--- title: "When the location falls back to a mounted drive" url: https://storagestudio.us/wiki/when-the-location-falls-back-to-a-mounted-drive category: "The Finder location" tags: ["finder", "cloud accounts", "troubleshooting"] summary: "If the Storage Studio location can't start in Finder, Storage Studio mounts a fallback drive with the same folders so your files stay reachable. It isn't in Finder's sidebar, so use Open the Drive or the Finder button to reach it." updated: 2026-10-01T05:37:36.000Z --- # When the location falls back to a mounted drive If the Storage Studio location can't start in Finder, Storage Studio mounts a fallback drive with the same folders so your files stay reachable. It isn't in Finder's sidebar, so use Open the Drive or the Finder button to reach it. Normally your accounts, **Home** folder and devices appear under **Locations** in Finder's sidebar. On the rare occasion that can't start, Storage Studio doesn't leave you without your files: it mounts a **fallback drive** with the same folders instead. The only real difference is where you find it, because the fallback drive isn't listed in Finder's sidebar. ## How to tell you're on the fallback drive Open **Remotes & Accounts** (**Connect Accounts…** in the More menu, or **Cloud Accounts…** in the popover) and choose the **Mounting** tab. - The status line says **Mounted as “Storage Studio”** instead of **On — in Finder under Locations, as “Storage Studio”**. - A note underneath says: "This is the fallback drive — Finder doesn't list it under Locations, so open it with the button below." It also shows where the drive is. ## Why it happens Storage Studio starts the Finder location each time it opens. It switches to the fallback drive when the location can't be set up, for example when the part of Storage Studio that serves your files to Finder doesn't start, or macOS refuses to add the location. If macOS is still running an older copy of that part right after an update, Storage Studio ends the old copy and tries again a couple of times before it falls back. Your files are the same either way. Nothing is moved or copied when it falls back. ## Reaching your files ```mermaid %% caption: What to do when the location has fallen back to a mounted drive flowchart TD A[The Mounting tab says this is the fallback drive] --> B[Click Open the Drive] B --> C[Finder opens the fallback drive with all your folders] A --> D{What do you need?} D -->|The drive misbehaves| E[Click Remount / Repair to rebuild it] D -->|The Finder location back| H[Quit and reopen Storage Studio] H --> I[It tries the Finder location first on launch] ``` *Flowchart — What to do when the location has fallen back to a mounted drive. Outline:* - The Mounting tab says this is the fallback drive - leads to Click Open the Drive - leads to What do you need? - Click Open the Drive - leads to Finder opens the fallback drive with all your folders - What do you need? - The drive misbehaves: leads to Click Remount / Repair to rebuild it - The Finder location back: leads to Quit and reopen Storage Studio - Quit and reopen Storage Studio - leads to It tries the Finder location first on launch 1. Click **Open the Drive** on the **Mounting** tab. Finder opens the fallback drive. 2. Or use the **Finder** button at the top of the main window, which opens whichever one is in use. See [The Finder button in the main window](https://storagestudio.us/wiki/the-finder-button). 3. To keep it handy, drag the drive's folder into Finder's sidebar under **Favorites**. ## Getting the Finder location back - Quit Storage Studio and open it again. It tries the Finder location first every time it starts, and only falls back if it still can't start. - While you're on the fallback drive, **Remount / Repair** on the **Mounting** tab rebuilds that drive from your current accounts and devices. Use it if a folder is missing or the drive stops responding. - If the location stopped responding, the status says "The cloud drive stopped responding. Use Remount / Repair to start it again." ## What's different on the fallback drive - **It isn't in the sidebar.** Use **Open the Drive** or the **Finder** button. - **Keep opened files on this Mac** offers **Forever** when the fallback drive's downloads are kept on your external drive. See [Keep opened files on this Mac](https://storagestudio.us/wiki/keep-opened-files-on-this-mac). - **Take care in Home.** In the Finder location, the folders in **Home** that hold your moved apps and Storage Studio's own files are protected. On the fallback drive, don't rename or delete anything in those folders. See [The Home folder in the Finder location](https://storagestudio.us/wiki/the-home-folder-in-finder). See also: [The Storage Studio location in Finder](https://storagestudio.us/wiki/the-storage-studio-location-in-finder) · [The Storage Studio location is missing from Finder](https://storagestudio.us/wiki/the-finder-location-is-missing) · [Something's not working: start here](https://storagestudio.us/wiki/troubleshooting-start-here) - **Can I see all my cloud accounts in Finder on a Mac?** Yes. Storage Studio adds a "Storage Studio" location to Finder's sidebar, with each connected cloud account and paired device as a folder inside, and a Finder button in the app's main window opens it. Files stay in the cloud until you open them. Folders you have visited open straight away and… (https://storagestudio.us/faq) - **Will opening cloud files in Finder fill up my Mac?** No. Only files you actually open are downloaded, and you choose how long they stay on your Mac once you stop using them — from not at all up to a week, 24 hours by default (and longer when the drive keeps its copies on your external drive). After that they go back to being online-only and the… (https://storagestudio.us/faq) - **Is a locked Delta Drive folder the same as Finder's Locked checkbox?** No. Finder's own Locked checkbox (in Get Info) only stops a file being changed or deleted by accident, and anyone using your Mac can untick it — it doesn't keep anyone out. A locked Delta Drive folder does: it opens only in Storage Studio on your Mac, with your 6-digit PIN and a one-time code we… (https://storagestudio.us/faq) ## What links here - [Keep opened files on this Mac](https://storagestudio.us/wiki/keep-opened-files-on-this-mac) - [The Finder button in the main window](https://storagestudio.us/wiki/the-finder-button) - [The Home folder in the Finder location](https://storagestudio.us/wiki/the-home-folder-in-finder) - [The Storage Studio location in Finder](https://storagestudio.us/wiki/the-storage-studio-location-in-finder) - [The Storage Studio location is missing from Finder](https://storagestudio.us/wiki/the-finder-location-is-missing)