Duplicate apps in System Application folder

Question

Duplicate apps in System Application folder

After upgrading to OS 26 I now have two Application Folder: one in the root drive and one in the System folder. In addition, all of the Apple apps are in both folders. I understand the reason for this change, but my question is: with these duplicate apps, is it taking up double the space, since there's 2 of each? Also, can I delete the ones in the root drive directory without causing any issues? I also noticed that the date added for those apps are the same for both directories - Sept 25.

iMac 24″

Posted on Oct 11, 2025 9:36 AM

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Answer 1

Top-ranking reply

neuroanatomist

Level 9

53,871 points

Oct 11, 2025 12:54 PM in response to Dan Rosellini

Use the Applications folder from the Finder sidebar or the Apps app to see your applications. Don’t muck about with Apple’s behind-the-scenes organization.

With APFS, there are never two copies of data anyway. If you duplicate a 100 GB video file, macOS just stores one copy with a link to the other. If you add 1 GB of footage to one of the two copies, only the new information is saved separately so the two videos will take up 101 GB, not 201 GB.

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Answer 2

Barney-15E

Level 10

121,646 points

Oct 11, 2025 12:43 PM in response to Dan Rosellini

There are not two copies. The System Applications folder contains only the built-in apps. The Data Applications folder only has removable apps.

It is just file system magic that makes the two folders appear as one.

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Answer 3

Oct 11, 2025 1:18 PM in response to Dan Rosellini

More Apple voodoo. Thanks for the reply. I did notice that the Get Info shows the file path the same for the built-in apps as the System Application folder.

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