Storage Studio Wiki

Apps 11

• The Apps windowThe Apps window lists every app on your Mac and lets you open, move, offload or uninstall each one. It has four tabs: All Apps, Internal, Moved and Offloaded.
• App safety levelsEvery app on the Internal tab gets one of four safety badges, Safe, Caveat, Override or Blocked, which decide whether it can be moved and whether you must confirm a known risk first.
• Moving an app to your external driveMove copies an app to your external drive, checks the copy, then leaves a shortcut in its place, so the app opens from the Dock, Launchpad and Spotlight exactly as before while its space on your Mac is freed.
• Offloading and restoring an appOffload archives an app and its data on your external drive and removes both from your Mac, freeing the most space. The app can't open until you click Restore, which copies everything back.
• Uninstalling an app completelyUninstall removes an app together with the leftover files it keeps in your Library. You see every item and its size first, untick anything to keep, and everything removed can be put back.
• The All Apps grid and its shortcutThe All Apps grid shows every app as a large icon you can search and open from the keyboard. A global shortcut, Control-Space by default, brings it up from any app, and you can change or turn off that shortcut.
• Show in DockStorage Studio lives in the menu bar with no Dock icon. Turning on Show Storage Studio in the Dock, under Settings and Interface, keeps a Dock icon too; clicking it opens Home or the popover, depending on your view.
• Moved apps when the drive is disconnectedA moved app lives on your external drive, so it can't open while the drive is disconnected. Nothing is lost: plug the drive back in and the app opens as usual. Offloaded apps wait the same way.

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Backups 8

• Data BackupData Backup keeps versioned backups of the folders you choose on another drive or in the cloud. Each version stores only what changed, every backup is checked, and you can restore any earlier version — the whole set or single files.
• Where a backup can goA backup set can go to a folder on another drive, to one of your own connected cloud accounts, or — if your plan includes it — to Storage Studio's own vault. Cloud backups are always encrypted on your Mac first.
• Backup schedules and triggersEach backup set runs as things change, on a schedule, or only when you ask, with optional conditions — only when plugged in, not on a personal hotspot, not during working hours. Missed times are caught up once, and Back up now always works.
• Restoring from a backupOpen Versions… on a backup set, pick the date you want, then restore the whole version or browse it and restore just the files you need — back to where they came from, or exported somewhere else. Restoring never changes the backup.
• Backup versions: what's kept and for how longEach backup adds a version that stores only what changed. The five most recent are kept, older ones are thinned to one per hour, day, week and month, and every new version is checked once it has been written.
• The backup passphraseA backup set that goes to one of your own cloud accounts is encrypted on your Mac with a passphrase you choose. Storage Studio remembers it so backups run on their own, but if you lose it, those backups can't be recovered — keep a copy somewhere safe.
• What backup messages meanWhat each message on a Data Backup card means and what to do about it — passphrase problems, an unreachable destination, a full destination, an expired sign-in, waiting for power or a faster connection, and backups that stopped part-way.
• Backup speed, battery and the networkAutomatic backups run gently in the background and pause while your Mac is busy. A backup keeps the Mac awake when it's plugged in or above 30% battery, an automatic cloud backup waits if the connection is too slow, and you can keep backups off hotspots.

Cloud accounts 17

• Cloud accountsConnect your cloud drives, storage buckets, file servers and other devices in one window. Each account signs in on its own, stays signed in, and can be tested, edited or removed at any time.
• Connecting Google DriveAdd a Google Drive account by signing in through your own browser. Google always shows its account chooser, so you can connect several Google accounts side by side.
• Connecting DropboxAdd a Dropbox account by signing in through your own browser. Storage Studio never sees your Dropbox password, and each Dropbox account you add stays signed in on its own.
• Connecting OneDrive, including work and school accountsAdd a personal, work or school OneDrive by signing in through your browser. Storage Studio then asks Microsoft which OneDrive belongs to that account and connects to it.
• Connecting BoxAdd a Box account by signing in through your own browser. Once connected, Box is a place you can copy, sync and back up to, and browse in Finder next to your other accounts.
• iCloud Drive for another Apple IDConnect the iCloud Drive of an Apple ID other than the one signed in to your Mac, using its password and a six-digit code from Apple. You can add up to three extra Apple IDs.
• iCloud Photos of another Apple IDWhen you connect another Apple ID's iCloud Drive, its iCloud Photos library comes with it, read-only. You can browse it in Finder and copy photos out with Data Transfers, but not change or delete them.
• Google Photos: what's possible and the Takeout routeGoogle Photos can't be added as a new account, because since March 2025 Google lets an app see only the photos it uploaded itself. To bring your library across, export it with Google Takeout to a connected drive and copy it with Data Transfers.

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Compared with macOS 8

• Storage Studio and macOS Storage settingsmacOS's Storage settings show what fills your Mac and suggest ways to tidy it. Storage Studio adds moving things to an external drive, safe cache clearing and a recoverable way to remove things. They work well together.
• Storage Studio and Optimise Mac StorageiCloud's Optimise Mac Storage lets macOS decide when to make older iCloud Drive files online-only. Storage Studio lets you do it now, for a folder you choose, and set how long opened files stay downloaded.
• Storage Studio and Time MachineTime Machine backs up your whole Mac. Storage Studio's Data Backup keeps versioned backups of the folders you choose, including ones on your external drive. Use both.
• Moving with Storage Studio versus dragging in FinderDragging a folder to another drive in Finder copies it. Storage Studio checks the copy before removing the original, can leave a shortcut behind, and keeps a log you can undo from.
• Storage Studio and emptying the Trash automaticallymacOS can remove items that have been in the Trash for 30 days. Storage Studio never empties your Trash as part of Smart Care, and keeps the things it removes in its own Recycle Vault.
• Uninstalling an app versus dragging it to the TrashDragging an app to the Trash removes the app but usually leaves its support files behind. Storage Studio's Uninstall finds those leftovers, shows them, and removes them recoverably.
• Keep opened files versus iCloud's Remove DownloadFinder's Remove Download makes an iCloud Drive item online-only when you ask. Storage Studio's Keep opened files on this Mac does it automatically after a time you choose.
• Storage Studio's cloud accounts and iCloud DriveYour own iCloud Drive is built into macOS and needs nothing from Storage Studio. Storage Studio adds other accounts, including another Apple ID's iCloud Drive, to Finder in one place.

Data Parking & moving folders 10

• Moving folders safelyData Parking moves folders between your Mac and your external drive or a cloud account. The original is never removed until the copy has finished and been checked, and a finished move can be reverted.
• A tour of the Data Parking windowThe Data Parking window shows your Mac on the left and a destination on the right, with the move controls between them. Pair two folders with the same name, tick what you want to move, then press an action.
• Move, Merge or Relocate: which to chooseMove replaces whatever has the same name on the other side, Merge combines with it without overwriting anything, and Relocate frees the space but leaves shortcuts so apps still find your files. All three remove the original only after the copy is checked.
• What a move keepsA folder move between your Mac and an external drive keeps contents, names, created and modified dates, permissions, Finder tags, Locked and hidden flags, hard links, sparse files and shortcuts. Access lists are kept where the drive supports them; file ownership is not kept.
• Moving a folder backBring a moved folder back to your Mac with Revert in Data Parking's move history, the ← Move and ← Merge buttons, or Move back in Storage Inspector for relocated folders. Your drive must be connected, and the copy on the drive is removed only after the folder is safely back.
• The Moves logData Parking keeps two records of your moves — the live Moves list for what you started in this window, and a move history with every recorded folder move, where a completed move can be reverted.
• How copies are checked: Fast, Thorough or OffBefore a folder move removes your original, Storage Studio checks the copy. Fast compares every file's size, date and permissions, Thorough reads every byte on both sides, and Off checks only the total size.
• When an app is holding a folder openMoving a folder while an app is writing to it can damage the app's data. Storage Studio checks which apps are using a folder before moving it, offers to quit them politely, and in Data Parking holds back folders that changed recently.

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Data Transfers 11

• Data TransfersData Transfers copies, moves or syncs folders between your Mac, your drives, your cloud accounts and paired devices — once, or on a schedule — and can fetch a single large file from a web link.
• Copy, Move, Sync or Two-way syncHow the four folder operations in Data Transfers differ — what each does to the source and the destination, what Sync deletes, and which to pick for common jobs.
• Scheduling a transferAny transfer can repeat every few hours, daily, weekly or monthly. The first run starts straight away, a run is skipped if the last one is still going, and missed runs are caught up once, not once per missed time.
• Sync again and Run againA finished, failed or cancelled transfer offers Sync again (for syncs) or Run again (for copies and moves), which repeats it with the same settings and sends only what changed since last time.
• Trying a transfer first with Dry runTick Dry run (preview only) in New Transfer to rehearse a copy, move or sync. It works out what would be copied, moved or deleted and lists it in the transfer's Log, without changing a single file.
• Two-way sync and the First run boxA two-way sync (Bidirectional sync) needs the First run for this pair box ticked on its very first run, to set the starting point. Never tick it again for the same two folders — Storage Studio never carries it into later runs for you.
• Bandwidth limit and files at onceAdvanced options in New Transfer let you cap a transfer's speed (for example 10M for about 10 MB/s), choose how many files move in parallel (1 to 32, default 8) and how many streams fetch one large file (1 to 16, default 4).
• Files that change while they're being transferredA file that is still being written while it's copied — a growing log, an open download — doesn't match by the time the copy ends. Storage Studio finishes everything else, fetches those files once more, and leaves any still changing for the next run.

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Delta Drive, Delta Trust & My Drive 8

• Delta Trust, Delta Drive and My DriveDelta Trust is a private vault for your backups that only you can read. Delta Drive is a working drive for your everyday files, in Finder and in any browser. My Drive is that same working drive on storage you already own.
• Delta TrustDelta Trust is a private vault for your backups, kept by Storage Studio. Backups are encrypted on your Mac before they leave it, nothing on your Mac can delete your history, and you can go back to any earlier version.
• Delta DriveDelta Drive is the working half of a Delta Trust plan. Your everyday files appear in Finder like a disk, in the Delta Drive window and in any browser, and you can link folders from your Mac so a copy is kept up to date.
• My DriveMy Drive is Storage Studio's working drive running on storage you already own and pay for. It needs only a Storage Studio trial or licence, works in the app, in Finder and in a browser, and includes sharing with named people.
• Setting up My DriveTo set up My Drive you confirm your email with an 8-digit code sent to the address your Storage Studio trial or licence is registered to, then connect the storage you own. The code works for 15 minutes, on the Mac that asked for it.
• What the Delta Drive badges meanSmall marks beside each item in Delta Drive and My Drive tell you where it is right now — online only, ready to read, or always on this Mac — and whether it keeps versions, is shared, or is linked to a folder on your Mac.
• The recovery kitYour recovery kit is a page of 24 words made when you create your Delta Trust vault. It is the only way to reach your backups if your Mac is lost, replaced or repaired. Storage Studio keeps no copy and cannot recover it for you.
• Sharing files from Delta Drive and My DriveShare a file or folder from Delta Drive or My Drive with named people only. Each person proves who they are with an emailed code, you choose what they can do and when the share stops working, and you can see who opened it and withdraw it at any time.

Duplicates 4

• Finding and removing duplicatesThe Duplicates window finds files that are exact copies of each other, by content rather than by name, and lets you keep one copy of each. Extra copies go to the Recycle Vault, so a removal can be undone.
• Which copy Storage Studio keepsFor each set of duplicate files on your Mac, Storage Studio recommends keeping the copy you're most likely using — one in a working folder rather than Downloads or Desktop, then the most recently used — and you can always pick a different one.
• Duplicates in your cloud accountsThe Duplicates window can find exact copies inside each connected cloud account by reading the fingerprints the provider already keeps, so nothing is downloaded. You can remove the extras there too, and every account is checked on its own.
• Background duplicate scansWith Auto-scan on, Storage Studio looks for duplicate files quietly in the background — on your Mac only when it's idle, plugged in and cool, and in cloud accounts during short pauses. It never removes anything on its own.

External drives 9

• Choosing an external driveStorage Studio works best with a fast external SSD connected directly to your Mac and formatted as APFS. It checks any drive you pick — its format, its connection and, if you run the speed test, its read and write speed.
• Drive formats: APFS, Mac OS Extended and exFATAPFS is the recommended format for a Storage Studio drive. Mac OS Extended also works, exFAT works with warnings, and FAT32 and network drives are refused.
• What to know about exFAT drivesexFAT drives work with Storage Studio, with warnings. exFAT can't hold some things Macs rely on, so access lists and some file flags are left out when you move folders there. For a drive you use only with your Mac, APFS is the better choice.
• Setting up your driveChoose your external drive in the Setup Wizard or in Choose External Drive. Storage Studio checks the drive, optionally tests its speed, then creates one folder on it for this Mac. Verify Setup confirms everything is in place.
• Ejecting your drive safelyUse Eject Drive in Storage Studio's More menu before unplugging. It pauses automatic actions, asks developer apps that commonly hold files on the drive to quit, then ejects. If something still has files open, the eject fails safely and tells you.
• When your drive is disconnectedWhile your external drive is unplugged, relocated folders and moved apps can't be opened and automatic moves are skipped. Moves in progress wait, and everything carries on when the same drive is plugged back in.
• Switching to a new drive: Transfer Drive and Backup DriveTransfer to a New Drive copies everything Storage Studio keeps on your drive to another drive, checks the copy, then switches over so your moved folders and apps use the new one. Back Up to Another Drive makes the same checked copy but keeps using the current drive. The old drive is never changed.
• Checking your drive's health and setupThree places tell you whether your external drive is set up and working - the Inspect window, Verify Setup, and the speed test in Choose External Drive. They check the drive is connected, recognised and fast enough; they don't test the drive's hardware.

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For partners 4

• The partner portalThe partner portal is where Storage Studio partners see their customers, commission and payouts, read their programme terms, get their referral link and marketing assets, and set up co-branding. You sign in with a one-time link sent to your email, and everything is reached from the menu on the left.
• Partner co-brandingCo-branding shows your logo, a card that opens your website, and your support contact to the customers you bring to Storage Studio. You edit it and preview it on the Branding page, we approve it, and you decide when it goes live — with your own on/off switch.
• Partner billing: who your customers payYour customers either pay Storage Studio directly, and you earn commission, or you bill them yourself and we invoice you a wholesale price for each renewal. Which applies is part of your agreement, and each customer moves at their next billing period after a 7-day notice.
• Partner payouts and taxSettled commission is paid out monthly, and each payout on the Payouts page shows the commission, any GST or VAT added for you, any tax withheld at source, and what was paid to you. Invoices we send partners who bill their own customers carry tax, or a reverse-charge note, as set up for your account.

Freeing up space 20

• Freeing up space: the optionsStorage Studio frees space on your Mac's built-in disk in five ways: clearing things that rebuild themselves, moving files to your external drive, offloading apps, making cloud files online-only and releasing space held by automatic backups.
• Smart CareSmart Care is the one-tap tidy-up behind the Run Tuhi button on the Home screen. It looks at your Mac first, then runs only the safe steps that will actually help, and tells you afterwards what it freed.
• Free Up SpaceFree Up Space runs your rules in one pass. It moves the files your rules pick out to your external drive, leaving a shortcut behind, and clears app caches that apps rebuild by themselves.
• Storage InspectorStorage Inspector, opened from What's Using Space, measures what is taking room on your Mac, what changed since last time and what your automatic backups are holding, and lets you move big folders to your external drive and back.
• Where did my space go?Storage Studio watches your free space all the time. When it falls quickly it works out which app or folder took it, warns you if you're heading for a full disk, and explains any stretch of the storage chart you select.
• Emergency Space: when the disk is full right nowEmergency Space is for a disk that is full right now. It lists what you could free, safest options first, picks the smallest safe set that reaches your goal, keeps a copy of anything it removes, and can be stopped at any time.
• Temporary files you can't seemacOS gives every app a hidden scratch area for temporary files. Sometimes an app leaves a lot behind there. Storage Studio finds those leftovers, groups them by the app that made them, and offers to clear only the ones nothing is using.
• Why deleting files doesn't always give the space backDeleted or moved files can keep taking space for a while: in the Trash, in your Mac's automatic local snapshots, or because an app still has them open. Storage Studio shows which one is happening and what you can do about it.

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Getting started 14

• What Storage Studio doesStorage Studio is one place to manage all your storage from your Mac — your Mac and its drives, your other devices, your cloud accounts and Delta storage — with versioned backups, a clipboard manager and freeing up space built in.
• Installing Storage StudioDownload the Storage Studio disk image, drag the app into your Applications folder and open it from there. You need macOS 12 Monterey or later, and Storage Studio 4.18 and later need a Mac with Apple silicon.
• Your first launch, step by stepThe first time you open Storage Studio you see, in order, a short loading screen, the terms to accept, a request for Full Disk Access, the free-trial registration and the Setup Wizard. Later launches skip anything you've already done.
• Why Storage Studio asks for Full Disk AccessFull Disk Access is the macOS permission that lets Storage Studio read the protected folders it measures, moves and clears. You grant it in System Settings, the app notices on its own, and you can skip it and grant it later.
• The Setup WizardThe Setup Wizard runs on first install in four steps — Welcome, External Drive, Install and All Set. It prepares your external drive (or lets you skip it) and installs the background service that runs Storage Studio's automatic work.
• The menu bar icon and popoverStorage Studio lives in the menu bar. A small coloured dot on its icon shows its state and a number shows notifications. Clicking opens the Home window or, in the Advanced view, a popover; right-clicking opens a short menu.
• The Home screenThe Home screen is the first tab of the Storage Studio window. It shows how your Mac is doing, lets you ask Tuhi a question, runs Smart Care with one button, charts your storage over time and has a row of cards that open every main feature.
• Where to start: pick your goalA quick guide to the right part of Storage Studio for what you want — space right now, a Mac that stays tidy, an external drive, cloud accounts, backups or another device — with the article to read for each.

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Glossary 28

• Built-in diskYour Mac's built-in disk is the storage inside the Mac itself, which holds macOS, your apps and your files. Storage Studio's job is to keep room free on it.
• External driveAn external drive is a drive you plug into your Mac rather than one built in. It is where Storage Studio moves folders and apps to free space on your Mac.
• Shortcut (symbolic link)A shortcut, or symbolic link, is a tiny file that points to a file or folder somewhere else. Storage Studio leaves shortcuts behind so moved things still open from their old place.
• MoveIn Storage Studio, a move means copy, check, then remove the original, in that order. The original is never removed until the copy has finished and been checked.
• RelocateTo relocate is to move something to your external drive and leave a shortcut in its old place, so it still appears, and opens, where it always did.
• OffloadOffloading an app packs the app and its data into an archive on your external drive and removes them from your Mac. It can't be opened until you restore it.
• Online-only fileAn online-only file lives in a cloud account, with only a placeholder on your Mac. It still shows in Finder and downloads when you open it.
• CacheA cache is data an app keeps so it can work faster next time, and can rebuild by itself if it's removed. Storage Studio clears only recognised cache folders.

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Junk Yard 5

• The Junk YardThe Junk Yard is a board for the scraps you copy all day and the quick notes you jot down. It catches what you copy, keeps it at hand for a while, and clears each scrap away on its own timer so nothing piles up.
• Opening the Junk Yard from the screen edgePush your pointer against the right edge of the screen (or the top, if you choose) and a slim curtain of your Junk Yard scraps slides out. Click a scrap to copy it; move the pointer away and the curtain rolls back.
• Clipboard capture, pins and how long items lastWith Watch the clipboard on, everything you copy lands in the Junk Yard as a card — text, pictures, links and files — except passwords from a password manager. Each scrap clears itself after its auto-clear time, one day unless you choose otherwise.
• Searching and editing Junk Yard itemsFind a scrap by typing in the Junk Yard's search box — it matches words, file names and the text inside pictures — or narrow the board by kind, date and colour. Editing a note or picture always saves a new scrap and leaves the original as it was.
• Junk Yard shortcutsFour keyboard shortcuts work from any app — open the Junk Yard (⌃⇧J), save the clipboard to it (⌃⇧C), start a new note (⌃⇧N) and move the edge curtain between the top and right (⌃⇧D). Change or switch them off in Settings → Shortcuts.

Licensing & payments 19

• Your account on storagestudio.usSign in at storagestudio.us with your email — no password — to see your licences, the Macs Storage Studio runs on, your storage, trials, billing and support requests in one place. The same sign-in opens Delta Drive in your browser.
• The free trialEvery Storage Studio feature is unlocked during the free trial, with no card required. You register with your name, email and country, confirm your email with a one-time code, and the app shows how many days are left.
• Extending your trialWhen your free trial ends, Storage Studio may offer to add more free days if you confirm your email with a one-time code. It's limited — often to one extension — per Mac and email, needs no card, and the screen shows exactly how many days it adds.
• Redeeming a codeGot a Storage Studio code from a shop, a partner or a printed card? Enter it at storagestudio.us/redeem with your name and email, confirm your email with the 6-digit code we send, and your licence arrives by email — with the steps to install and activate.
• Buying a licenceBuy from the pricing page on our website or from the plan screen in Storage Studio, and pay at our secure checkout. A code you enter first shows its discount on the prices and is carried to checkout. Right after paying you get an email with a one-tap activation button and your licence key.
• Activating your licenceActivate Storage Studio with one tap from the Activate Storage Studio button in your purchase email, or by entering your email and licence key in the app. Lost the key? The app can email it again, but only to the address you bought with.
• When a payment didn't go throughIf a renewal payment fails, Storage Studio keeps working and shows Payment didn't go through — a red bell notice that stays until it's fixed, a red headline on Home and a Fix Payment button. Fix Payment opens a secure page where you can pay what's owed, with a different card if you like, and everything clears by itself once the payment lands.
• Payment processingA calm blue Payment processing note means a payment is on its way but hasn't cleared yet — bank payments can take a few days. There is nothing to do and nothing to fix, Storage Studio keeps working normally, and the note disappears by itself once the payment clears.

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Performance & battery 5

• Why Storage Studio works slowly on purposeStorage Studio is a background tidy-up tool with no deadline, so your work always comes first. Its background jobs give way whenever you're using your Mac, use only a share of what's free, and may take minutes rather than seconds — by design.
• Performance modesA performance mode sets how much of your Mac's spare capacity Storage Studio may use and how lively its windows are. Automatic, the default, adjusts by itself — easing off when your Mac is busy, warm or low on battery, and pausing background work under heavy load.
• Battery and powerOn battery, Storage Studio does less in the background and saves its heaviest work for when you're plugged in. It eases off further in Low Power Mode or when the battery runs low, and it only keeps your Mac awake for a backup when that's safe for the battery.
• During meetings, calls and presentationsWith Quiet Hours set to Smart and Pause during meetings on, Storage Studio holds its daily automatic run of your Rules while your camera or microphone is in use. It notices only that they're in use — nothing is recorded.
• Is Storage Studio slowing my Mac down?Check what Storage Studio is doing in Background Activity and which performance mode it's in, then choose a gentler mode or stop the job if you need to. If it isn't the cause, ask Tuhi — it can read your Mac's memory, processor load and temperature and tell you what's going on.

Privacy & security 7

• Privacy: what stays on your MacStorage Studio does its work on your Mac, and your files stay there or go only where you send them. What it sends to its own servers is licence details, a few usage and health numbers, and anything you choose to send, such as a support ticket.
• What leaves your Mac, and whenEvery kind of connection Storage Studio makes, in plain words — what it sends to its own servers, how often, and what only goes out when you ask it to.
• Cookies and the download linkOur website asks before it sets analytics or advertising cookies, and works the same if you decline. If you accept, the download link can carry an anonymous visitor number, which Storage Studio reports once on first launch together with any campaign tags or partner code — never your name, email or files.
• The permissions Storage Studio asks forStorage Studio asks macOS for Full Disk Access and notifications, asks for your administrator password only for a few protected changes, and can start at login. Here is what each one is for.
• Is Storage Studio safe to install?Storage Studio releases are signed with the developer's Apple Developer ID and notarised by Apple. Download it only from storagestudio.us, and macOS will confirm Apple checked it when you first open it.
• How Storage Studio deletes thingsWhen Storage Studio removes your files it puts them in the Recycle Vault or the Trash so you can get them back. It deletes only from places it is allowed to, and permanent actions make you type a word first.
• How Storage Studio protects your settings on this MacStorage Studio keeps its most sensitive records, and the passwords you type in for storage accounts, encrypted and tied to this Mac. Its other files can be read only by your user account. Changing your licence email keeps everything readable.

Safety & undo 6

• How Storage Studio keeps every change reversibleStorage Studio copies before it removes, sends what it removes to a recoverable bin, records every batch of moves so it can be rolled back, and asks you to type a word before anything permanent. Here's how the safety nets fit together.
• The Recycle VaultThe Recycle Vault is Storage Studio's own recoverable bin. Files the app removes for you — duplicates, uninstalled apps, emergency clear-ups — rest there, on your external drive, for about six months so you can bring them back.
• Restoring something from the Recycle VaultOpen the Recycle Vault, select what you want back and click Restore to return it to where it came from, or choose a folder instead. Nothing is ever overwritten — if the name is taken, the restored copy lands alongside it.
• Restore PointsRestore Points record each batch of folders and apps Storage Studio moves, plus its own records and settings, so you can roll a batch back or put Storage Studio's settings back. Your files are never copied into a restore point.
• Pausing or stopping everythingIf something looks wrong, you can stop a single move or clear-up with its own Stop or Cancel button, pause Storage Studio's automatic clear-ups with Pause, hold all background work with Minimum mode, or quit. Stopping part-way is safe — originals stay put until a copy has been checked.
• Self-healingStorage Studio checks its own working parts at launch and every few minutes while it runs, and quietly repairs the common problems — a damaged or stuck background service, missing settings or log storage. It never touches your files to do it.

Settings 10

• The Preferences windowStorage Studio's settings window has twelve pages in a sidebar — Interface, Services, Quiet Hours, Rules, Notifications, License, Junk Yard, Shortcuts, Permissions, Connections, Advanced and Consent & Legal. Open it with Settings… or ⌘, and changes apply straight away.
• The Services paneSettings → Services shows the live state of every background service behind Storage Studio, one row each, with a green, yellow or red dot, a plain-English status and, where it helps, a button to fix it. It refreshes every 5 seconds while open.
• Changing keyboard shortcutsSettings → Shortcuts lists Storage Studio's five global shortcuts — one for the Apps grid and four for the Junk Yard. Each can be switched off or set to a different combination from a menu, and a combination can only be used by one action at a time.
• Interface settingsSettings → Interface chooses what the menu bar icon opens — the calm Intelligence window or the Advanced popover — whether Tuhi uses Apple Intelligence when your Mac has it, and whether Storage Studio also shows a Dock icon.
• Quiet HoursQuiet Hours decides when Storage Studio's automatic nightly run of your rules may start. Choose Scheduled (a fixed daily window plus an idle check), Smart (waits while you're busy, on low battery or in a meeting) or Always on. Anything you start yourself runs straight away.
• Starting Storage Studio at loginTurn on "Launch Storage Studio at login" in Settings → Advanced so the app opens by itself after every restart. Storage Studio's automatic work — scheduled moves, backups, the Junk Yard and shortcuts — only happens while the app is running.
• Sharing diagnostic logs with supportIf support needs to see what's going wrong, you can turn on "Share diagnostic logs with Storage Studio support" in Settings → Notifications. It's off by default, asks for your explicit agreement, removes email addresses and secrets, switches itself off after 24 hours, and you can delete what was sent.
• Legal documents and your consent choicesYou accept the Terms of Service, Privacy Policy and Disclaimer when you first open Storage Studio. Settings → Consent & Legal shows your acceptance record, lets you reread or save each document, and lets you withdraw consent, which stops all background activity.

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The Finder location 8

• The Storage Studio location in FinderStorage Studio adds a Storage Studio entry under Locations in Finder's sidebar, with a folder for each connected cloud account, your external drive's Home folder and your paired devices. Files download only when you open them.
• Keep opened files on this MacKeep opened files on this Mac sets how long a file you opened from the Storage Studio location stays downloaded once you stop using it, before it goes back to online-only and its space is freed. The default is 24 hours.
• Large folders appear a page at a timeIn the Storage Studio location, a big folder is handed to Finder in pages rather than all at once, and a folder you've opened before appears straight away from its saved listing while a fresh one is fetched in the background.
• Thumbnails, and why some accounts show plain iconsThe Storage Studio location shows picture, video and document thumbnails on accounts where reading a little of a file costs nothing. On storage that charges for each request it shows plain icons, so browsing never runs up a bill.
• Why Google Photos isn't in the Finder locationA connected Google Photos account doesn't appear in the Storage Studio location in Finder, because Google only lets apps see photos that the app itself uploaded. It still works as a transfer destination, and Google Takeout is the way to get your whole library.
• The Finder button in the main windowThe Finder icon next to the tabs at the top of the main window opens the Storage Studio location in Finder in one click. It shows a spinner while the drive is getting ready and is greyed out while the location is turned off.
• When the location falls back to a mounted driveIf the Storage Studio location can't start in Finder, Storage Studio mounts a fallback drive with the same folders so your files stay reachable. It isn't in Finder's sidebar, so use Open the Drive or the Finder button to reach it.
• The Home folder in the Finder locationHome in the Storage Studio location is your external drive's Storage Studio folder. You can browse all of it, but the folders that hold your moved apps, offloaded apps and Storage Studio's own files are read-only, so they can't be broken by accident.

Troubleshooting 24

• Something's not working: start hereA quick way to find the right fix. Check the two screens that explain most problems — Settings → Services and Background Activity — then follow the symptom to its own article.
• My rules don't move anything from Documents or DesktopIf automatic moves never take anything from Documents, Desktop or Downloads, check Full Disk Access first, then the rule's age, the hard floor and whether you've opened the files recently. Preview the next run to see exactly what it would do.
• Moves or transfers say a component is missingIf Storage Studio says its file-moving, cloud transfer or backup engine is missing, that copy of the app is incomplete. Download it again, replace the app, then use the check-again button on the banner.
• "Service is stopped" won't go awayStorage Studio's background service does the routine work while the app is closed. If it shows as stopped or not responding, restart it from Settings → Services; if it still won't start, restart your Mac.
• Paste or Select All doesn't work in a text boxCopy, paste, cut, select all and undo work in every Storage Studio text box, even with no Dock icon. If one doesn't, update to the latest version. A few confirmations for actions that can't be undone refuse pasting on purpose.
• The My Drive code didn't arrive or doesn't workThe My Drive setup code goes to the email your Storage Studio trial or licence is registered to, lasts 15 minutes and works only on the Mac that asked for it. Check your junk folder, use only the newest code, and wait an hour if you've hit a limit.
• The menu bar icon doesn't appearIf you can't see Storage Studio's menu bar icon, the menu bar is probably full or the icon is behind the camera notch. Opening Storage Studio again from Applications brings it forward, and you can add a Dock icon as a second way in.
• The drive isn't recognised as set upIf Storage Studio asks you to connect an external drive, or says a drive is the wrong disk, it hasn't found the drive it prepared. Plug the drive in, or choose and prepare it again with Set Up / Choose External Drive.

All 24 pages →

Tuhi assistant 8

• Meet Tuhi, your storage assistantTuhi is Storage Studio's built-in assistant. Ask it about your Mac's space or how a feature works, and it answers on your Mac — written by Apple Intelligence where available — then offers a button to the right screen.
• Asking Tuhi a questionType your question into the Ask box at the top of the Home screen and press Return. Tuhi answers in the conversation below, usually with a button to the right screen, and keeps the conversation on your Mac until you clear it.
• What Tuhi can do for youBesides answering questions, Tuhi can download a link to the place you name and stop, pause, carry on or cancel a download, transfer, folder move, backup or Free Up Space when you ask. She follows each job to the end and asks before anything that would throw work away.
• Tuhi runs on your MacTuhi answers on your Mac. Your questions and its replies aren't sent to Storage Studio or to Apple; the conversation is saved on your Mac, and you can clear it at any time.
• Where Tuhi's answers come fromEvery Tuhi answer carries a small badge. The Apple Intelligence mark means Apple's on-device model wrote it from your Mac's real facts; the box means it's one of Storage Studio's built-in answers. Hover over the badge to see why.
• Tuhi on a Mac without Apple IntelligenceTuhi works on every Mac that runs Storage Studio. Without Apple Intelligence it answers from Storage Studio's built-in replies, still finds files, downloads links and takes you to the right screen — the wording is just simpler.
• Letting another AI assistant read your storageTurn on Allow local assistant access in Preferences → Connections and an AI assistant on this Mac, such as Claude Desktop, can read your storage status. It is read-only, works only on this Mac, and is off until you turn it on.
• Tuhi on our websiteAsk Tuhi is on every page of storagestudio.us. She answers questions about Storage Studio from our FAQ library, wiki and user manual, gives current prices and trial details, copes with typos and follow-up questions, and links the full answer. Signed in to your account, she answers about your own plan, payments, Macs and storage, and tells you first about anything that needs doing.