DriveMyMac

When something is wrong.

What it means, whether your files are safe, and the exact steps.

The drive is not in Finder, or it stays on Starting

DriveMyMac needs macOS to start its drive. This takes a moment. If it takes too long, the app stops after 90 seconds and says so.

Your files are safe.
  1. Wait up to 90 seconds with the app open.
  2. If “Starting is taking too long” appears, try again from the app.
  3. Check that the drive is switched on: see the steps below.
  4. Quit DriveMyMac, open it again and wait.
  5. Still nothing: restart your Mac, then open DriveMyMac.

DriveMyMac is switched off in System Settings

macOS keeps one switch for the drive. If it is off, there is no drive in Finder. The app then shows “Your drive is switched off in System Settings.” with an Open System Settings button, and “Finder extension is off” in its Settings.

Your files stay where they are. Nothing opens or uploads until it is on.
  1. Open System Settings → General → Login Items & Extensions → File System Extensions.
  2. Click the info button (ⓘ) next to File System Extensions.
  3. Switch on DriveMyMac.
  4. Go back to DriveMyMac. The drive mounts again at once, or by itself within about 15 seconds.
  5. You can also click Open System Settings on the off screen, or Turn on next to “Finder extension is off” in the app’s Settings. Both open System Settings for you.

“Restart your Mac to finish the update”

After an update, macOS sometimes keeps the old version of the drive in memory. DriveMyMac tried again and now needs a restart.

Your files are safe. Files waiting to upload continue after the restart.
  1. Click Restart Now…, or choose Later and restart when you are ready.
  2. After the restart, open DriveMyMac.
  3. If you see “Another copy of DriveMyMac is confusing macOS”, delete old copies of the app (an old download, a copy on the Desktop) so only one is left, then restart.

The drive vanished after a crash or sleep

If the app quit unexpectedly, the next launch cleans up what it left behind and starts the drive again. After sleep, storages reconnect on their own.

Files waiting to upload stay on your Mac.
  1. Open DriveMyMac and wait. It shows “Starting the drive…”.
  2. After a wake, a storage may show “Waiting for” its name for a moment. That is normal.
  3. If the drive does not come back, follow the steps for a missing drive.

Uploads are stuck or waiting

A saved file is first kept on your Mac, then uploaded. The app and the notch show what is waiting. Common reasons: uploads are paused, you are offline, a storage needs you, a storage is full, or Upload only on Wi-Fi or Ethernet is on.

Your files are safe. The original stays until the copy is uploaded.
  1. If uploads are paused, click Resume uploads. If they stopped, click Retry uploads in the notch.
  2. Look for a storage that needs Sign in again or is full.
  3. Google Drive stops accepting uploads after about 750 GB a day. Uploads continue the next day.
  4. If a file is marked “Not saved completely”, it stays on your Mac. Save it again.

A storage needs to reconnect or sign in again

A sign-in can expire, and a storage can be out of reach. The app shows which one.

Files waiting to upload stay on your Mac and upload when the storage is back.
  1. If it says Sign in again, click it and sign in. For storages you sign in to in your browser, such as Google Drive, Dropbox and OneDrive, your password never touches DriveMyMac.
  2. If it asks “Is” followed by the storage’s name and “on? On another network, connect your VPN.”, a storage on your home network cannot be reached. Switch it on, or connect your VPN when you are on another network.
  3. A NAS that was asleep is picked up once it is awake.
  4. If it says the storage refused the saved access, check the keys or sign in again.

A storage is red: “Can’t connect right now”

DriveMyMac could not reach that storage. This is often short, and it keeps trying and reconnects by itself.

Files waiting to upload stay on your Mac. The storage’s folder comes back when the connection does.
  1. Check your internet, and turn your VPN on or off if you use one.
  2. Press Try again.
  3. Check whether the service itself is down, or sign in on its website to see if your account is fine.
  4. Still red after a while? Quit and open DriveMyMac, then send us a message with the name of the storage.

A storage is full, or reached its limit

You can set a size limit per storage: Stop at the limit, or only warn. The storage’s own space can also run out.

Files already waiting stay on your Mac until there is room.
  1. Stop at the limit: new saves are refused once the storage reaches its limit. Very fast or large saves can go a little over. Raise the limit, or free up space on that storage.
  2. Only warn: saving still works. The card turns orange at 80% and red over the limit.
  3. The storage itself is full: files that already wait stay on your Mac and upload on their own when there is room. Free up space there, or choose a bigger plan with your provider.
  4. If a save could not finish, check the file on the storage and save it again once there is room. A file marked “Not saved completely” is kept on this Mac.

Files kept on the Mac

Files take no space on your Mac until you open them. Keep on this Mac makes a file or folder available offline.

Removing a file from this Mac keeps it in your cloud.
  1. In Finder, right-click the file or folder and choose Keep on this Mac. Choose Remove from this Mac (keep in cloud) to free the space again.
  2. The app’s Settings lists your kept folders and an offline space limit. If kept folders are larger than the limit, other files cannot stay cached.
  3. If you disconnect a storage while files are still waiting, they stay on your Mac and do not upload. Look for “Files kept from” the storage’s name in Settings, or wait until they are up first.

Conflict copies

If two Macs change the same file, or the file changed in the cloud while you were editing it, DriveMyMac keeps a conflict copy next to the file.

A conflict copy is kept.
  1. Look in the same folder for a copy with “conflict”, your Mac’s name and the date in its name.
  2. Open both and decide which one you want.
  3. Delete the one you do not need.

Moving files between storages

Moving a file from one storage to another really copies the data. DriveMyMac copies it, checks the copy on the destination, and only then deletes the original.

The original goes only after the copy is checked.
  1. Big folders take time. Keep your Mac awake until the uploads are done (closing the lid).
  2. Google Docs, Sheets and Slides files are links, so they cannot be moved to another storage.
  3. If a move was interrupted, look at the destination before you try again.

Deleting is permanent

The drive has no Trash. On most storages, deleting a file or folder on it deletes it in the cloud at once. Google Drive moves it to its own trash instead.

It cannot be undone from the drive.
  1. Be sure before you delete. On Google Drive, look in its Trash on the Google Drive website or app. Other storages delete permanently.
  2. Top-level folders (one per storage or space) cannot be deleted in Finder. In the app, click … on it and choose Disconnect.
  3. Free up space puts the originals on your Mac in the Mac’s Trash, only after the copy is checked and uploaded.

Closing the lid

The app and the notch tell you when it is safe: “All uploaded · safe to close”, or “Not safe to close” with the reason.

Files that have not uploaded wait on your Mac.
  1. Wait for “All uploaded · safe to close”.
  2. If it says “Not safe to close yet”, give it a moment, or look at stuck uploads.

Open at login

Open at login keeps the drive ready after every restart. It is off until you switch it on.

It is optional.
  1. Open DriveMyMac, go to Settings and switch on Open at login.
  2. If it says “Allow it in System Settings › Login Items”, click Open Login Items and switch DriveMyMac on there.
  3. You can also do it in the last step of the first-run setup, Keep your drive ready.

Updating

Released versions check for updates on their own and install with one click. You can also choose Check for Updates… in the app.

Files waiting to upload are kept.
  1. When an update is ready, click to install it. If uploads are still running, choose to wait for them and then restart, or restart now and finish them after the update.
  2. If macOS asks for a restart afterwards, see Restart your Mac.
  3. If an update fails, nothing was changed. Try again.

New Mac or lost key

One key works on one Mac at a time.

Your files stay in your cloud.
  1. On the old Mac, open Settings and click Remove next to “Remove from this Mac”. That frees the key.
  2. On the new Mac, paste the key.
  3. If you see “This key is active on another Mac”, remove it there first.
  4. Lost the old Mac, or the key? Email support@drivemymac.app from the address you bought with and we free it. The key is also in your receipt email.
  5. The app keeps working for 30 days after its last license check. After that it locks until you are online.

Refunds and privacy

Purchases are final, because you can see how DriveMyMac works and check the requirements before you buy. You get a refund if DriveMyMac can’t run on your Mac and we can’t fix it, or if you were charged twice or by mistake. Your statutory rights in the EU are not limited. Details: refund policy and privacy policy.

Refunds go through support.
  1. Email support@drivemymac.app from the address you bought with, and include your order number or license key.
  2. If something is not working, tell us what you see: most problems we can fix.
  3. What we do with your data is in the privacy policy.

Removing the app

Removing the app does not delete anything in your cloud.

Wait until uploads are done.
  1. Open Settings and click Remove next to “Remove from this Mac”, to free your key.
  2. Disconnect each storage with … › Disconnect, once its uploads are done.
  3. Quit DriveMyMac, then drag it from Applications to the Trash.
  4. Optional: switch DriveMyMac off in System Settings → General → Login Items & Extensions → File System Extensions.

Still stuck? Write to us

Send feedback from this site or from the app (Settings → Help & About → Send feedback), or email support@drivemymac.app.

Plain words are fine.
  1. Say what you see, and the exact text of any message.
  2. Add your macOS version (Apple menu → About This Mac).

Nothing found. Send us a message or write to support@drivemymac.app.