--- title: "Apps that update or reinstall themselves" url: https://storagestudio.us/wiki/apps-that-update-or-reinstall-themselves category: "Apps" tags: ["apps", "external drive", "updates"] summary: "Some updaters put a moved app back on your Mac, and some replace an app in place. Storage Studio watches for both: it moves a reinstalled app out again once you quit it, and keeps a safety copy of in-place updaters on your drive." updated: 2026-10-01T05:31:35.000Z --- # Apps that update or reinstall themselves Some updaters put a moved app back on your Mac, and some replace an app in place. Storage Studio watches for both: it moves a reinstalled app out again once you quit it, and keeps a safety copy of in-place updaters on your drive. Apps update in different ways, and some of those ways don't expect the app to live on an external drive. Storage Studio watches every app you've moved. If an updater puts a fresh copy back on your Mac, Storage Studio notices, tells you, and moves it out again once you've quit it. If an app replaces itself in place and the update breaks it, Storage Studio can put it back from a safety copy it keeps on your drive. ## Two kinds of updater The **Internal** and **Moved** tabs show a small label for how each app updates, such as **Mac App Store**, **Adobe Creative Cloud**, **Microsoft AutoUpdate**, **Homebrew Cask**, **Sparkle 2 (package mode)**, **Sparkle 1.x**, **Sparkle 2 (app mode)** or **Squirrel / ShipIt (Electron)**. The **?** button in the Apps window explains each one. | Kind | What it does to a moved app | What Storage Studio does | | --- | --- | --- | | Reinstalls into Applications | Puts a new copy back where the app used to be, on your Mac | Notices the new copy and moves it out again | | Replaces the app in place | Swaps the app for the new version where it is, on your drive | Keeps a safety copy on the drive and restores it if the update breaks the app | Most apps whose updater reinstalls them, replaces them in place, or can't be predicted get the **Override** badge, so you choose to move them knowing this. Apps labelled **Homebrew Cask**, **Sparkle 1.x** or **Sparkle 2 (app mode)** get **Caveat** instead. See [App safety levels](https://storagestudio.us/wiki/app-safety-levels). Apps managed by Setapp are never moved. ## When an updater reinstalls an app Storage Studio checks your moved apps every 10 minutes, and again when your drive is connected. ```mermaid %% caption: What happens when an updater puts a moved app back on your Mac flowchart TD A[A new copy appears where the moved app was] --> B[You get a notification and the Reinstalled by vendor label] B --> C{Does the new version ask for new permissions?} C -->|Yes| D[It is left on your Mac and you are asked to review it] C -->|No| E{Is the app open?} E -->|Yes| F[Storage Studio waits until you quit it] E -->|No| G[The new version is moved to your drive, replacing the old one] F --> G G --> H{Did the move work?} H -->|Yes| I[Back to normal] H -->|No| J[It tries again later, waiting longer each time] ``` *Flowchart — What happens when an updater puts a moved app back on your Mac. Outline:* - A new copy appears where the moved app was - leads to You get a notification and the Reinstalled by vendor label - You get a notification and the Reinstalled by vendor label - leads to Does the new version ask for new permissions? - Does the new version ask for new permissions? - Yes: leads to It is left on your Mac and you are asked to review it - No: leads to Is the app open? - Is the app open? - Yes: leads to Storage Studio waits until you quit it - No: leads to The new version is moved to your drive, replacing the old one - Storage Studio waits until you quit it - leads to The new version is moved to your drive, replacing the old one - The new version is moved to your drive, replacing the old one - leads to Did the move work? - Did the move work? - Yes: leads to Back to normal - No: leads to It tries again later, waiting longer each time - The notification is titled "… was reinstalled" and says Storage Studio will move it again. - It never moves an app while the app is open. - If the update added new permissions, the notification says "… needs permission review", and the app stays on your Mac. Storage Studio won't move it without you, because moving it could make macOS ask for permissions you wouldn't connect with Storage Studio. - If moving the new copy fails, it tries again after 10 minutes, then after an hour, then 6 hours, then once a day. ## When an update replaces an app in place Some apps install an update by swapping the whole app in place. When the app is on an external drive, an update like that can fail partway and leave the app damaged. For these apps, Storage Studio keeps a compressed safety copy on your external drive when it moves them. Your Mac's space is still freed; the copy lives on the drive. If Storage Studio later finds the app on the drive missing or incomplete: - **With a safety copy**, it restores the app and tells you: "… was restored". - **Without one**, it warns you: "… may be damaged", and suggests reconnecting the drive if it's unplugged, or reinstalling the app if it won't open. If the shortcut on your Mac vanishes but the app on the drive is fine, Storage Studio simply puts the shortcut back. For apps that update in place, keep your drive connected while an update runs. ## Moving back after an update If you click **Move back** and there's already a real copy of the app on your Mac (because an updater reinstalled it), Storage Studio keeps whichever version is newer. If your Mac's copy is newer, the older copy on the drive is removed. If the drive's copy is newer, your Mac's copy is set aside before the drive's copy takes its place. See also: [Moving an app to your external drive](https://storagestudio.us/wiki/moving-an-app) · [Missing moved apps: hide, recover or remove](https://storagestudio.us/wiki/missing-moved-apps) · [A moved app won't open](https://storagestudio.us/wiki/a-moved-app-wont-open) · [Self-healing](https://storagestudio.us/wiki/self-healing) ## What links here - [A moved app won't open](https://storagestudio.us/wiki/a-moved-app-wont-open) - [Missing moved apps: hide, recover or remove](https://storagestudio.us/wiki/missing-moved-apps) - [Moved apps when the drive is disconnected](https://storagestudio.us/wiki/moved-apps-when-the-drive-is-offline) - [Moving an app to your external drive](https://storagestudio.us/wiki/moving-an-app) - [Why some apps can't be moved](https://storagestudio.us/wiki/why-some-apps-cant-be-moved)