{"id":"moving-folders.can-i-move-my-entire-home-folder","url":"/faq/moving-folders/can-i-move-my-entire-home-folder","category":{"id":"moving-folders","title":"Moving folders"},"subcategory":{"id":"specific-folders","title":"Moving specific folders"},"question":"Can I move my whole home folder to an external drive?","alt_questions":["Move user folder to external SSD","Relocate my entire home directory","Put my whole user account on the external drive","move users folder mac storage studio"],"short_answer":"We don't recommend it. Your home folder contains your Library — every app's settings and sign-ins — which Storage Studio never moves wholesale. Move the big folders inside your home folder instead; that frees most of the space without the risk.","answer_markdown":"We don't recommend it, and Storage Studio isn't designed to. Your home folder contains your Library — every app's settings, sign-ins and live data — which Storage Studio deliberately never moves wholesale, and your Mac would struggle to sign you in if the drive weren't there.\n\nThe better approach is to move the big folders *inside* your home folder: old projects, exports, media archives and large parts of Downloads, Desktop or Documents. That usually frees most of the space with none of the risk.\n\nSee [Which folders are worth moving?](/faq/moving-folders/which-folders-are-worth-moving-to-an-external-drive)","answer_html":"

We don't recommend it, and Storage Studio isn't designed to. Your home folder contains your Library — every app's settings, sign-ins and live data — which Storage Studio deliberately never moves wholesale, and your Mac would struggle to sign you in if the drive weren't there.

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The better approach is to move the big folders inside your home folder: old projects, exports, media archives and large parts of Downloads, Desktop or Documents. That usually frees most of the space with none of the risk.

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See Which folders are worth moving?

","answer_text":"We don't recommend it, and Storage Studio isn't designed to. Your home folder contains your Library — every app's settings, sign-ins and live data — which Storage Studio deliberately never moves wholesale, and your Mac would struggle to sign you in if the drive weren't there.\n\nThe better approach is to move the big folders inside your home folder: old projects, exports, media archives and large parts of Downloads, Desktop or Documents. That usually frees most of the space with none of the risk.\n\nSee Which folders are worth moving?","tags":["home folder","library","what to move"],"related":[{"id":"moving-folders.which-folders-are-worth-moving-to-an-external-drive","question":"Which folders are worth moving to an external drive?","url":"/faq/moving-folders/which-folders-are-worth-moving-to-an-external-drive"},{"id":"moving-folders.why-wont-storage-studio-move-an-apps-data-folder","question":"Why won't What's Using Space move an app's whole data folder?","url":"/faq/moving-folders/why-wont-storage-studio-move-an-apps-data-folder"}],"applies_to":"all","last_reviewed":"2026-10-01","title":"Can I move my whole home folder to an external drive? — Storage Studio FAQ","description":"We don't recommend it. Your home folder contains your Library — every app's settings and sign-ins — which Storage Studio never moves wholesale. Move the big folders inside your home folder instead; that frees most of the space without the risk.","crumbs":[{"name":"Home","path":"/"},{"name":"FAQ","path":"/faq/"},{"name":"Moving folders","path":"/faq/moving-folders/"},{"name":"Can I move my whole home folder to an external drive?","path":"/faq/moving-folders/can-i-move-my-entire-home-folder"}],"jsonld":{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"FAQPage","url":"https://storagestudio.us/faq/moving-folders/can-i-move-my-entire-home-folder","inLanguage":"en","dateModified":"2026-10-01","mainEntity":[{"@type":"Question","name":"Can I move my whole home folder to an external drive?","alternateName":["Move user folder to external SSD","Relocate my entire home directory","Put my whole user account on the external drive","move users folder mac storage studio"],"acceptedAnswer":{"@type":"Answer","text":"We don't recommend it, and Storage Studio isn't designed to. Your home folder contains your Library — every app's settings, sign-ins and live data — which Storage Studio deliberately never moves wholesale, and your Mac would struggle to sign you in if the drive weren't there.\n\nThe better approach is to move the big folders inside your home folder: old projects, exports, media archives and large parts of Downloads, Desktop or Documents. That usually frees most of the space with none of the risk.\n\nSee Which folders are worth moving?","url":"https://storagestudio.us/faq/moving-folders/can-i-move-my-entire-home-folder"}}]},"fragment":"
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Moving folders · Moving specific folders

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Can I move my whole home folder to an external drive?

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Short answer: We don't recommend it. Your home folder contains your Library — every app's settings and sign-ins — which Storage Studio never moves wholesale. Move the big folders inside your home folder instead; that frees most of the space without the risk.

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We don't recommend it, and Storage Studio isn't designed to. Your home folder contains your Library — every app's settings, sign-ins and live data — which Storage Studio deliberately never moves wholesale, and your Mac would struggle to sign you in if the drive weren't there.

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The better approach is to move the big folders inside your home folder: old projects, exports, media archives and large parts of Downloads, Desktop or Documents. That usually frees most of the space with none of the risk.

\n

See Which folders are worth moving?

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Last reviewed

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