Mac only

Mount Amazon S3 on Mac as a drive

An Amazon S3 bucket as a drive in Finder. The files stay in S3 and take no space on your Mac until you open them.

Make room in your Mac. Amazon S3 keeps your files, and DriveMyMac shows them as a drive in Finder. They take no space on your Mac until you open them.

Three steps

BuyPay once for this Mac. Your license key arrives by email.
Paste your keyOpen the app and paste the key. Switch on the drive when macOS asks.
Connect Amazon S3Choose Amazon S3, paste your access key ID, secret key and region, name the bucket, and the drive appears in Finder.

How to connect Amazon S3

Add storage
- Google Drive
- Dropbox
- OneDrive
- Amazon S3
- Network share
1Add storageOpen DriveMyMac, choose Add storage and pick Amazon S3.
Access key IDAKIA…
Secret key••••••••
Regionus-east-1
Bucketmy-bucket
Connect
Paste your keysPaste an access key ID and its secret key, then the region and the name of your bucket.
- Applications
- Documents
- DriveMyMac
Amazon S3
Other storage
3It appears in FinderThe bucket appears as a folder in the DriveMyMac drive. Its folders and files are the ones you already have in S3.
- Holiday.mov
- Report.pdf
- Archive.zipNot downloaded
4Files stream as you open themA file downloads when you open it. Nothing is copied to your Mac first.

What the app asks for

Access key ID: From the key you just created.
Secret key: Shown once when you create the key. Copy it then.
Region: The region of your bucket, such as eu-central-1. The bucket list in the S3 console shows it.
Bucket: The bucket name only, without s3:// in front.

Where to find it

In the AWS console open IAM, then Users, then your user, then Security credentials, then Create access key.

Permissions to give

List the bucket, and read, write and delete objects in it. In IAM terms: s3:ListBucket on the bucket, and s3:GetObject, s3:PutObject and s3:DeleteObject on its objects. DriveMyMac does not create buckets, so it needs no right for that.

Tip

Make a separate IAM user for DriveMyMac with a policy for this one bucket. Then a leaked key can only reach that bucket, and you can delete it any time.

Good to know

AWS charges for requests and for data you download. Opening and listing big folders makes requests.
A single file can be up to 5 TB.
Names are case-sensitive.
An empty folder is kept as a small marker object.

Why DriveMyMac for Amazon S3

Your own access keyYou paste an access key that can read and write your bucket. The key stays in this Mac’s Keychain, and the Mac talks straight to S3.
A bucket as a folderThe bucket shows as a folder in Finder. Drag files in, open them from any app.
Built for large filesVideo and big project files open on demand instead of being copied to your disk first.
You keep your AWS accountDriveMyMac does not sell storage. You pay AWS for the bucket as you do now.

Questions

What permissions does the S3 key need?

List the bucket, and read, write and delete objects in it. It does not need to create buckets.

Does S3 cost more when I use it as a drive?

AWS bills storage, requests and the data you download. A drive makes requests when you browse and open files, so watch large folders.

Which region do I enter?

The region of your bucket, such as eu-central-1. You see it in the bucket list in the S3 console.

What do I need to connect S3?

An access key ID, the secret key, the region and the bucket name. The key needs to be able to read and write that bucket.

Where is my secret key kept?

In your Mac’s Keychain. The Mac talks straight to S3. It does not pass through our servers.

Does S3 use space on my Mac?

No. Files stay in the bucket and take no space on your Mac until you open them.

Do I need an AWS account?

Yes. You bring your own bucket and your own key. DriveMyMac does not provide storage.

Can I use S3 with Google Drive or a NAS?

Yes. Each storage is a folder in the DriveMyMac drive. You can also join storages into one space.

Do I need macFUSE?

No. DriveMyMac uses Apple’s FSKit, built into macOS. No driver to install and no security changes in Recovery. You turn on one switch in System Settings, once.

See how it compares with other apps on the compare page.

Pay once. Keep it.

$5.99 lifetime at launch, then $19.99 lifetime. One time, per Mac.