If you are on a free iCloud plan, you may be looking to save space. I found that my iPad backup took 2 GB of iCloud space that I didn’t want to waste. Thankfully it’s possible to back up your iPad directly to your laptop without using iCloud. You can do it directly in the finder. Here’s how.

Step 1: Connect your iPad to your Mac

Connect your iPad to your Mac using a USB-C cable. You may be prompted to unlock your iPad and enter your passcode to allow the computer to access your device. You will also need to ‘trust’ the iPad on the computer.

Step 2: Open the iPad in Finder

With your iPad connected to your Mac, open a window in Finder. You should see your iPad listed under “Locations” in the left-hand column. Click on your iPad to select it. Here you can see it is called ‘iPad.’

Step 3: Turn of iCloud Sync

Under ‘Backups’ Turn off iCloud sync and turn on sync to computer.

Step 4: Sync to your computer.

Once you have selected what to sync, click on the “Sync” button in the bottom right corner of Finder. This will start the syncing process, which may take a few minutes to complete.

This will back up to your local computer without using any of your iCloud storage.