reorganise apps in /Applications

Question

reorganise apps in /Applications

I would like to reorganise all the apps i've got in /Applications and /Applications/Utilities.
For instance, i would like to createa folder /Applications/Admin and move a number of apps in that folder (e.g., Airport Admin Utility).

My question now is: what happens when i do a software update? (for instance, to 10.4.x) will it recreate /Applications/Utilities/Airport Admin Utility? or will it notice that i've changed the path to it, and update that one?

All insights and hints will be appreciated.

Best regards,
Gabriel.

Posted on Oct 12, 2005 4:33 PM

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Answer 1

Wade Peeler

Level 6

10,906 points

Oct 12, 2005 4:36 PM in response to Gabriel Zachmann

If you do that, you will break all kinds of things. Don't do that.

The recommended way is to create a new folder where you can place aliases (shortcuts) to all your apps and organize the aliases any way you wish, leaving the actual apps where they are.

You can also place your folder containing the aliases in the dock, for easy access to all your apps. Right click that folder icon and a menu pops up allowing you to access all your aliases.

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Answer 2

Kappy

Level 10

362,023 points

Oct 12, 2005 4:40 PM in response to Gabriel Zachmann

If you do as planned, then system updates will not be able to find the applications and will not update them. You can move your third-party applications elsewhere because most third-party installers provide an option for changing the installation folder. OS X also creates an Applications folder in your Home folder in which you can keep your third-party applications.

Note, Apple strongly recommends that you do not move, rename, or delete any system files installed as part of a normal OS X installation.

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Answer 3

Oct 13, 2005 12:09 PM in response to Gabriel Zachmann

Urgh, thanks a lot for your advice.
Unfortunately, i already moved some of the apps, for instance, all the multimedia apps like iDVD, iMovie, QuickTime, etc. ...

Could you do me a favor and send me the output of 'ls /Applications' and 'ls /Applications/Utilities' ?

That would help me to move the apps back to their original place.

Thanks a lot in advance.

PS: Thanks for the idea of making aliases, i'll probably go that way.

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Answer 4

Wade Peeler

Level 6

10,906 points

Oct 14, 2005 6:34 AM in response to Gabriel Zachmann

<code>ls /Applications
2005 World Book Reference Suite
Address Book.app
Adobe Reader 6.0
AppleScript
AppleWorks (US English)
Automator.app
Backup.app
Calculator.app
Chess.app
DVD Player.app
Dashboard.app
Dictionary.app
Font Book.app
GarageBand.app
Hewlett-Packard
Image Capture.app
Internet Connect.app
Mail.app
Microsoft Messenger.app
Nanosaur 2
Preview.app
QuickTime
QuickTime Player.app
Quicken 2005
Safari.app
Sherlock.app
Stickies.app
System Preferences.app
TextEdit.app
Utilities
iCal.app
iChat.app
iDVD.app
iMovie HD.app
iMovie.app
iPhoto.app
iSync.app
iTunes.app
iWork</code>

<code>ls /Applications/Utilities/
Activity Monitor.app
AirPort Admin Utility.app
AirPort Setup Assistant.app
Audio MIDI Setup.app
Bluetooth File Exchange.app
Bluetooth Firmware Updater.app
ColorSync Utility.app
Console.app
DigitalColor Meter.app
Directory Access.app
Disk Utility.app
Grab.app
Grapher.app
Installer.app
Java
Keychain Access.app
Migration Assistant.app
NetInfo Manager.app
Network Utility.app
ODBC Administrator.app
Print Center.app
Printer Setup Utility.app
StuffIt Expander 9.0
System Profiler.app
Terminal.app
VoiceOver Utility.app
X11.app</code>

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Answer 5

Oct 17, 2005 2:14 AM in response to Gabriel Zachmann

thanks a lot.
Gab.

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