{
  "schema": "https://storagestudio.us/schema/wiki-page.v1",
  "title": "Extended attributes",
  "slug": "glossary-extended-attributes",
  "url": "https://storagestudio.us/wiki/glossary-extended-attributes",
  "markdown_url": "https://storagestudio.us/wiki/glossary-extended-attributes.md",
  "category": "Glossary",
  "category_url": "https://storagestudio.us/wiki/glossary/",
  "tags": [
    "glossary",
    "moving folders",
    "metadata"
  ],
  "summary": "Extended attributes are small pieces of extra information attached to a file, such as its Finder tags or where it was downloaded from. Folder moves keep them.",
  "published_at": "2026-10-01T06:16:20.000Z",
  "updated_at": "2026-10-01T05:35:52.000Z",
  "headings": [],
  "links_out": [
    {
      "slug": "glossary-finder-tags",
      "label": "Finder tags",
      "exists": true,
      "url": "https://storagestudio.us/wiki/glossary-finder-tags"
    },
    {
      "slug": "glossary-exfat",
      "label": "exFAT",
      "exists": true,
      "url": "https://storagestudio.us/wiki/glossary-exfat"
    },
    {
      "slug": "what-a-move-keeps",
      "label": "What a move keeps",
      "exists": true,
      "url": "https://storagestudio.us/wiki/what-a-move-keeps"
    },
    {
      "slug": "moving-folders-safely",
      "label": "Moving folders safely",
      "exists": true,
      "url": "https://storagestudio.us/wiki/moving-folders-safely"
    }
  ],
  "links_in": [
    {
      "slug": "glossary-finder-tags",
      "title": "Finder tags",
      "url": "https://storagestudio.us/wiki/glossary-finder-tags"
    },
    {
      "slug": "what-a-move-keeps",
      "title": "What a move keeps",
      "url": "https://storagestudio.us/wiki/what-a-move-keeps"
    }
  ],
  "diagrams": [],
  "images": [],
  "screenshots_pending": [],
  "faqs": [],
  "text": "Extended attributes are small pieces of extra information attached to a file, kept alongside its contents. You rarely see them directly, but you see what they do: a file's Finder tags , the note of which website a download came from, and the check macOS runs the first time you open an app you downloaded all rely on them. When Storage Studio moves a folder between your Mac and your external drive, extended attributes are copied along with each file. Copies to a cloud account usually keep less, because each provider stores only some of a file's extra information. A drive formatted as exFAT can also behave differently from a Mac-formatted one. See also: What a move keeps · Moving folders safely",
  "markdown": "**Extended attributes** are small pieces of extra information attached to a file, kept alongside its contents. You rarely see them directly, but you see what they do: a file's [Finder tags](https://storagestudio.us/wiki/glossary-finder-tags), the note of which website a download came from, and the check macOS runs the first time you open an app you downloaded all rely on them.\n\nWhen Storage Studio moves a folder between your Mac and your external drive, extended attributes are copied along with each file.\n\nCopies to a cloud account usually keep less, because each provider stores only some of a file's extra information. A drive formatted as [exFAT](https://storagestudio.us/wiki/glossary-exfat) can also behave differently from a Mac-formatted one.\n\nSee also: [What a move keeps](https://storagestudio.us/wiki/what-a-move-keeps) · [Moving folders safely](https://storagestudio.us/wiki/moving-folders-safely)\n"
}