External Locations

Store your Craft documents locally on your device instead of in the cloud.

Craft External Locations gives you the option to store your documents locally on your device, whether it’s your iPhone, iPad, or Mac.

Important Limitations

Before using External Locations, be aware of these important limitations:

Document sharing and collaboration features are not available in External Locations. You won’t be able to share your documents easily via a Secret Link or use collaboration features such as commenting and real-time cursor.

• Manual re-adding required: Since we don’t store any information about which folder you’re using, you have to manually re-add your folder as a space if you log out from your account or switch between devices
• Not recommended for multi-device use: The upload and syncing process depends entirely on third-party services. Using External spaces across different devices can lead to data conflicts and data loss

If you’re unsure about how to use External Locations safely, please reach out to our support team for guidance.

How to Create an External Location

1. Click on your avatar in Craft

2. Select Settings

3. Go to the Advanced menu

4. Enable Show External Locations

Once enabled, the option to create an External Location will be visible in the left sidebar, in the Space dropdown:

1. Click Create External Location

2. Create a new folder at your preferred location – this is where all your documents and assets will be saved

3. Select the folder you created

Using Third-Party Sync Services

macOS

On macOS, you have full control over where you would like to store the folder containing your Craft documents. The sync quality and reliability will depend on your cloud provider (such as Dropbox, Google Drive, etc.).

iOS and iPadOS

On iOS and iPadOS, Apple currently doesn’t allow access to most third-party sync services as a location when selecting a folder. The only available option in this case is iCloud Drive.

If this changes in future iOS updates, Craft will support the latest available options.

When to Use External Locations

External Locations are best suited for:

• Users who need complete control over where their data is stored
• Scenarios where cloud collaboration features are not needed
• Single-device workflows (not recommended for multi-device)
• Compliance requirements that mandate local-only storage

When NOT to Use External Locations

Avoid External Locations if you:

• Need to share or collaborate on documents
• Work across multiple devices
• Want automatic syncing without third-party tools
• Rely on Craft’s cloud-based features like version history and backups

Need Help?

If you have questions about External Locations or need help setting them up safely, please contact our support team.