Glossary

App safety level

An app's safety level is Storage Studio's rating of how safely it can be moved to your external drive: Safe, Caveat, Override or Blocked.

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An app's safety level is Storage Studio's rating of how safely that app can be moved to your external drive. Each app in the Apps window carries a small badge with one of four levels; hold the pointer over the badge to read the reason.

  • Safe — nothing found that a move could upset. Move freely.
  • Caveat — moves normally, with something worth knowing; for example, macOS may ask you to allow a permission such as the camera again.
  • Override — a real risk was found, such as a background helper or an app installed by macOS. You can still move it after confirming.
  • Blocked — can't be moved, for example Storage Studio itself, apps that come with macOS, Apple-signed apps, apps already moved, or an app that's open right now (quit it and refresh to check again).

See also: App safety levels · Why some apps can't be moved · Moving an app to your external drive

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How do I move apps to an external drive on a Mac and still launch them?
Dragging an app to another drive can break it, because macOS expects it in /Applications. Storage Studio relocates the app to your external drive and leaves a shortcut in place, so it still launches normally from Launchpad, Spotlight, and the Dock — and you can move it back in one click.
How do I use an external SSD as extra storage on a MacBook?
Plug in a USB-C or Thunderbolt SSD and let Storage Studio pair it with your internal drive as one workspace. It moves big folders, libraries, and apps to the SSD with a shortcut left behind, so your MacBook behaves like it has a much bigger disk — fast enough to work directly off the external drive.
Can I move my Photos or Final Cut library to an external drive?
Yes — large Photos, Final Cut, and iMovie libraries are common space hogs. Storage Studio relocates them to an external drive while keeping them usable, leaving a shortcut so your apps still find them. Moving a folder to your fast drive keeps its files' modified and created dates, permissions,…
Will moving files to another drive break my apps or Spotlight?
Not the way Storage Studio does it. It leaves a shortcut (symlink) at the original location, so apps, Finder, and Spotlight resolve everything as if it never moved — and the move is fully reversible.

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