Save disk space with symlinks. Symbiote is a native macOS menu-bar utility that keeps apps and large files on an external drive while they still appear where you expect them — using symbolic links to free up your Mac's internal storage.
Hey Product Hunt 👋
I'm Gary, the maker of Symbiote.
This one started with a frustration: my Mac mini's internal drive was always full, while a perfectly good external drive sat right next to it, but apps and big files all want ( or actually need ) to live on the internal disk. Symbiote fixes that with symbolic links: keep the real files on your external drive, and they still show up exactly where you expect — in /Applications, your Documents, an Obsidian vault, wherever. No copying, no duplicates, just lightweight pointers that take up almost no space. Best of all, when you remove or add a file, it automatically syncs the symlinks.
This is Symbiote 2.0: a complete rebuild, and a free update for existing users:
• Multiple source → destination pairs, each toggled on/off
• Real‑time syncing that only processes what changed
• Auto‑resumes when your external drive reconnects
• Per‑pair status + live link counts, Sync Now, runs from the menu bar
• Sandboxed and private — collects zero data
It sits quietly in your menu bar and just keeps everything linked.
I'd love to hear: where are you running low on space, and what would you point Symbiote at first? Happy to answer any questions 🙏
Mister Bacon