See Every Stage Before Anything Changes On Disk.
DiskFreeVault shows the move plan first, then executes a staged transaction, verifies the result, and records what happened for restore, recovery, and support.
The dry-run plan is the first checkpoint
Nothing changes on disk until the preview explains what the selection will do. That gives you a real go or no-go moment instead of a blind Finder drag.
Blocked Items And Reasons
System-protected paths, unsupported filesystems, risky helper-backed apps, and currently running items are surfaced before execution.
Privilege Expectations
The plan estimates whether admin access is unlikely, may be required, or is very likely required based on path and ownership rules.
Post-Move Checks
Every plan entry lists the health checks that will run afterward, including bundle structure, signature, launch-readiness, and optional launch smoke tests.
The six stages in plain English
DiskFreeVault moves an item through the same ordered transaction every time so the app can verify what happened and respond when something fails.
Preflight
Validate source, destination, path rules, and space before touching anything on disk.
Copy
Write the selected app or data to the external destination first so the original still exists during transfer.
Swap
Move the original into a backup handoff path so DiskFreeVault can either finish cleanly or attempt rollback.
Symlink Choice
If the move mode keeps a symlink, the original path is replaced with a link to the external destination.
Verify
Run post-move checks such as bundle structure, embedded services, code-signature status, launch-readiness, and source handoff.
Commit
On success, cleanup finishes, history is written, and the move becomes eligible for restore where supported.
After A Successful Move
- ✓Move History stores the source path, destination path, event list, and post-move health summary.
- ✓Restore can move eligible items back to their original location using the recorded transaction data.
- ✓Launch smoke results can show verified, skipped, or failed outcomes for moved app bundles.
If Verification Fails
- !Rollback is attempted when verification or symlink creation does not complete safely.
- !Recovery Center stores failed move details, leftover backups, broken symlinks, and unresolved cleanup state.
- !Support Bundle export can capture the move plan, health details, and recovery state for deeper debugging.
Next: see how the same workflow behaves in multi-item queues
Batch mode keeps the same transaction rules, but adds running-app skips, sequential progress, and per-item outcomes.