Is it possible to copy all my applications from the applications folder onto an external, format my mac, reinstall OS X and finally copy the applications back into the applications folder for installing them? Will that work? I am asking because my dr

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pilgrim1936 Author

Level 1

9 points

Is it possible to copy all my applications from the applications folder onto an external, format my mac, reinstall OS X and finally copy the applications back into the applications folder for installing them? Will that work? I am asking because my dr

Is it possible to copy all my applications from the applications folder onto an external, format my mac, reinstall OS X and finally copy the applications back into the applications folder for installing them?

Will that work? I am asking because my drive is almost full. I want to reinstall the apps on an external. I have made sure I have all the latest software and firmware updates. The iMac is about 6 years old and is running Big Sur with 8gb of ram. If anyone could help me please, I would greatly appreciate it. Thanks in advance!

iMac 21.5″, macOS 11.6

Posted on Nov 23, 2021 10:17 PM

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Answer 1

rkaufmann87

Level 10

148,488 points

Nov 23, 2021 10:22 PM in response to pilgrim1936

It might work, but likely not. Why not simply backup the computer using Time Machine then format the drive and restore your apps from the Time Machine backup, heck of a lot easier and dead simple to do.

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Answer 2

ku4hx

Level 7

23,694 points

Nov 26, 2021 3:16 AM in response to pilgrim1936

Or you could get an external SSD sized to meet your needs, now and future, and boot from it. That way your internal drive can be available for data storage only or as a stripped down (no user data) standby bootable drive.

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Answer 3

tbirdvet

Level 6

17,108 points

Nov 24, 2021 5:26 AM in response to pilgrim1936

Does not work that way for most apps. I tried this once but the required OS files do not copy over.

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Answer 4

babowa

Level 9

78,568 points

Nov 23, 2021 10:41 PM in response to pilgrim1936

Question: if your drive is almost full, why go through all of that? Why not just move space hogging things such as photos, videos, movies, etc to an external drive to create more space on the internal drive?

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