Keeping Mac OS and data on separate drives makes your computing world seamless and more productive. You don’t need to install an extra hard drive or partition as long as you’ve the storage space needed.
If you have put disk space at a premium, this is a way to use storage more prudently. Changing default locations for the operating system and data entails moving Mac user folder from the boot drive to a different one. User folders fill SSDs, relocating will maintain high-speed storage for the operating system or applications.
Part 1. Benefits of Keeping Mac OS and Data on Separate Drives
Why Move Operating System to Another Drive?
For most Mac owners, the operating system gobbles up the lion’s share of their boot drive. Moving it to another driver frees up space on the macOS boot drive. You carve out room for sizable media files and downloads with a larger capacity drive.
You can connect an external desktop hard drive and move the user account to salvage space. Relocating your OS and User folder from the SSD boot drive steers clear of the strains if you’ve ballooning user contents.
Must-Haves
- SSD boot drive housing your OS and user data
- External or internal HDD to transfer your OS and data onto
- Retain one user account on your boot drive for troubleshooting and restoring user account
- Mounted HDD or SSD at the ready
- External desktop hard drive should always be connected lest your User folder becomes inaccessible