Comparisons & alternatives · Doing it yourself
Why use the Apps window instead of moving an app's folder and its data by hand?
Short answer: The Apps window checks whether each app can safely move, leaves a link so it still launches, moves vendor re-installs back to your drive automatically, and returns an app to its exact folder on Move back.
Moving an app by hand tends to go wrong in quiet ways: macOS updaters reinstall it in the old place, permissions are asked for again, and some apps refuse to start from a new path. The Apps window checks each app first and labels it — Safe to move, Caveat, Override required or Blocked — with the reason in plain English.
It also handles what happens after the move:
- a link is left so the app still launches from Spotlight, Launchpad and the Dock;
- if an updater reinstalls the app in its original spot, the watch moves the fresh copy back to your drive;
- Move back returns it to exactly the folder it came from.
For app data folders, Storage Studio keeps away from things like browser sign-ins and settings. See Apps.