How to Create iCloud Link under macOS User Folder

by Rian

My first cloud storage subscription was not iCloud. It meant that when I switched over, I needed to make concessions. One of which was iCloud’s folder location. As far as I understand it, macOS does not allow local iCloud path to be changed from the pre-determined path. And the path itself is not the most accessible one either, aside from the sidebar on the Finder. What I needed in this particular case was accessing it from the user home folder.

For this method, we will be using Terminal. Replace the bracketed [username] to your username, and run the following command:

ln -s '/Users/[username]/Library/Mobile Documents/com~apple~CloudDocs' /Users/[username]/iCloud

If you wish to create it in another folder or with different name, simply change the second bracketed path from the command:

ln -s '/Users/[username]/Library/Mobile Documents/com~apple~CloudDocs' [path_for_shorcut]

ln -s technically is not an alias command; that is done via Finder. The reason why the symlink works irregardless has to do with the convenient behavior of iCloud — we can’t change its local path. The source will never change, so the symlink is unlikely to break. Though it does make me wonder, one way or the other, why did Apple decided to use such an obscure location for iCloud. And if it is part of the legacy code, possibly from .Mac and MobileMe era, why hasn’t it been updated yet.