How to Install Apps on an External Hard Drive on a Mac?

You have good reasons to install the applications on an external hard drive on Mac lineups, the most attractive of which is that moving applications to an external hard drive greatly frees up Macintosh space. 

Computer vendors today are configuring devices with limited RAM and drive space so that customers will pay expensive prices to augment space. Having fewer apps stored on a Mac is an effective workaround to release space. After moving the apps to external storage, you can run the machine faster and smoother with more space available.

This tutorial concentrates on how to install applications on an external hard drive on a Mac, just follow it to make more room for the operating system to operate!

Is it possible to install apps on an external hard drive on a Mac?

We'd like to say YES if you ask if it is practicable to install apps on the external hard drive on a Mac. In detail, Apple revealed the macOS 15 Sequoia on 16th September 2024, and the feature to install apps on external storage was released in the macOS 15.1 update.

Although so many macOS Sequoia issue feedback and reports are given by users online, it's acknowledged truth that Apple always makes every effort to provide new features and functions along with the major or minor Mac operating system updates. And the feature to install programs to external storage is one of them.

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How to install apps on external storage on a Mac?

Installing apps on the external hard drive is not as complicated as you imagine, in fact, it can be completed easily with the assistance of this tutorial. All you need to do is follow this section step by step, then you're all set!

Preparations

Before initiating the app installation on an external hard drive, some preparations need to be done first:

1. Prepare an empty external hard drive with an APFS-formatted file system, the drive space is based on the size of the software you want to install. Bigger than the size of the software is recommended, because data like user preferences or settings will be created as time goes on.

2. Update the Mac operating system to macOS Sequoia 15.1 or later, or the feature of installing apps on the external hard drive is not available. Go to Apple Menu > System Settings > General > Software Update > Update Now.

For unsupported Macs running macOS Sequoia, think twice before the update as this action may lead Mac to get stuck on the way.

3. Enable the feature to install apps on the external hard drive. Once this feature is turned on, all apps downloaded from the App Store go to the external hard drives automatically unless you change the install locate manually.

Install applications to an external hard drive on a Mac

With app preparations done, now you can install apps to the targeted hard drive on a Mac with ease. Just connect the hard drive to your Mac, and download an app in the App Store, and then it will go to the external hard drive directly.

Make sure the drive is connected to the Mac well when you want to use it, and it will appear in the Applications folder, then you can use it by double-clicking.

Install third-party apps to an external hard drive on a Mac

For the third-party applications you desire to install on an external hard drive, you can download directly to external hard drives on a Mac by changing its download locations. Note that you won't receive any update notification from the app developer so you have to check yourself every time.

Move the installed apps to an external hard drive on a Mac

If you want to move the already-installed apps to an external hard drive on your Mac, you can drag its icon and drop it to the external hard drive directly. Followingly, it will be moved to the hard drive with all its files and data.

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Tricks to free up Macintosh space on Mac

On top of installing apps to an external hard drive, there is one way to free up Macintosh HD space. Download iBoysfot DiskGeeker to clean junk on a Mac hard drive, then available space will be released with ease! 

The Clean Junk feature of iBoysoft DiskGeeker is designed to scan the system drive usually labeled as Macintosh HD, Macintosh HD - Data, macOS, or macOS - Data for redundant data. It can find information and files no longer needed in the system cache, user logs, application cache, downloads, etc.

Files and folders will be listed with file names, modified dates, and sizes for users to select which files should be cleaned to free up the space of the system drive, improve Mac performance, and reduce the system crash risk.

Step 1: Download iBoysoft DiskGeeker and select a volume from the startup disk usually labeled as macOS - Data, macOS, or Macintosh HD, or Macintosh HD - Data.

Step 2: Click "Clean Junk" from the toolbar.

Step 3: Select a folder from the left panel and select the files/folders you want to delete.

Step 4: Click "Clean" and then click "Ok". You will fail to clean certain files if you don't have permission to do so.

Conclusion

For photographers, video editing professionals, designers, and other users who need a set of applications at work, it's extremely helpful to install apps on external hard drives. This move, not only makes the drive accessible at any time as long as you get a machine, freeing you from carrying a computer all the way, but also saves a great amount of space on Mac.

If you need a set of software like Microsoft Office for Mac, Adobe series items, AAA games, etc., install them on an external hard drive directly and you will benefit from that a lot!