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Are there any downsides to putting my home folder on an external drive?
- Thread starter rogercorke
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And it is exactly what Apple moved to in recent versions macOS. Gone are the days of the monolithic system/data volume.
I moved my boot up drive on my Mac mini to a 4TB Samsung 990, absolutely no problems, you can even remove it and connect it to a MacBook air or MacBook Pro and you have to re-enter passwords for iCloud and programs like X, takes a short while to adjust. But if you just keep it to one computer, never had a problem.
Quick somewhat unrelated question: are you running Monterey or later on this and is your drive in a TB3+ enclosure? If so have you noticed any issue with extended boot times or other indications of TRIM not working? I've seen several reports of macOS Monterey and latter not working well with Samsung 980 or later (Samsung 970 EVO apparently okay) due to incompatibilities around TRIM.
Yeah I’m wondering what are all the pros and cons of internal boot and home folder + external libraries vs. internal boot + external home folder vs. external boot. There seem to always be non-obvious catches that pop up with each thing. For external libraries, I think I’ve heard some apps’ folders can’t be redirected. Also during boot up if the external drive mounts after the app starts then the app can’t find its folder and you have to manually direct it. For external home folder, apparently there’s a complication with encryption and issue with iCloud syncing. For external boot, I’ve heard you lose TRIM, Apple AI, and iPhone Mirroring. I’m assuming these aren’t complete lists. And maybe there are solutions/workarounds to each thing, but how technical or annoying they are is another thing to consider.
I have around 60TB of external SSD storage available to me across various external drives (more then I know what to do with!), yet I still spec machines with a 1TB internal SSD so that I can keep my documents and home folder on the actual machine. Its just less issues this way IMO.
External drives are used for larger project libraries etc that do not need to be on my internal drive. Even with a large amount of external storage at my disposal, I still have no desire to move my home folder to one of them. I just know I'll be creating issues for myself later down the line.......
External drives are used for larger project libraries etc that do not need to be on my internal drive. Even with a large amount of external storage at my disposal, I still have no desire to move my home folder to one of them. I just know I'll be creating issues for myself later down the line.......
It would be helpful to be specific about what the actual issues are as OP has already been advised in another forum to avoid the vague “issues” and is now wondering what the actual issues are. But also being specific helps for there to be a discussion and consensus on which specific issues are actual issues vs. misconceptions vs. outdated issues that are no longer relevant vs. issues with solutions or workarounds vs. issues that aren’t relevant to some individuals.
I use:
So there are definitely issues with this configuration. I haven't tested, but suspect that un-encrypting the externals would help.
I suffer this. As examples: When iMazing (for iPhone local backup) autostarts it creates a /Volumes/xxx folder if the /Volumes/xxx drive is not mounted - so I have to stop its auto starting and remember (usually forget) to start it manually. Arq Backup fails to start if its database and cache is directed (via symlink) to an external drive - no option to stop or delay start.
So there are definitely issues with this configuration. I haven't tested, but suspect that un-encrypting the externals would help.
For sure.
Yet, these things have been discussed in many threads on this site and others.
Here's what buyers of new Macs need to keep in mind (and I'm speaking to myself):
1) New Macs come with internal storage on which the boot software is located. You can't move this. You can't delete it. This is the modern way to have a secure operating system in a world full of hackers.
2) macOS does virtual memory and depends on swap storage. The internal storage is that swap storage. Getting a 256GB base Mini just slows your Mini down. That does not matter to people who just want to read email and stream Prime videos and do Instagram. However, if you use your Mini as a creation machine for whatever (software, art, "content creation", etc.) then get internal storage that is faster, which means buying more than the base storage.
3) Moving your home folder to an external storage is probably fine, as many people do it, but there is a laundry list of things that can go wrong in a cascading fashion. E.g. if your external storage fails and you want to recover from Time Machine.
4) Booting from an external storage is not a real thing anymore. Even if you think you've moved macOS to a startup drive that is external, you've only moved the movable parts (yes, that's redundant.) Your internal storage still has the loading part of macOS. That is, the actual boot software is still internal.
I've used external startup drives since around 2010, on Intel iMacs.. but will not do that on my next Mac.
Unclear to me this makes the system secure from anyone who does not have physical access to the machine. However, agree Apple Silicon Macs now depend on their internal drive even if booting the OS from an external drive and that's Apple's direction on this. Using an external boot drive now adds a point of failure without removing a dependency.
If you are not swapping, the speed of internal storage should not impact performance (other than for I/O to that storage of course). And one should not normally be swapping. And if one is heavily swapping, the speed of the 256GB storage versus the 512GB or higher options isn't going to make performance good. A car that can go 10mph is better a one that can only go 5mph but it is still not good.
It's my understanding that APFS volumes on external drives can be included in Time Machine backups if one removes the volume from the Excluded from Back Up list. Then I understand Time Machine can restore backups to external drive as well. Correct me if I am wrong as I use my own approach to backups but just to make sure we leave this clear to others as I know a lot of people like Time Machine.
Otherwise, my understanding is that the two current limitations of a home folder on external storage remain 1) iCloud Drive won't properly sync and 2) Apple Intelligence is disabled for that user. Again please confirm there aren't more limitations in say Sequoia.
However, I agree that moving one's home folder to external storage creates a point of failure. I definitely would not do it with a laptop. For desktops other than the Mac Pro (where additional storage can be added internally), only use hardware that doesn't suffer random disconnects (I don't have this issue but other people on MR seem to suffer this) and won't be physically knocked about.
Still over the 3-7 year life of a typical Mac, assume an unplanned disconnect will happen more than 0 times. One has to make sure they know how to recover (properly) from when the external drive holding their home folder gets knocked offline while logged in.
Also if one's primary account is on external storage, the system should be configured with a 2nd local/internal stored account (I normally configure that account first on install and then create my primary/daily driver account with more limited privileges after that).
Agree on internal storage for the startup volume. I've always done that as I didn't see the upside outside of test situations. However, I've also kept my home folder separate from the OS since ~ 2003.
Then not sure I will be upgrading to any macOS that doesn't let me do that or even any Mac that requires Sequoia if Apple persists with things like this:
macOS 15.3.2 Sequoia won’t install older macOS on Apple silicon Macs
Can you install macOS Sonoma on an external SSD for an Apple silicon Mac running Sequoia 15.3.2? So far this has defeated two of us on many attempts. With useful tips that should have brought succe…
eclecticlight.co
You're not wrong.
A problem can arise though when you want to restore from TM, when the drive on which you had your home folder is the one that failed.
Over the 15 or so years that I've used an external startup storage, I have had problems with random disconnects. Not commonly, though.
Basically, macOS is optimized for security and size. Apple will continue down that path. I think we need to accept that the era of external startup devices is fading away.
Not quite following here because I noted that it should be possible to restore TM backups to other drives, which woud presumably allow restoring a TM backup of a home folder on an external drive to another external drive. It doesn't matter to me directly but want to leave it clear for others in the future so they understand specifically what will and will not work.
Agree it will happen and should not happen commonly. For me it's been like once or twice (not counting fat fingers and the like) over the past ~ 4 years with this configuration. However, other people have reported almost weekly random disconnects with certain drive/hardware/OS/?? (unfortunately, no widely accepted reason) combinations. Then as general advice for those considering, I recommend against putting one's home folder on any drive/combination that suffers random disconnects (for whatever reason) more than once a year.
I agree, I would not build a configuration/architect my system/network on external startup devices working in macOS going forward. On the flip side, if Apple continues to lock down macOS like iPadOS/etc such that the OS can't boot from an external drive and the OS on the internal drive can't be downgraded, etc, I think they are going to frustrate key macOS market segments to the point of driving them away.
Coincidently, Howard Oakley released an in-depth discussion of external boot disks this morning, and, as we've come to expect from Howard, looks to be valuable reference for anyone considering :
External boot disks: structure and problems
Systematic and thorough account of the structure and function of bootable external disks and dual-boot systems from High Sierra to Sequoia, and how to diagnose their problems.
eclecticlight.co