How to install Mac apps on an external hard drive

Are you running out of space? Now you can install your apps larger than 1 GB on that external hard drive you have at home

Even if you have your Mac with the largest available storage, we live in an era where any app, whatever it may be, can now even reach gigabytes of storage. Besides, If we count photos, music, videos and professional work, we often have to think about installing Mac apps on an external hard drive..

Many users do not know exactly how to do this process, since It is a somewhat unknown function and not visible in the tutorials that you can find on the web. For that reason we want to show you how to install Mac apps on any external hard drive you have.

Can you install Mac applications on external storage? Yes, with macOS Sequoia

If you notice that your Mac is running out of space on its internal drive, macOS Sequoia 15.1 brings a new and very useful feature: now you can install large applications directly to an external drive.

Apple usually charges too much to expand storage capacity when purchasing a Mac. This makes upgrading nearly impossible for many people once the original storage has run out or is about to run out. Additionally, internal storage is generally not upgradeable after purchase, leading many users to opt for external drives for obtain more space without having to spend so much money, since in the market we can find an infinite number of different options.

Previously, macOS automatically installed all apps downloaded from the Mac App Store to the main drivewhich could be a problem if your internal space was running out. Now, with macOS Sequoia 15.1, Apple has added an option to download and install applications that exceed 1 GB of storage directly to an external drive.

This functionality It will be very useful for those who use software that requires a lot of space, such as Final Cut Pro or Logic Proand for players who download heavy titles like the recent Resident Evil 2. This improvement will allow you to install bulky applications on an external drive and keep your internal storage with more free space.

You can now install apps on external hard drives to save some space on your Mac

How to install applications on my external hard drive with Mac?

The truth is that the process is quite simple to do and We only require a few steps directly in the App Store of our Macs. These are the precise steps:

• Plug in your external hard drive and configure it if you haven’t already done so.
• Open and sign in to the App Store on your Mac.
• Click on App Store in the menu bar and then select settings to display a new menu.
• There you have to check the box that says ‘Download and install large applications on an external drive’.
• A small menu will open where you can select the hard drive on which you want your new applications to be installed.
• Remember to have your disk installed so you can open and run them without problem.

Now, You need to take into account some issues so that this process does not represent a problem for you.:

• Of course, have macOS Sequoia and its latest updates installed so that you can access this function without failures and in the safest way possible.
• Every time you want to change the hard drive, it is necessary to carry out the entire previous configuration and selection process.
• You can only install apps that are larger than 1 GB at the time of downloading from the App Store.
• When there is a new update, it is necessary to have your SSD connected so that it can be installed properly.
• It is advisable to use an external SSD and not a traditional one, since they are the only ones that will maintain maximum performance of the apps, similar to what you see on your Mac.
• It’s a setting called ‘All or Nothing’. That is, either all the apps will be installed here or none. For this reason, it is always necessary to carry out the process when we need it.
• Cleaning and uninstalling the Apps will have to be done directly on your external hard drive.

As we mentioned, It is important to have an External Hard Drive of the latest generation and great capacity to emulate the speed that the apps give you. if you install them directly to your internal storage. Here we have a comparison of which external hard drive you can buy today.

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