What is /System/Applications/ ?

Question

juliencrypt OP

Created Dec ’23

Replies 1

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Participants 2

Hello,

I don't understand what is /System/Applications/ folder (macOS Sonoma).

It is not an (hard)link to /Applications/. /Applications/ is not a (hard)link to /System/Applications/

Can anyone explain me what is /System/Applications/ ? Isn't it redundant to /Applications/ ?

Thanks

Answered by DTS Engineer in 774078022

The built-in apps are stored in /System/Applications. The Finder then merges that with /Applications in the view that you get when you choose Go > Applications.

Consider:

% ls -lh /Applications 
total 0
drwxr-xr-x@ 3 root   wheel    96B  7 Dec 15:33 Affinity Designer.app
…
% ls -lh /System/Applications 
total 0
drwxr-xr-x   3 root  wheel    96B 18 Nov 07:32 App Store.app
…

Note that the Finder has a long and storied tradition of ‘lying’ to you about what’s actually on the file system. These lies range from the obvious (hiding file name extensions) to the subtle (localised folder names) to the highly non-obvious (this case). Most of the times you can see through the lies with Terminal. However, that’s not always the case. The kernel also lies to you about various things, most notably the firmlinks that connected the system and data volumes.

Share and Enjoy
—
Quinn “The Eskimo!” @ Developer Technical Support @ Apple
let myEmail = "eskimo" + "1" + "@" + "apple.com"

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Answer 1

DTS Engineer OP

Apple

Dec ’23

Accepted Answer

The built-in apps are stored in /System/Applications. The Finder then merges that with /Applications in the view that you get when you choose Go > Applications.

Consider:

% ls -lh /Applications 
total 0
drwxr-xr-x@ 3 root   wheel    96B  7 Dec 15:33 Affinity Designer.app
…
% ls -lh /System/Applications 
total 0
drwxr-xr-x   3 root  wheel    96B 18 Nov 07:32 App Store.app
…

Note that the Finder has a long and storied tradition of ‘lying’ to you about what’s actually on the file system. These lies range from the obvious (hiding file name extensions) to the subtle (localised folder names) to the highly non-obvious (this case). Most of the times you can see through the lies with Terminal. However, that’s not always the case. The kernel also lies to you about various things, most notably the firmlinks that connected the system and data volumes.

Share and Enjoy
—
Quinn “The Eskimo!” @ Developer Technical Support @ Apple
let myEmail = "eskimo" + "1" + "@" + "apple.com"

1