PSE 2024 and the cloud

I am struggling with PSE 2024.  I created a new catalog for a separate group of photos but it was immediately populated with photos from my original catalog which were apparently stored in the cloud.  How can I stop this annoying behaviour?  I tried unchecking the auto-sync boxes but to no avail.  Obviously if I create separate catalogs it is precisely because I want to keep the photos separate, not mingled in with all the others.

Does anyone have any suggestions to help me get rid of all cloud connections with PSE 2024? (Things were much simpler with PSE9 before the cloud was invented!)

Cheers

Robert