---
title: "What leaves your Mac, and when"
url: https://storagestudio.us/wiki/what-leaves-your-mac
category: "Privacy & security"
tags: ["privacy", "security", "licence"]
summary: "Every kind of connection Storage Studio makes, in plain words — what it sends to its own servers, how often, and what only goes out when you ask it to."
updated: 2026-10-05T16:45:49.000Z
---

# What leaves your Mac, and when

Every kind of connection Storage Studio makes, in plain words — what it sends to its own servers, how often, and what only goes out when you ask it to.

Storage Studio connects to its own servers for a handful of reasons: your licence, updates, a few usage and health numbers, and things you choose to send. Your files don't go to Storage Studio's servers unless you keep them in Storage Studio's own online storage. Every connection to Storage Studio's servers is encrypted.

## Sent automatically

| What | When | What it contains |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Licence or trial check | When the app starts, and about once a day | An anonymous code for this Mac, your licence details if you have one, and the Mac's model, chip, macOS version, region and time zone |
| App settings and update check | When the app starts, and about once a day | The app version and the anonymous code for this Mac |
| Usage totals | About twice a day | Two numbers: space freed and data transferred |
| Crash reports | The next time the app starts after a crash | The error message and a technical trace of where in Storage Studio it happened |
| Performance samples | About once an hour | How much memory Storage Studio is using, how full your Mac's disk is, and how many transfers are running |
| App events | A few times, such as when the app starts | Short labels such as the app version or which feature a lapsed licence blocked, and once per install what the link you downloaded Storage Studio from carried: its campaign tags, if it had any, and — if you accepted cookies on our website — an anonymous visitor number. From 4.19.21, also which page the download started from (only the site's name if it wasn't ours). See [Cookies and the download link](https://storagestudio.us/wiki/cookies-and-the-download-link) |
| Partner link | Once, on first launch, only if you downloaded through a partner's link (4.19.21 and later) | The partner code from that link and the anonymous code for this Mac, so the partner who introduced you is credited |
| Storage profile summary | After your Storage Profile has been measured | Percentages and counts, described below |
| Learning Center messages | From time to time | The anonymous code for this Mac and, if you've registered, your email, so the right messages and tips reach you |
| Help library for Tuhi | At most once a day | Nothing about you — it downloads the same public help pages everyone gets |

The anonymous code is a scrambled, one-way code made on your Mac. It lets our servers count Macs and stop a free trial restarting over and over. Like any website, our servers also see the internet address your connection comes from; for the usage totals, they keep only the country and region it points to.

## The storage profile summary

This is a distilled picture of how the Mac uses its space, built from your [Storage Profile](https://storagestudio.us/wiki/storage-profile). It includes:

- the kind of user the profile describes you as, and the rough mix of file types, as percentages;
- how your space splits between your Mac, your external drive and the cloud;
- which Storage Studio features you use, such as backups or an external drive;
- the type of each connected cloud account, how much space it uses and, if you've analysed it, how many files of each kind it holds — the account's own name, which is often an email address, is replaced with its type;
- how much memory, processor time and disk space Storage Studio itself uses.

It doesn't include your file names or email addresses. Folders your cloud apps keep in sync are listed by the label Storage Studio shows for them, such as the provider's name, with any email address taken out.

## Sent only when you ask

- **Registering or activating** — your email, name and country, and the codes you type in. See [Activating your licence](https://storagestudio.us/wiki/activating-your-licence).
- **Support tickets, feedback and offer requests** — what you write, plus anything you tick to include. See [Getting help](https://storagestudio.us/wiki/getting-help).
- **Diagnostic log sharing** — off unless you turn it on, and it turns itself off after a day. Logs can contain file and folder names. Email addresses, and anything that looks like a password or key, are removed before anything is sent. See [Sharing diagnostic logs with support](https://storagestudio.us/wiki/sharing-diagnostic-logs).
- **Data-erasure request** — after a reset, the code that lets us erase our records for this Mac, and an email address only if you want a confirmation.
- **A link you ask Tuhi to download** — Storage Studio fetches it into your Downloads folder.

## Your own data, going where you send it

- **Cloud accounts** — you connect each one by signing in on the account's own page or by typing its details into Storage Studio. Transfers, syncs and backups go between your Mac and that account. See [Cloud accounts](https://storagestudio.us/wiki/cloud-accounts).
- **Bridge** — our servers help your devices find each other. What you send is encrypted end-to-end between your devices, so our servers can't read it, even when it has to pass through them. See [Bridge](https://storagestudio.us/wiki/bridge-devices).
- **Another AI assistant** — if you turn on [AI access](https://storagestudio.us/wiki/ai-access), apps on this Mac can read your storage status. Storage Studio doesn't send that anywhere itself, but the assistant you connect may send what it reads to its own online service.

## What isn't sent

Your questions to [Tuhi](https://storagestudio.us/wiki/tuhi-is-private), your [Junk Yard](https://storagestudio.us/wiki/junk-yard) and the passwords and keys for your storage accounts aren't sent to Storage Studio's servers, and neither are your files unless you keep them in Storage Studio's own online storage. Anything Bridge passes through our servers is encrypted so they can't read it.

- **Does Storage Studio upload my files to the cloud?** Not unless you ask it to. Freeing space, moving apps and folders, and reclaiming snapshots all happen on your Mac and your external drive. Your files only leave your Mac when you choose to — syncing to a cloud account you connected, backing up to the cloud, or using My Drive on storage you own —… (https://storagestudio.us/faq)
- **Does Storage Studio use AI, and is it private?** Yes — Storage Studio includes Tuhi, an assistant powered by Apple Intelligence that answers your storage questions, can tell you why your Mac feels slow, hot, or low on memory, and can do things for you — download a link to the drive you name, or stop, pause, carry on or cancel a transfer, move… (https://storagestudio.us/faq)
- **What happens to my files if I stop using Storage Studio?** Nothing — your files stay exactly where they are on both drives. Storage Studio simply stops moving new things; it never holds files hostage or makes you re-import anything to keep using them. (https://storagestudio.us/faq)
- **Why does Storage Studio check in with your servers while it's open?** So new versions, fixes and messages for you arrive within minutes instead of the next day. While the app is open it checks in every few minutes. It always sends an anonymous id for your Mac, the app version and your choice for Send usage and crash reports; with that switch on, it also sends your… (https://storagestudio.us/faq)

See also: [Privacy: what stays on your Mac](https://storagestudio.us/wiki/privacy-overview) · [How your settings are protected](https://storagestudio.us/wiki/your-settings-are-encrypted) · [Legal documents and your consent choices](https://storagestudio.us/wiki/legal-documents-and-consent)

## What links here

- [Cookies and the download link](https://storagestudio.us/wiki/cookies-and-the-download-link)
- [How Storage Studio protects your settings on this Mac](https://storagestudio.us/wiki/your-settings-are-encrypted)
- [How your account sign-ins are stored](https://storagestudio.us/wiki/how-account-sign-ins-are-stored)
- [If you came to us through a partner](https://storagestudio.us/wiki/buying-through-a-partner)
- [Is Storage Studio safe to install?](https://storagestudio.us/wiki/is-storage-studio-safe-to-install)
- [Legal documents and your consent choices](https://storagestudio.us/wiki/legal-documents-and-consent)
- [Letting another AI assistant read your storage](https://storagestudio.us/wiki/ai-access)
- [Privacy: what stays on your Mac](https://storagestudio.us/wiki/privacy-overview)
- [Sharing diagnostic logs with support](https://storagestudio.us/wiki/sharing-diagnostic-logs)
- [The permissions Storage Studio asks for](https://storagestudio.us/wiki/permissions-storage-studio-asks-for)
- [Tuhi runs on your Mac](https://storagestudio.us/wiki/tuhi-is-private)
- [Your Storage Profile](https://storagestudio.us/wiki/storage-profile)