iCloud Drive Problematic - Large Files Crashing Finder and More

I'm having a major problem with iCloud Drive. I happened to copy a large photo library to the desktop (and didn't realize I had Desktop and Documents enabled). It is attempting to upload 600GB to iCloud. I moved the file from the desktop to another non-iCloud folder, but it still appears to be attempting to upload it even though the document is no longer on the desktop. Some other observations:
  • It is crashing the finder whenever iCloud folders are selected in the sidebar.

  • I am unable to open any of the iCloud Drive folders at all.

  • Won't actually show the desktop including any drives (internal or otherwise).

  • Any iCloud enabled apps are having issues as well (Numbers won't launch if I click on the app, though if I open a document from the finder, it will open).

  • The finder does appear eventually, but only non-iCloud Drive folders are accessible.

  • I'm able to click on the iCloud activity icon (turns into an "i" and the Uploading x items dialogue pops up).

    • The dialogue shows a rapidly increasing number of items (355,000 at last count) and below that "86.25 GB of 602GB" and both numbers appear to be increasing.

    • In Activity Monitor there doesn't appear to be any significant network activity up or down.

    • For kicks I calculated the "upload" speed and it clocked in at 10GB per minute which is not possible even with my fiber connection. My upload speeds via Speed Test are around 20Mb/Sec (download is 200).

    • so something this dialogue is not accurate or is perhaps counting files without uploading any.

Things I've tried:
  • I've tried to disable iCloud Drive in preferences. It tells me that there is an update in progress and asks if I want to end the update (I select "yes"). It never disables iCloud Drive.

  • I've deselected the Desktop+Documents option in iCloud Drive preferences and it re-selects itself after a little while.

  • restarted numerous times including into Safe Mode (which yielded a glitchy video screen that was basically unusable).

  • I've run disk utility on drives (in Recovery mode).

  • I've tried to move/delete the offending file in the Finder (which is likely what started all this in the first place).

  • After trying everything else, I went to the web version of iCloud, and the file was visible in the desktop folder. I have attempted to delete it. It ended up in the "recently Deleted" folder but was unable to open, recover it or delete it further (its dimmed out).

I've dutifully submitted feedback through the Beta app. I realize that it is a one-way system of feedback so I'm coming to the forums to see if anyone else has any ideas. I'm going to be patient and see what happens when it completes the "uploading" of the 300K+ files (no data is actually being transferred) as long as it doesn't attempt to actually upload the files. So far, aside from waiting and reinstalling the beta, the only solution that I thought could work is disabling iCloud Drive but that has eluded me as well. Any thoughts would be appreciated.
Answered by macguyincali in 627523022
UPDATE: the "Uploading x items" dialogue seems to be going down at about the same pace as it was previously increasing. Also, the total number of GBs out of X seems to be going down as well. Currently sits at "Uploading 258,000 items" and "78 GB of 444 GB" Network usage doesn't appear to be spiking on Activity Monitor. Will post results later.
Accepted Answer
UPDATE: the "Uploading x items" dialogue seems to be going down at about the same pace as it was previously increasing. Also, the total number of GBs out of X seems to be going down as well. Currently sits at "Uploading 258,000 items" and "78 GB of 444 GB" Network usage doesn't appear to be spiking on Activity Monitor. Will post results later.
iCloud Drive Problematic - Large Files Crashing Finder and More
 
 
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