might be necessary if you need to keep your files organized and sync multiple files at one time - for example, all files relating to a specific work project. In this guide, we’ll reveal the best practices to sync folders from OneDrive to Mac manually.

If you don’t want to sync all your folders from OneDrive to Mac, follow these steps to sync only selected folders:

  1. Click on the OneDrive cloud icon on your Mac’s taskbar notification area.
  2. Click “More” then “Preferences”, then select the “Account” tab.
  3. Click “Choose Folders”.
  4. You should see the “Sync Files from Your OneDrive” dialog box. Here you can uncheck the folders you don’t want to sync to Mac. Then click “OK”.

Unchecking a folder means it will be deleted from your Mac, but don’t worry - it will still be available in OneDrive in the cloud.

VI. FAQs

Yes! You can sync iCloud drive on Mac manually using iCloud or download professional sync software like SyncMate to sync photos, videos, contacts, calendars, files, and more.
SyncMate supports almost any type of syncing, and you can download and install this powerful tool to sync two Macbooks. Once you’ve set up your sync, SyncMate takes care of the rest!
It’s really easy to sync Dropbox with your Mac. We recommend using professional sync software like SyncMate, which helps you set up your sync parameters and takes care of the whole syncing process quickly and efficiently.
You can perform cloud sync from cloud drives including Dropbox, Google Drive, iCloud, Box, and OneDrive to your Mac quickly and easily. It’s best to use sync software like SyncMate to take care of the syncing process, minimizing the risk of data loss - but it is possible to do this manually too, although it’s a little more complex.
Download and install SyncMate, and once you’ve set up your sync between Google Drive and Mac (which only takes a few moments), SyncMate will keep your Google Drive and Mac synced in the background, automatically.

Syncing data from cloud drives to Mac (and vice versa) doesn’t have to be complicated. Using sync software like SyncMate can make the whole process quick and easy, and you’ll always ensure you have the most up-to-date data backed up across all your devices, in case they’re lost, stolen, or damaged.

SyncMate Expert

4.5
Requirements: macOS 10.13+ ,
60.62MB free space
Version 8.8.539 (18 Jun, 2024) Release notes
Download Total downloads: 467,673
Purchase PRO From $39.95
Rank based on 795+ users, Reviews(476)