Installed Apps Not Showing Up in "Applications" Folder After Monterey Upgrade

BaldEgo wrote:

OK. I've figured it out. Monterey installed all of my apps from High Sierra in the following folder: /Volumes/Macintosh HD - Data/Applications but the link in the navigating pane points to this folder which contains the standard apps: /System/Applications. So, now my only challenge is I have two Application folders: (1) the new one which contains apps like the AppStore, Time Machine etc and the (2) the one where my installed apps like MS Word, Keynote, Powerpoint, etc. reside which isn't ideal. What would happen if I moved all of the apps from (2) to (1)?

Try removing the the Applications folder from the Finder side bar holding the Option key and dragging it off.

Add it it back in from the Finder>Preferences>Sidebar> by checking Applications box

see if that resolves it.

Hey BaldEgo!

I have come across this as well, with some apps in the /System apps folder and others in the /Macintosh HD apps folder.

This was my suspicion in your case.

Can you right click a normal app > Get Info.

Right click a third party app > Get Info.

This will show the file path of each. I suspect some are in the /System/Applications folder and others in the Macintosh HD/Applications folder.

Probably the apps are in the wrong locations, on the wrong volumes, which I’ve seen before, especially when jumping past multiple OS’ in an upgrade. In which case, you can delete the System apps from Mac OS Recovery Mode (Which will bypass SIP), if you need to, or you may just need to delete/reinstall the other apps, just let me know, and screen shots of the Get Info Windows May help.

Worst comes to worst, you can backup, Erase the main disk/SSS/HDD/Fusion Drive to a single volume, then reinstall the OS and migrate your data from your backup. (The High Sierra backup if you still have it). Otherwise, you may need to reinstall yo it third party apps, or just drag/drop from the backup drive.

Monterey installed all of my third-party apps from my High Sierra OS in the /Volumes/Macintosh HD - Data/Applications folder but placed the System apps in the /System/Applications folder

That is how it is supposed to work, but you shouldn't see Macintosh HD - Data mounted in Volumes.

That indicates that Data volume is an orphan. The Data Volume should be mounted to /System/Volumes/Data, not /Volumes.

Open Disk Utility and use the View button to select "Show all devices."

Expand the Macintosh HD Volumes section.

Take a screen shot of the device list and post it here.

BaldEgo wrote:

Hi. I just installed Monterey 12.5.1 and noticed that all of my apps are showing up in the Launchpad and the System Information Report but the only apps that are showing up in my Applications folder are the standard Apple ones that likely came with Monterey. Any thoughts on how I can get my user-installed apps to show up in the Application folder again? BTW, all of the compatible apps seems to be functioning OK -- I just want to have them showing up in the Applications folder like they should.

Try rebooting your machine—

if no resolve try a SafeBoot and compare your results, login and test reboot as normal and test.

How to use safe mode on your Mac - Apple Support

BaldEgo wrote:

So if that's the case, then why did the apps appear in the Applications folder in High Sierra and every OS before that, and not Monterey? There's something fishy going on here. BTW, I always install my apps in the Application folder.

That was a huge jump from your High Sierra to Monterey— I am surprised it is your only issue.

Typically moving up 2 macOS at a time... baby steps along the way compared to a giant leap.

A lot has changed along the way— include Signed/ Sealed System Volume separate from your user data.

See if your Applications snuck onto that Volume by chance...

From Finder> Go>Go To Folder copy and paste:

/System/Applications

Your user Applications would be from Finder> Go>Go To Folder>, copy and paste:

~/Applications

which in Monterey appears empty, unless you go through your User HomeFolder...

This started back in Catalina

ref: About the read-only system volume in macOS Catalina - Apple ...

About the read-only system volume in macOS Catalina - Apple Support

Big Sur/Monterey since it loads the System from a locked Macintosh HD...

Big Sur/Monterey use this snapshot of the current system for its SSV (Signed System Volume ) w/ strong cryptographic protections to store system content .

Hey again, good question.

well I’ve seen the System apps/Apple apps be duplicated in the Macintosh HD/Apps folder as well as being in the System/Apps folder, for that reason I could delete the apps in the /Macintosh/Apps folder to just resolve the issue.

I think in your case, you shouldn’t have an issue at all just erasing your drive, (If you keep a Time Machine back up of course), making sure there is only one volume, then reinstalling the OS and re-migrating your data back onto your Mac:

First sign out of your Apple ID in System Preferences > Apple ID > Overview.

Boot to recovery mode with Command R.

Open Disk Utility.

Click View > Show All Devices.

Erase the top level HDD/SSD/Fusion Drive just shove Container Disk under Internal.

The format should still be APFS and scheme GUID, but you can rename the drive, (Usually its Macintosh HD), the go ahead and erase.

Next hit Disk Utility > Quit Disk Utility.

Make sure you’re connected to your network, then click Reinstall Mac OS, when choosing a drive to install it on, choose Macintosh HD Or whatever you named it when erasing).

Once finished, during the setup, you can connect your external HD and choose the option to move data from Time Machine to your Mac, when done, that’s it.

If you would only want to move the necessities of your apps and used data, to avoid storage and performance issues, you can do that too by skipping the migration, then picking and choosing the data from your backup.

However in your case, I know the third party apps and app data are important, so the easiest thing to do would be to migrate from your Time Machine backup. Hope that helps! It’s a process, I know, but most of the time is just waiting for it to complete. Hope that helps!

Hey again, good question.

Well I’ve seen the System apps/Apple apps be duplicated in the Macintosh HD/Apps folder as well as being in the System/Apps folder, for that reason I could delete the apps in the /Macintosh/Apps folder to just resolve the issue.

I think in your case, you shouldn’t have an issue at all just erasing your drive, (If you keep a Time Machine back up of course), making sure there is only one volume, then reinstalling the OS and re-migrating your data back onto your Mac:

First sign out of your Apple ID in System Preferences > Apple ID > Overview.

Boot to recovery mode with Command R.

Open Disk Utility.

Click View > Show All Devices.

Erase the top level HDD/SSD/Fusion Drive just above Container Disk under Internal.

The format should still be APFS and scheme GUID, but you can rename the drive, (Usually its Macintosh HD), then go ahead and erase.

Next hit Disk Utility > Quit Disk Utility.

Make sure you’re connected to your network, then click Reinstall Mac OS, when choosing a drive to install it on, choose Macintosh HD Or whatever you named it when erasing).

Once finished, during the setup, you can connect your external HD and choose the option to move data from Time Machine to your Mac, when done, that’s it.

If you would only want to move the necessities of your apps and user data, to avoid storage and performance issues, you can do that too by skipping the migration, then picking and choosing the data from your backup.

However in your case, I know the third party apps and app data are important, so the easiest thing to do would be to migrate from your Time Machine backup. Hope that helps! It’s a process, I know, but most of the time is just waiting for it to complete. Hope that helps!

These are some related articles that may also help with the process:

What to do before you sell, give away, or trade in your Mac - Apple Support

Erase and reinstall macOS - Apple Support

Move your content to a new Mac - Apple Support

That should not be mounted there. If it isn’t visible in Go > Computer, something is completely messed up.

If you go to /System/Volumes/Data, does it have the same info as /Volumes/Macintosh HD - Data?

Looking at that again, if they are in the Macintosh HD -Data volume, they shouldn’t be, they should me in the Macintosh HD volume, so I’d still follow the instructions for erasing/reinstalling/migrating your data back onto your Mac to correct this. Something went wrong when you upgraded the OS, so this should fix it!

(And apologize forever the duplicate post)! Hope all goes well!

In the Macintosh HD Directory, all I see are the following four sub-directories:

Applications

Library

System

User

But if I check on where a third-party app is residing via "Get Info", I see the following path: /Volumes/Macintosh HD - Data/Applications

If you use Go > Computer, do you see Macintosh HD - Data?

Get Info should not be showing Macintosh HD - Data. Nothing should. It shouldn't be mounted at /Volumes.

There is something wrong, but I'm not sure what is going on. Where are you selecting the app to Get Info on it?

Copy all of the apps out of the Macintosh HD – data/applications folder into the one in the system/volume/data/applications folder

It should work for most apps, but you may have to reinstall some of them from scratch. Once you’ve confirmed everything moved in is working properly you can get rid of the send McIntosh HD – data folder.

My only guess at what happened is it failed to complete the move to the new location

Have you done a search to see where your Mac thinks the applications are?