---
title: "File ownership"
url: https://storagestudio.us/wiki/glossary-file-ownership
category: "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."
updated: 2026-10-01T05:35:58.000Z
---

# File ownership

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.

**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](https://storagestudio.us/wiki/file-ownership-on-external-drives) · [What a move keeps](https://storagestudio.us/wiki/what-a-move-keeps)

## What links here

- [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)
- [exFAT](https://storagestudio.us/wiki/glossary-exfat)