Applications folder duplicates

[tpeck]

Hi. I thought I was being neat and tidy by creating a folder in Applications (called Utilities) and placing all the apps I thought were utilities in that folder. Now I would like to stop this and return the files in this folder to the Applications folder as before.

The trouble is, any that are System files will not delete. I can copy them across to Applications but not delete those in the Utilities folder I created.

Is there a way to do this?

 

[bobtomay]

There was already a folder in Applications called Utilities and the system utilities were already located inside that folder.

What version of OS X are you using and specifically what apps have you "moved" and are you trying to "move"?

 

[toMACsh]

Your idea of returning applications to the Applications folder is a good one. But, as you found out, some of them are stubborn, and are meant to be there. Utilities that are not from Apple should generally be left in the Applications folder. As you may have discovered, when you download an update, the installer will look for the application in the Applications folder. This applies to most applications, not just ones that are utilities.

 

[tpeck]

I have Yosemite 10.10.2 and the apps in the Utilities folder are such things as:

Activity Monitor, Disk Utility, Terminal etc. Actually around 20 apps that are duplicated in the Applications folder itself.

But maybe you are right. Perhaps I didn't create the folder myself and this is normal. It's a long while since I took a good look in the Applications folder.

So, would you say this duplication is normal behaviour and I can just leave things alone?

 

[Slydude]

The apps that are in Application/Utilities aren't normally duplicated elsewhere. I do have a few third-party apps that I've chosen to add to the Utilities folder but it tends to be things that don't care where they are installed.

 

[TattooedMac]

It really is best not to move anything that has something to do with the System. If you download a App from the Mac App Store, it gets downloaded to Applications, and if from the Web, when you run the installer, any half decent App will ask you to move it to the Applications folder for a reason. Thats because that is where it is meant to be.
You will find, if you delete even one of these System utilities, you will more than likely end up having to re-install your OS, because somewhere, somehow, the System will need that file to work properly.

 

[bobtomay]

Any OS X updates you get will be expecting to find those utilities in the Utilities folder.

Did try what you have done with a couple of the apps in there and found that OS X does indeed create a copy (I would have thought the OS would only permit an Alias for those) and does not move those particular apps as it would with most other apps.

I'm hesitant to make a suggestion. I'd probably delete the duplicates from the Applications folder - but then, I have a cloned bootable backup to recover from if that messes up something. Don't have a clue what it will do if you have actually been using the ones that are in the Applications folder vs. the ones in the Utilities folder.