Where apps hide your files

Where App Store apps land on your Mac

Updated 2026-10-28 · 5 min read

A Mac App Store app ends up in the Applications folder, and its data goes into a container under your Library. The download itself is staged in system-managed folders you do not normally need to touch.

Where the app ends up

Apps from the Mac App Store install here:

/Applications/

Open Finder and press ⇧⌘A to jump there. Each app is a single bundle ending in .app, so what you see is one item even though it can contain thousands of files.

An app that came from the App Store carries a receipt inside the bundle. To confirm one is an App Store build, check for this file (the example uses Pages):

ls /Applications/Pages.app/Contents/_MASReceipt

The folder holds a file named receipt. Apps downloaded directly from a developer's website do not have it.

Where the app's data goes

The app itself is only the program. What it creates for you lives elsewhere:

What	Where
Sandboxed app data	~/Library/Containers/<bundle identifier>/
Data shared between an app and its extensions	~/Library/Group Containers/, in a folder whose name usually starts with group. or a ten-character team ID
Preferences for non-sandboxed builds	~/Library/Preferences/<bundle identifier>.plist

Sandboxing is a requirement for Mac App Store apps, which is why App Store builds keep documents, caches and settings inside a container rather than spreading them across your Library. A direct-download build of the same app usually uses ~/Library/Application Support/<App name>/ instead. That difference matters when you switch between editions: the data does not move on its own.

Downloads in progress

While an app downloads, the App Store shows its progress. macOS stages the in-progress files in system-managed locations rather than a folder you are meant to browse, and Apple does not document the exact folder, so treat it as internal. Two practical points follow:

1. A stalled download is dealt with in the App Store itself, or by restarting the Mac and starting the download again, not by hunting for a partial file.
2. macOS system updates are a different case and are handled by Software Update, not the App Store. /Library/Updates holds some Software Update downloads (on the Sequoia Mac checked, numbered folders, index.plist, ProductMetadata.plist and a Rosetta folder), while full macOS updates are prepared in protected system locations you are not meant to manage by hand.

Full macOS installers you fetch from the App Store, such as the "Install macOS" apps, end up in /Applications too, and run to many gigabytes. Running one to upgrade usually removes it, but an installer you downloaded and never ran stays there until you delete it.

Caches the App Store keeps

The App Store and its background services keep small caches in your Library. These folders exist on a Mac running Sequoia 15.6:

~/Library/Caches/com.apple.appstore
~/Library/Caches/com.apple.appstoreagent
~/Library/Caches/com.apple.storekitagent

They hold store data, not apps, and are normally small. You do not need to clear them, and removing them will not free meaningful space. If you want a space check, run du -sh ~/Library/Caches/com.apple.appstore* and compare.

Can you change where apps install?

Only for large apps. Apple's App Store guide describes a setting, App Store > Settings > Download and install large apps to a separate disk, that sends apps larger than 1 GB to an external disk you pick. The disk must be formatted APFS and stay connected; if it is missing, you are prompted to download the app again. Apple says those apps still show in your Applications folder. The option arrived in a recent release (Sequoia 15.1, according to press coverage), so older systems lack it.

Everything else installs into /Applications. You can drag an app into a subfolder of Applications, or into ~/Applications for a single user, and it generally keeps working, but the App Store may then fail to update it or may install a second copy.

Re-downloading and moving to a new Mac

Purchases belong to your Apple Account, not to the Mac. On a new Mac, open the App Store, click your name in the bottom-left corner, find the app and click its Download button. To have purchases arrive by themselves, choose App Store > Settings and select Automatically download apps purchased on other devices.

Re-downloading restores the app, not its data. For a clean move, copy the app's container or use its own export or backup feature, and see our guide on app support files for what each app keeps.

Removing an App Store app and its leftovers

Dragging an app from /Applications to the Trash removes the program. On releases that still have Launchpad, you can also hold an App Store app's icon there until it jiggles and click its delete button. The container in ~/Library/Containers usually stays behind with your documents and settings. That is deliberate: reinstalling picks your data back up. If you want it gone, quit the app, find its folder by name and move it to the Trash from Finder. Only do this for an app you have already removed.

Large installs worth reviewing are old installers in /Applications and the Containers folders of apps you no longer use. This lists the biggest containers and only reads:

du -sh ~/Library/Containers/* 2>/dev/null | sort -h | tail

On recent releases macOS may ask whether Terminal can access data from other apps; declining just leaves those folders out of the totals.

Finding things next time

Spotlight finds the apps themselves, but not containers, caches or anything inside an app bundle. Everywhere covers those by name: type _MASReceipt to list the receipt folders inside your apps, which doubles as a list of what you got from the store, or part of a bundle identifier, such as com.apple.iWork, to see an app's caches, plus its containers once Everywhere has Full Disk Access (macOS keeps containers private otherwise). ⌘↵ reveals the match in Finder. It matches names only, so it will not read what is inside an app's files.

Common questions

Where do Mac App Store apps get installed?

In the /Applications folder. Open Finder and press Shift-Command-A to go there.

Where does the App Store keep an app's data?

Sandboxed App Store apps keep their data in ~/Library/Containers/<bundle identifier>, sometimes with a shared folder under ~/Library/Group Containers.

Can I change where the App Store installs apps?

Only for apps larger than 1 GB: on recent macOS releases, App Store > Settings > Download and install large apps to a separate disk sends them to an APFS-formatted external disk. Everything else goes to /Applications.

How do I re-download an App Store app?

Open the App Store, click your name in the bottom-left corner, find the app and click Download. Your Apple Account owns the purchase, so you do not pay again.