--- title: "What happens to transfers when you restart" url: https://storagestudio.us/wiki/transfers-and-restarts category: "Data Transfers" tags: ["data transfers", "schedule", "external drive"] summary: "Your transfers and schedules are kept when Storage Studio quits or the Mac restarts. Anything that was running comes back as Queued and, when it runs again, sends only what's still missing; very large downloads resume piece by piece." updated: 2026-10-01T05:33:59.000Z --- # What happens to transfers when you restart Your transfers and schedules are kept when Storage Studio quits or the Mac restarts. Anything that was running comes back as Queued and, when it runs again, sends only what's still missing; very large downloads resume piece by piece. Quitting Storage Studio, restarting your Mac or unplugging your drive doesn't lose your transfers. The list, the settings and the schedules are all kept, and a transfer that was interrupted can carry on — sending only what hadn't arrived yet, not starting from scratch. ## When Storage Studio quits or the Mac restarts Storage Studio stops any transfer that is running when it quits, so nothing carries on unseen in the background. When it opens again: - A transfer that was **Running** comes back as **Queued**. - A **Paused** transfer is still paused, waiting for you to click **Resume**. - Scheduled transfers carry on. A run that fell due while Storage Studio wasn't open happens once, soon after it starts — see [Scheduling a transfer](https://storagestudio.us/wiki/transfer-schedules). A **Queued** transfer starts when the queue next moves on — for example when you start or resume another transfer, a scheduled run comes due, or your drive is connected. If one stays **Queued** and you want it now, select it, click **Cancel**, then **Run again**. Either way, the files that had already finished aren't sent again: each run compares both sides and sends only what's missing or changed. See [Sync again and Run again](https://storagestudio.us/wiki/sync-again). ```mermaid %% caption: What a transfer does after an interruption flowchart TD A[A transfer is interrupted] --> B{What interrupted it?} B -->|Storage Studio quit or the Mac restarted| C[Back as Queued on the next launch] B -->|You clicked Pause| D[Stays Paused until you click Resume] B -->|The drive was unplugged| E[Waiting for drive until it's back] C --> F[The next run sends only what's missing] D --> F E --> F ``` *Flowchart — What a transfer does after an interruption. Outline:* - A transfer is interrupted - leads to What interrupted it? - What interrupted it? - Storage Studio quit or the Mac restarted: leads to Back as Queued on the next launch - You clicked Pause: leads to Stays Paused until you click Resume - The drive was unplugged: leads to Waiting for drive until it's back - Back as Queued on the next launch - leads to The next run sends only what's missing - Stays Paused until you click Resume - leads to The next run sends only what's missing - Waiting for drive until it's back - leads to The next run sends only what's missing ## When the Mac sleeps Storage Studio doesn't keep your Mac awake for a transfer. When the Mac sleeps, the transfer stops moving; when it wakes, a transfer to or from a cloud account retries what was interrupted. If it ends with **Failed**, use **Sync again** or **Run again** — only what didn't arrive is sent. (Backups are different: Data Backup can keep the Mac awake while it runs; see [Backup speed, battery and the network](https://storagestudio.us/wiki/backup-speed-and-power).) ## When your drive is unplugged A transfer that reads from or writes to your Storage Studio external drive checks the drive first. If it isn't connected — when the transfer starts, or when a scheduled run comes due — the transfer waits as **Waiting for drive** instead of failing. - It starts by itself as soon as the drive is plugged back in. - **Check drive** in its details looks again straight away. - **Abandon pending** in the toolbar cancels every transfer that is waiting for the drive. - A scheduled transfer doesn't pile up extra runs while it waits. Storage Studio checks that the drive is really connected, not just that a folder with its name exists, so a waiting transfer never copies onto your Mac's built-in disk by mistake. See [when your drive is disconnected](https://storagestudio.us/wiki/when-your-drive-is-disconnected). ## Very large downloads A single large file — over about 2 GB — downloaded to this Mac from a source that supports it is fetched in pieces. If the download is paused or interrupted by a restart, the pieces that arrived are kept: when it carries on it checks them and fetches only the rest. Use **Pause** rather than **Cancel** if you mean to come back to it — a cancelled download isn't picked up again. If the disk fills up part-way, the transfer shows **Needs space** instead of failing; free some space and click **Try again**, or click **Move to another drive** to carry on from a drive with room, without downloading anything twice. ## Your transfer history The list of transfers is saved on your Mac. If a newer or older version of Storage Studio can't read some of it, the unreadable part is copied aside and kept rather than overwritten, and Job Insights tells you. See [Background Activity and Job Insights](https://storagestudio.us/wiki/background-activity). More answers: https://storagestudio.us/faq See also: [Data Transfers](https://storagestudio.us/wiki/data-transfers) · [The drive was unplugged during a move](https://storagestudio.us/wiki/drive-unplugged-during-a-move) · [A transfer failed](https://storagestudio.us/wiki/a-transfer-failed) ## What links here - [A transfer failed](https://storagestudio.us/wiki/a-transfer-failed) - [Copy, Move, Sync or Two-way sync](https://storagestudio.us/wiki/copy-move-sync-or-two-way-sync) - [Copying between two cloud accounts](https://storagestudio.us/wiki/copying-between-two-cloud-accounts) - [Data Transfers](https://storagestudio.us/wiki/data-transfers) - [Scheduling a transfer](https://storagestudio.us/wiki/transfer-schedules) - [Sync again and Run again](https://storagestudio.us/wiki/sync-again) - [Two devices won't connect with Bridge](https://storagestudio.us/wiki/bridge-devices-cant-connect)