Move File to External Storage and Create Alias in Place on Mac

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Level 1

4 points

Move File to External Storage and Create Alias in Place on Mac

Hi. I am looking for setting up a backup system such that in which I can conveniently move the original file to the backup location, but it creates an alias (pointing towards the file now in the backup location) in the place from where the file was moved.

So essentially the file is moved to the backup location and hence is not taking up space anymore on the internal storage, but the folder structure remains intact and hence I can easily navigate to that file, now on external storage.

I hope I was able to put clearly what I am looking for. Does anybody have any suggestions?

Thanks,

MacBook Pro 13″, macOS 12.5

Posted on Aug 24, 2022 6:04 AM

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Answer 1

HWTech

Level 9

68,426 points

Aug 25, 2022 8:56 AM in response to SalmanTahir

What you are proposing is not a backup system if you are trying to free up space on the internal drive by moving the file to an external drive. A backup system is one where files are transferred to external media while retaining the original copy on the main drive. Ideally, the backup will keep multiple copies of a particular items when edits have been made to the files so that you can choose which version of a file to restore if needed.

CCC can certainly be used as a backup mechanism if utilized correctly, as can Time Machine which is built into macOS. There are many other options for creating proper backups.

You should always have frequent and regular backups of your computer and all external media (including the cloud) which contains important & unique data.

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Answer 2

Owl-53

Level 10

102,193 points

Aug 24, 2022 6:30 AM in response to SalmanTahir

https://bombich.com/features and can be used to Clone a specific Folder ( in your case ) not the Entire drive to the destination drive and you just Create an Alias pointing to the destination and or specifically to the file

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Move File to External Storage and Create Alias in Place on Mac

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