Privacy & safety

No. Your files, file names and contents never go to Storage Studio's servers. Files only leave your Mac when you send them yourself — to a cloud account you connected, a backup destination you chose, or one of your own devices.

Only what's needed to run the app: your trial registration, licence and update checks, and anonymous summary numbers such as space saved and space moved. Your files, file names, folder names and paths are never sent.

It's a twice-daily report of two totals — space saved and space moved — with an anonymous machine tag. It never includes file names, folder names, paths or accounts, and it's skipped when you're offline.

It's a one-way scrambled code unique to your Mac. It can't be reversed, doesn't contain your Mac's name or serial number, and is used to tie a trial or licence to this Mac and count machines anonymously.

Activation sends the email you purchased with, your purchase reference and an anonymous machine tag — just enough to confirm your plan on this Mac. Your files and card details are never part of it.

Your name, email and country are used only to set up and support your trial, email your verification code and send a couple of reminders. No spam, nothing sold on, no card needed, and no files involved.

No. Storage Studio doesn't sell or rent personal data and has no ad networks or trackers. Details are shared only with the services needed to run checkout and email, or when the law requires it.

For measuring and suggesting what to move it looks at sizes, dates and locations. Contents are read only on your Mac for jobs you ask for — copying, checking duplicates, or searching your own clipboard scraps — and never sent to us.

Yes. Space clean-ups, moves, Junk Yard and Tuhi work offline. You need a connection to start the trial, activate, use cloud transfers and check for updates; a verified licence keeps working offline for about two weeks.

No account or password is needed. You verify your email once to start the trial, and the only sign-ins are cloud accounts or devices you choose to connect yourself.

Yes. Every connection to Storage Studio's server is encrypted, so licence checks, update checks and anonymous totals can't be read in transit. Your files aren't part of those connections at all.

No. Storage Studio never uses Location Services or GPS. The only geography involved is the country you pick at registration and a coarse country or region seen from your connection (Delta Drive's Activity screen and a recovery kit's certificate also note the city) — never a precise location.

No. It never captures audio or video. It only notices whether another app is using the camera or microphone, so automatic tasks can wait while you're in a meeting — and you can turn that signal off.

No. Tuhi runs on-device with Apple Intelligence, and there are no ad networks or third-party analytics. The app only connects to Storage Studio's own server, cloud services you connect, and devices you pair.

It's a short, redacted snapshot of how the app is running, which you can preview before sending. It never includes file names or file contents, it's optional, and nothing is sent until you tap Send.

The support team sees only what's on the form: your message, your registered email, and any version or redacted diagnostics details you chose to include. File names and contents are never part of a ticket.

It goes to the team inbox and is read by a person. You give a name and verified email, plus an optional mobile number you can leave blank. Only what you type into the form is sent.

No. Payments go through a secure checkout run by a payment processor, so Storage Studio never sees or stores your card number — not on its server and not on your Mac.

The profile is built and shown on your Mac. File names, locations and your working-set list never leave it; at most anonymous summary numbers like percentages and counts are reported, never names, paths or contents.

No. Your app list, sizes and last-used dates are read on your Mac to suggest what to move, and they stay there. App names aren't part of what Storage Studio reports.

No. Online-only iCloud files are skipped, and for connected cloud accounts Storage Studio reads the provider's own fingerprints instead of downloading files, so nothing is fetched just to scan it.

No. Smart Quiet Hours only asks macOS how many seconds have passed since your last keyboard or mouse input, so automatic tasks wait while you work. It never sees what you type, and nothing leaves your Mac.

A request to Storage Studio's server identifying the app version and your macOS version, at launch and about once a day, so it can offer a suitable update. No files, file names or accounts are included.

Once, on first launch, the app reports what the download link carried: campaign tags, a partner code, and — only if you accepted cookies — an anonymous visitor number. Never your name, email or files.

Turn off Send usage and crash reports in Settings → Privacy — one switch over every optional report. It's on by default except in the EU, the UK and Switzerland, where Storage Studio asks first and sends nothing until you answer.

macOS hides many folders from apps unless you grant Full Disk Access. Storage Studio needs it to see where your space is going and move folders without breaking them — all on your Mac, with nothing uploaded.

Some folders belong to macOS or another app and are off-limits to every app, even with Full Disk Access. Storage Studio reports them as refused and leaves them alone, only sending you to System Settings when that would actually help.

Mainly Full Disk Access, so it can measure and move protected folders. Beyond that, notifications, an optional login item, and your password or Touch ID only for a few protected actions such as uninstalling system-installed apps.

Only for protected actions — uninstalling an app a system installer put there, or updating protected shortcuts during Transfer Drive. The prompt is macOS's own, so Storage Studio never sees your password, and declining changes nothing.

Some items — system apps, apps tied to their location, browser profiles and data other software relies on — would break if moved. Storage Studio leaves them in place and tells you why, rather than risk your Mac or apps.

To tell you about drives connecting, low disk space, ejects, support replies and finished tidy-ups. Each notification shows once and clears when no longer relevant, and success notices after every run are off by default.

Yes. Moves are previewed, checked before the original is removed and leave a shortcut behind, and anything removed goes to the Recycle Vault or Trash so it can be restored. Keep your own backups too.

It copies first, checks the copy against the original, and only then removes the original. A failed move cleans up the partial copy and never touches the original, and interrupted moves are finished or undone at next launch.

Your files are safe. Moves are tracked from start to finish, so at next launch Storage Studio either completes the move or puts everything back. The original is never removed until a complete, checked copy exists.

Not your personal files. Removals are never pre-ticked and go to the Recycle Vault or Trash. Only rebuildable caches are cleared automatically, and a “Never delete personal files — only move them” switch blocks every delete rule.

Yes. Free up space opens a review headed “Nothing has happened yet” with measured sizes and the full list of folders each option will remove. Moves show From, To and size first, and you get a record of what actually happened.

Yes. Stop finishes the folder in progress and then halts, so nothing is left half-removed. You see what was cleared and what's left, Carry on resumes where it stopped, and removed items stay recoverable in the Recycle Vault.

It lists every app using files in the folder, with Quit, Quit all and Recheck buttons. Quitting is graceful, never forced, so apps can save their work first. System housekeeping services are ignored because they don't interfere.

No. Relocating a folder moves your only copy to the external drive, so it isn't a backup. Keep Time Machine or use Data Backup or Backup Drive so a failed or lost drive doesn't take your files with it.

No. You choose how much room you need and it picks the smallest, safest set of actions, starting with space that returns without deleting anything. Nothing destructive is pre-ticked, and removals stay recoverable in the Recycle Vault.

Its clean-up and repair actions stay inside its own area on the drive, and setting up a drive adds a small folder layout without erasing existing files. Any deletion it offers comes with a confirmation first.

Only if you turn on auto-sync for that folder, in the move confirmation or the Relocated panel badge. Then new files added later follow it to the drive; moving the folder back turns auto-sync off.

The confirmation lists every item it will remove — the app plus its preferences, caches and support files — before anything happens, and everything goes to the Trash so it can be put back.

Rules only act on items older than the age you set, and global floor sliders can raise that minimum. Smart Quiet Hours also holds automatic actions while you're active, on low battery or in a meeting.

Yes. For iCloud-synced folders the safe way to save space is making files online-only — they stay in iCloud and download when opened — rather than moving folders a sync service expects to manage.

Click Move back on the folder in the Storage Inspector's Relocated panel, or use More → Restore Points → Roll Back Last Batch for the latest batch. Neither overwrites anything you've saved since; the drive must be connected.

It depends on the provider. Where the service has its own trash, the file goes there and can be recovered; where it doesn't, the removal is permanent and Storage Studio asks you to confirm that explicitly first.

Moved files live only on the external drive, so a failed or lost drive takes them with it. Protect them with Time Machine, a Backup Drive copy onto a second drive, or Data Backup.

No. Restore puts items back where they came from and places a restored copy alongside any file with the same name. Restore to… picks another folder, and Undo last removal brings back the latest removal in one step.

No. You sign in on the provider's own page in your browser, and the provider grants Storage Studio access. Your password is never typed into Storage Studio, and the access it receives stays in an encrypted vault on your Mac.

Use SFTP whenever the server offers it. Plain FTP sends your password and files unencrypted, so they can be read on the network; SFTP encrypts both.

Yes. Custom credentials come from your own Google project, stay with your account details on your Mac, and are used only to sign in to Google. Leave them blank to use the built-in defaults.

Yes. The account editor shows the current secret so you can check it, and the eye toggle beside the field hides it as dots — use it before sharing or recording your screen.

Your saved secrets and some private settings are encrypted so only the original Mac can read them. A copy on another computer is unreadable by design, so a new Mac asks you to enter them again.

Only accounts you connected, and only to show you information on your Mac — such as usage and duplicates, using fingerprints the provider already keeps rather than downloading files. You can turn Auto-scan off per account.

Yes. Junk Yard keeps everything on your Mac with no account or cloud, and its search runs on-device. Scraps only leave your Mac if you turn on Bridge clipboard sharing, and the Sharing switch can stop that entirely.

Yes. Bridge is a direct link between your two devices and everything on it is end-to-end encrypted, so nobody in between — including us — can read it, and nothing is stored on a server. Match the Tunnel Code when you pair.

No. Only folders you choose to share appear on the other device, and clipboard sharing is a separate switch that's off by default. You can pause, disconnect or forget a device whenever you like.

Yes. Tuhi runs on your Mac with Apple Intelligence, so questions and files never leave your device. Its history is stored privately on your Mac and you can clear it any time from the trash icon.

Yes. AI access is read-only — an assistant can see your storage picture but can never move, delete or change anything. It stays on your Mac, isn't exposed to the internet, and is off until you turn it on.

Yes. Storage Studio is signed and notarised by Apple, so macOS opens it normally. Download it only from storagestudio.us, and if macOS refuses to open it, download it again rather than overriding the warning.

Storage Studio only updates itself from a genuinely newer version that Apple has verified as coming from us; stale or untrusted images are ignored. Updates are offered with a Download button, not forced.

Email security@storagestudio.us with steps to reproduce, the app and macOS versions, and your disclosure timeline. The team aims to acknowledge within 48 hours. The Security Policy is under More → Legal.

Yes. Storage Studio works the same with FileVault on, and keeping it on is recommended. FileVault only covers your built-in drive, so consider encrypting your external drive too.

Yes, if it holds anything personal. Relocated folders are stored as ordinary files, so an unencrypted drive can be read by anyone who plugs it in. Encrypt it with macOS — Disk Utility or Finder's Encrypt option.

Yes. The Storage Inspector lists moved folders, the Recycle Vault lists everything removed, Job Insights shows each background job's runs and problems, and Where did my space go? shows what Storage Studio itself did.

Yes. The email button is a one-time link that expires after a short while and is checked with the server before activating, so only a genuine, unused link works. Nothing changes beyond turning on your licence.

Not by copying files. Your activation is tied to the Mac it was made on and saved securely there, so a copy won't work elsewhere. On a new Mac of your own, activate with your code or email link.

Check your organisation's policy first. Storage Studio needs Full Disk Access and can move data to external drives and cloud accounts, which many employers control. It reports refusals from device management rather than working around them.

Yes. Freed space is measured on your disk, not predicted, and Storage Studio tells you when results fall short of the estimate. Breakdowns are never scaled to look tidy, and unexplained space gets its own line.

It tells you how sure it is: it names an app only when it can identify one, hedges when it's unsure, and says plainly when it can't tell — it never invents a cause. Its own jobs are named as its own.

Its design suits it — files never reach Storage Studio's servers and its AI runs on your Mac. Encrypt your external drive, connect only approved cloud accounts, consider turning off Junk Yard capturing, and check your professional rules.

On the website at /legal/privacy and /legal/terms, and in the app under More → Legal, alongside the Disclaimer, Security Policy and third-party notices.

Email support@storagestudio.us from your registered address with “Privacy request” or “Delete my data” in the subject. The team verifies it's you and aims to reply within 30 days; some purchase records are kept for tax law.

Its record of moves, your rules and settings, transfer history, daily storage snapshots, your licence, Tuhi history and Junk Yard scraps — all on your Mac or your external drive. Secrets are kept in an encrypted vault.

Storage Studio isn't directed at children under 16 and doesn't knowingly collect their data. A parent can register and run it on a family Mac; contact support if a child's details were collected.

No. Storage Studio has no remote-access feature; support works only through messages you send from Contact Support. Be wary of anyone claiming to be support who asks to control your Mac or for your passwords.

Some show file names so you can see exactly what happened, but logs stay on your Mac and aren't sent to us. Support diagnostics are a separate redacted summary without file names.

It says Storage Studio moves rather than duplicates your data, so it isn't a backup and you should keep a separate one. The software is provided as is with limited liability, though protections the law guarantees still apply.

No. Settings, rules, history and records stay on your Mac, with safety copies on your own external drive. Nothing is uploaded to Storage Studio's servers or iCloud.

Never your files or usage. A partner sees only your email and events on the plan they look after — purchase, renewal, a failed payment, refund or cancellation — never your card or anything from your Mac.

Yes. The Privacy Policy has sections for the EU and UK, California, India and Canada, and explains rights such as access, correction and deletion. Email support@storagestudio.us with “Privacy request” in the subject to use them.

Only if you accept. The notice offers Accept or Decline for analytics and advertising cookies; the site works either way. Accepting allows an anonymous visitor number and campaign details; declining sets none of it.

Because a document really changed. The Terms, Privacy Policy and Disclaimer each have a version number, and you're asked again only when it changes — never for a typo, a date or a formatting fix. We keep a record of the exact text you accepted.

It depends on the record: purchase records as long as tax law requires, trial records 24 months after the trial, support requests 3 years after closing, website chats 30 days. The Privacy Policy lists every one.