Advanced Options
Every RAM folder is stored on a tmpfs filesystem. This page explains the settings on the Advanced tab, which you can tune from a disk’s Detail View.
Which filesystem does a volume use?
All RAM Folder disks use tmpfs — a filesystem whose contents live entirely in your Mac’s memory. It is fast and uses only as much RAM as the data actually occupies (up to the size ceiling you set).
RAM Folder only supports tmpfs with case sensivity for now. If you think adding HFS+ or APFS would be useful, submit a feature request.
That means the toggles below are the extent of what tunes a volume’s behavior. If a tool needs something unusual like a case-insensivity or Spotlight-indexed filesystem, a RAM folder isn’t the right fit for it.
What do the Advanced options do?
The Advanced tab holds the settings you rarely need to touch. On a tmpfs volume they are:
- Disable Filesystem Events (FSEvents) — stops the
filesystem-event journal on the volume. Apps that watch folders for
changes (build watchers, sync clients,
git fsmonitor) rely on FSEvents; leave this off unless you want the volume invisible to such tooling. It can shave I/O overhead on write-heavy scratch volumes. - File comparison method (under
Synchronization) — decides how a save/restore tells
whether a file on the destination differs from its source. Exactly one
method is active:
- Size & Modification time — the default.
Compares size and
mtime. Fastest option, but a same-size in-place edit can be missed by a save, so use it with care. - Contents checksum — compares file hashes, so it catches subtle edits and is reliable for same-size changes, but it is slower because every file is hashed. Modification times are not propagated to the destination.
- Size & Modification time — the default.
Compares size and
Where does remote storage fit?
If remote storage is available, its toggle and provider form also live on the Advanced tab, under Synchronization. See Remote storage for the full picture.
Do the settings apply immediately?
They’re applied after every successful mount and whenever you change the options. These are best-effort niceties: if applying one fails, the mount still succeeds (the failure is logged, not thrown in your face).
Can I move the RAM folder from the Finder safely?
Yes. RAM Folder.app detects changes made in the Finder and updates the mount path accordingly. Renaming the folder doesn’t change the custom name, though.
Where does the saved data actually go?
By default a volume’s saved contents are written into its backing folder on your SSD (see Synchronization). If you attach a remote storage provider, the save instead targets the remote — see Remote storage for how that changes the picture and how the app behaves when the network isn’t available.