Move, Merge or Relocate: which to choose

Use Relocate when an app or habit expects the folder to stay where it is. Use Move when you want the folder gone from your Mac and the copy on the other side to be exactly what you moved. Use Merge when the other side already has a folder of the same name and you want to keep what's in it.

All three need the two panes paired first (see A tour of the Data Parking window), and all three remove the original only after the copy has been checked.

Side by side

The button itself tells you what happens to the original: a ✕ on the source side means it goes away, a ✓ means it stays (as shortcuts).

%% caption: Choosing between Move, Merge and Relocate
flowchart TD
  A[Do apps or scripts expect the folder to stay where it is?] -->|Yes| R[Relocate]
  A -->|No| B{Is there already a folder with this name on the other side?}
  B -->|No| M[Move]
  B -->|Yes| C{Do you want to keep what is already there?}
  C -->|Yes| G[Merge]
  C -->|No, replace it| M

Examples

• An old project you won't open for months. Move it to your drive. Your Mac gets the space back and the drive holds the project. Bring it back later with ← Move.
• A photo export folder that already exists on your drive. Merge it. New exports are added, identical files are left alone, and older exports that are only on the drive stay put. If a file on the drive has the same name as one from your Mac but different contents, the drive's one is renamed with the date, for example export (drive copy 27 Oct 2026).jpg, and kept beside yours — nothing is overwritten.
• A folder an app reads from a fixed place, such as a library or a downloads folder a tool watches. Relocate it. The files live on your drive, the folder stays where the app expects it, and each file there is a shortcut to its new home. While the drive is unplugged, the app can't reach those files.

When something is already there

If Move or Relocate would land on something that already exists at the destination, a confirmation appears before anything is touched. It offers three ways forward — the same choices as the Storage Inspector:

• Keep both — what's already there is renamed with the date, for example Projects (drive copy 27 Oct 2026), and left untouched. Your selection moves in beside it.
• Merge — your selection joins what's already there. A file with the same name but different contents is renamed with the date and kept, never overwritten.
• Replace — what's there is removed first, as described below.

Keep both and Merge lose nothing, so they don't ask you to type anything. For Replace:

• The title is Replace what's already there? for a Move, or Replace the copy already on your fast drive? for a Relocate.
• It names the items and says how many files they hold in total.
• It explains that what gets replaced doesn't go to the Trash or the Recycle Vault, and there's nothing to restore it from.
• You type Replace, then click Move and replace or Relocate and replace.

Merge on its own never needs this step, because it doesn't delete or overwrite anything at the destination. The renaming applies to drives and folders; with a cloud account, Merge adds to what's there the way that provider does.

Before you press the button

• Apps aren't moved here — use the Apps window.
• Relocate isn't available when either side is a cloud account, because a cloud account can't hold a shortcut. Use Move or Merge. With a cloud account, both of those add to what's already there rather than replacing it — see Parking a folder in a cloud account.
• Folders with recently changed files are held back by default — see When an app is holding a folder open.

See also: Moving folders safely, What a move keeps, Move, Relocate.