Uninstalling Storage Studio

To remove Storage Studio, use one of its own removal tools rather than dragging the app to the Trash. Dragging it away leaves the background service running and leaves shortcuts on your Mac pointing at files on a drive that nothing manages any more. Reset Storage Studio is the complete route: it puts back everything Storage Studio moved before it removes anything. Uninstall Storage Studio is a quicker removal.

Both are in More in the Storage Studio window (and under More… when you right-click the menu bar icon). In the Advanced popover they're under More → Setup & maintenance.

Which one to use

%% caption: Choosing between Reset and Uninstall
flowchart TD
  A[You want Storage Studio gone] --> B{Have you moved folders or apps to a drive?}
  B -->|Yes| C[Connect the drive, then use Reset Storage Studio]
  B -->|No, or you'll copy things back yourself| D[Uninstall Storage Studio is enough]
  C --> E[Everything is put back first, then removed]
  D --> F[App to the Trash, files on the drive left as they are]

Reset Storage Studio (recommended)

Reset takes four screens: What's here, Confirm, Resetting and Your code.

1. Connect your external drive first. Without it, Storage Studio can't put anything back from it.
2. What's here lists what Storage Studio has on this Mac and on your drive, each with its size. Under Put back on this Mac are the things it moved; they're moved back to where they came from before anything else happens. Below that are the things you can remove — settings, records, the background service, the Storage Studio place in Finder's sidebar, opening at login, the app itself and more. The things to put back start ticked; none of the removals is ticked for you.
3. Confirm shows two columns: what will be put back and what will be removed. Anything that holds your own files needs you to type RESET.
4. Reset now. Progress shows each step as done, left alone or couldn't be done. Everything removed goes to the Trash, so you can change your mind until you empty it.

Storage Studio won't delete a backup stored with a cloud provider, because that can't be undone — remove those in the provider's own app if you want them gone.

At the end you get a data-erasure code. Send it from the same screen (an email address is optional) or email it to support, and we'll remove the personal details attached to this Mac from our records. Purchase records are kept because the law requires it.

Uninstall Storage Studio

The Uninstall wizard is shorter: What to remove, Uninstalling, Done. It shows whether the service is running and how many relocated folders it found, then offers three switches:

• Revert relocated folders — puts back the relocated folders it finds, from the copies Storage Studio kept beside them. Any it can't put back stay on the external drive, where you can copy them back yourself.
• Remove Storage Studio's settings and logs — leave this off if you plan to reinstall and want your settings.
• Move Storage Studio app to the Trash.

Click Uninstall…. Your files on the external drive are not touched. When it finishes, click Quit, then empty the Trash when you're ready.

The Uninstall wizard only reverts relocated folders. If you've used Data Parking or moved apps, use Reset, or move them back first — see Moving a folder back and Moving an app to your external drive.

See also: How Storage Studio deletes things, Installing Storage Studio, Using your licence on a new Mac.