stow

Frees disk space on your Mac by offloading files you aren’t using to your own S3 — and the instant any app touches one, it downloads back automatically.

By default Stow offloads files that are over 10 MB and haven’t been opened in 90 days — both thresholds are configurable. Offloaded files still show up in Finder at zero bytes on disk. The moment any process tries to read one, Stow immediately downloads it back from the cloud, byte-for-byte. No buttons, no restore command, no thinking about it.

Built on Apple’s File Provider framework — the same mechanism iCloud Drive and Dropbox use. Content is hashed, de-duplicated, and verified byte-for-byte. Everything stays in your AWS account — Stow never sees your data. Apple Silicon, macOS 14+.

Install

brew tap viraatdas/tap
brew install stow

Set up

# one-time: auto-provisions an S3 bucket in your AWS account
stow init

That’s it. A Stow folder appears in Finder’s sidebar. Drag files into it — they live in the cloud now. Open any of them and they come right back.

The CLI, if you want it

# offload a specific file now (frees disk; opens it later to restore)
stow offload ~/Movies/big-render.mov

# tune what auto-offloads (defaults: ≥10 MB, untouched ≥90 days)
stow config set-size 20
stow config set-age 30

stow status                    # what’s offloaded, space saved

Files are stored in an S3 bucket in your own AWS account, using your existing credentials — Stow never sees your data. Open a file and it downloads on demand; leave it alone and it stays in the cloud. Apple Silicon, macOS 14+.