{
  "schema": "https://storagestudio.us/schema/wiki-page.v1",
  "title": "File ownership",
  "slug": "glossary-file-ownership",
  "url": "https://storagestudio.us/wiki/glossary-file-ownership",
  "markdown_url": "https://storagestudio.us/wiki/glossary-file-ownership.md",
  "category": "Glossary",
  "category_url": "https://storagestudio.us/wiki/glossary/",
  "tags": [
    "glossary",
    "metadata",
    "external drive"
  ],
  "summary": "Every file on a Mac records which user owns it. External drives normally ignore ownership, and Storage Studio doesn't keep it when moving to one.",
  "published_at": "2026-10-01T06:16:23.000Z",
  "updated_at": "2026-10-01T05:35:58.000Z",
  "headings": [],
  "links_out": [
    {
      "slug": "file-ownership-on-external-drives",
      "label": "File ownership on external drives",
      "exists": true,
      "url": "https://storagestudio.us/wiki/file-ownership-on-external-drives"
    },
    {
      "slug": "what-a-move-keeps",
      "label": "What a move keeps",
      "exists": true,
      "url": "https://storagestudio.us/wiki/what-a-move-keeps"
    }
  ],
  "links_in": [
    {
      "slug": "file-ownership-on-external-drives",
      "title": "File ownership on external drives",
      "url": "https://storagestudio.us/wiki/file-ownership-on-external-drives"
    },
    {
      "slug": "what-a-move-keeps",
      "title": "What a move keeps",
      "url": "https://storagestudio.us/wiki/what-a-move-keeps"
    },
    {
      "slug": "glossary-exfat",
      "title": "exFAT",
      "url": "https://storagestudio.us/wiki/glossary-exfat"
    }
  ],
  "diagrams": [],
  "images": [],
  "screenshots_pending": [],
  "faqs": [],
  "text": "File ownership is the record of which user account a file belongs to. Together with the file's permissions, it decides who can open or change it on a Mac shared by several people. External drives are normally set to ignore ownership — you'll see Ignore ownership on this volume in the drive's Get Info window. On such a drive, every file appears to belong to whoever is using the Mac at the time, so a drive can move between Macs without permission problems. Storage Studio doesn't keep a file's owner when it moves it to your external drive; the file's permissions and dates are kept. On a Mac with one user this makes no practical difference. On a shared Mac, keep it in mind before moving another person's files. See also: File ownership on external drives · What a move keeps",
  "markdown": "**File ownership** is the record of which user account a file belongs to. Together with the file's permissions, it decides who can open or change it on a Mac shared by several people.\n\nExternal drives are normally set to ignore ownership — you'll see **Ignore ownership on this volume** in the drive's Get Info window. On such a drive, every file appears to belong to whoever is using the Mac at the time, so a drive can move between Macs without permission problems.\n\nStorage Studio doesn't keep a file's owner when it moves it to your external drive; the file's permissions and dates are kept. On a Mac with one user this makes no practical difference. On a shared Mac, keep it in mind before moving another person's files.\n\nSee also: [File ownership on external drives](https://storagestudio.us/wiki/file-ownership-on-external-drives) · [What a move keeps](https://storagestudio.us/wiki/what-a-move-keeps)\n"
}