--- title: "Where to start: pick your goal" url: https://storagestudio.us/wiki/where-to-start category: "Getting started" tags: ["getting started", "free up space", "external drive", "cloud accounts", "backups"] summary: "A quick guide to the right part of Storage Studio for what you want — space right now, a Mac that stays tidy, an external drive, cloud accounts, backups or another device — with the article to read for each." updated: 2026-10-01T05:35:30.000Z --- # Where to start: pick your goal A quick guide to the right part of Storage Studio for what you want — space right now, a Mac that stays tidy, an external drive, cloud accounts, backups or another device — with the article to read for each. Storage Studio does quite a lot, but you only need the part that matches what you want right now. Find your goal below and follow the link — each article tells you exactly where to click. ```mermaid %% caption: Which part of Storage Studio to start with flowchart TD A{What do you want to do?} --> B[My disk is nearly full now] A --> C[Keep my Mac tidy from now on] A --> D[Use an external drive] A --> E[Work with cloud accounts] A --> F[Back up my files] B --> BB[Emergency Space, then Smart Care] C --> CC[Smart Care, Auto Rules and Automatic Moves] D --> DD[Set up the drive, then Data Parking or Apps] E --> EE[Connect an account, then Data Transfers] F --> FF[Data Backup] ``` *Flowchart — Which part of Storage Studio to start with. Outline:* - What do you want to do? - leads to My disk is nearly full now - leads to Keep my Mac tidy from now on - leads to Use an external drive - leads to Work with cloud accounts - leads to Back up my files - My disk is nearly full now - leads to Emergency Space, then Smart Care - Keep my Mac tidy from now on - leads to Smart Care, Auto Rules and Automatic Moves - Use an external drive - leads to Set up the drive, then Data Parking or Apps - Work with cloud accounts - leads to Connect an account, then Data Transfers - Back up my files - leads to Data Backup ## "My disk is nearly full right now" 1. Open [Emergency Space](https://storagestudio.us/wiki/emergency-space) — a warning triangle on the Home screen appears when your disk is nearly full. 2. Click **Run Tuhi - Your AI Assistant** on the Home screen to run [Smart Care](https://storagestudio.us/wiki/smart-care), which clears caches and other space your Mac can safely rebuild. 3. Look at what's big with [What's Using Space](https://storagestudio.us/wiki/storage-inspector) and [Where did my space go?](https://storagestudio.us/wiki/where-did-my-space-go). If space doesn't come back after a clear-up, read [Why deleting files doesn't always give the space back](https://storagestudio.us/wiki/why-deleting-doesnt-free-space). ## "I want my Mac to stay tidy without thinking about it" - [Auto Rules](https://storagestudio.us/wiki/auto-rules) keep app caches in check. - [Automatic Moves](https://storagestudio.us/wiki/rules-and-automatic-moves) move folders you choose to your drive on a schedule. - [Quiet Hours](https://storagestudio.us/wiki/quiet-hours) decides when that automatic work is allowed to run. ## "I have an external drive and want to use it" 1. [Set up your drive](https://storagestudio.us/wiki/setting-up-your-drive) (the [Setup Wizard](https://storagestudio.us/wiki/the-setup-wizard) can do this for you). 2. Move big folders with [Data Parking](https://storagestudio.us/wiki/moving-folders-safely) — a shortcut stays behind, so nothing breaks. 3. Move or offload apps from the [Apps window](https://storagestudio.us/wiki/the-apps-window). Not sure which drive to buy or how to format it? Start with [Choosing an external drive](https://storagestudio.us/wiki/choosing-an-external-drive). ## "I use cloud storage" - [Connect your accounts](https://storagestudio.us/wiki/cloud-accounts). - Copy, move or sync with [Data Transfers](https://storagestudio.us/wiki/data-transfers). - Free space taken by synced cloud folders with [Optimise Cloud Storage Locally](https://storagestudio.us/wiki/optimise-cloud-storage-locally). ## "I want backups" [Data Backup](https://storagestudio.us/wiki/data-backup) keeps versioned backups of the folders you choose, on a drive or in the cloud. Storage Studio is not a replacement for a full backup of your Mac — see [Storage Studio and Time Machine](https://storagestudio.us/wiki/compared-with-time-machine). ## "I want to reach my files from another device" [Bridge](https://storagestudio.us/wiki/bridge-devices) links another of your devices, and [Shared Folders](https://storagestudio.us/wiki/shared-folders-between-macs) keeps a folder the same on two Macs. ## Still not sure? Type your question into the Ask box on the Home screen — [Tuhi](https://storagestudio.us/wiki/tuhi) can point you to the right place. Or browse [What Storage Studio does](https://storagestudio.us/wiki/what-storage-studio-does). ## What links here - [The Home screen](https://storagestudio.us/wiki/the-home-screen) - [What Storage Studio does](https://storagestudio.us/wiki/what-storage-studio-does) - [Your first launch, step by step](https://storagestudio.us/wiki/your-first-launch)