MacOS – Numbers error: not enough space in iCloud

icloudmacosnumbers

I recently maxed out my iCloud storage for a few weeks, meaning things like backups and photo uploading would not work. Eventually, I deleted some unwanted files, and now there is plenty of free space (>20 GB).

During this time, I made some edits to a Numbers spreadsheet that is stored and shared via iCloud. Now, whenever I open the document in macOS, I get this error (next to the word "Shared" on the title bar):

There is not enough space to save this document to iCloud. Purchase additional storage or remove some documents from iCloud.

I can dismiss the error, but it comes back every time I open the document.

There is also a dotted cloud with an exclamation mark that appears next to the document in Finder.

I can make a duplicate of the spreadsheet and delete the old one, but doing so will invalidate existing shared URLs, etc.

Is there a way to force iCloud to refresh its "not enough space" check?

macOS: 10.13.6
Numbers: 5.3

If it's relevant, I'm using shared family storage—my account is not the one that purchased the iCloud storage.

Best Answer

This sort of weirdness sometimes comes about with versions and saved application state where the application doesn't want to let go of some data you added.

Do you have a Time Machine backup of the file in question? If not - be sure to copy out any data or log into the cloud version of numbers to be sure you have a cloud version you can live with.

Then clear the saved application state for Numbers by moving this file to your desktop or placing it in the trash can:

~/Library/Containers/com.apple.iWork.Numbers/Data/Library

If you don't have a good backup, I'd get one before deleting anything from your Saved State folders in ~/Library and if the Autosave Information and Saved Application State folders are empty you may need to delete the entire container.

If you're not sure about navigating to ~/Library which is hidden or restoring these files from a backup - Apple Support might be a good place to reach out to, but if you're familiar with moving things from the Library - I've seen clearing these help with oddball errors that you know aren't correct anymore.

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