# Grant Full Disk Access to MoreRoom

> Why MoreRoom asks for Full Disk Access, how to turn it on in System Settings step by step, and what is skipped if you scan without it.

- URL: https://moreroom.app/support/full-disk-access
- Topic: Getting started
- Updated: 2026-10-17
- Publisher: MoreRoom (Yando Pte. Ltd.) — https://moreroom.app

## In short

- macOS hides some folders (Mail, Messages, Photos, Desktop, Documents, Downloads, other apps’ data) from every app unless you allow it. Full Disk Access lets MoreRoom measure them.
- Turn it on in System Settings › Privacy & Security › Full Disk Access. MoreRoom’s welcome screen has a button that takes you straight there.
- It’s optional. Without it, MoreRoom still works and simply skips protected folders. MoreRoom never uploads your files and never removes anything without your review.

## How to turn on Full Disk Access

1. **Open the right settings.** In MoreRoom, click Open System Settings on the access screen, or Grant Access… on the home screen. You can also choose Apple menu › System Settings › Privacy & Security › Full Disk Access yourself.
2. **Turn on MoreRoom.** Find MoreRoom in the list and turn its switch on. macOS asks for your password or Touch ID.
3. **Add MoreRoom if it isn’t listed.** Click the + button below the list, choose MoreRoom in the Applications folder and click Open, then make sure its switch is on.
4. **Go back to MoreRoom.** If macOS offers to quit and reopen MoreRoom, accept. MoreRoom notices the new access within a couple of seconds and moves on to its home screen.

## Why MoreRoom asks for it

To measure your disk correctly, MoreRoom has to look into every folder. macOS protects some of them — and asks you before any app may open them:

- your **Desktop**, **Documents** and **Downloads** folders,
- the **Photos** library,
- **Mail**, **Messages**, **Safari**, Calendars, Reminders and contacts,
- the data that other apps keep in their containers (`~/Library/Containers` and `~/Library/Group Containers`), and your iCloud Drive folder.

Without Full Disk Access, opening each of these would trigger its own macOS prompt, and the scan would stall while waiting for an answer. MoreRoom asks once, for Full Disk Access, instead of a storm of prompts.

Full Disk Access lets MoreRoom **measure** these folders. It doesn’t upload anything: scans run entirely on your Mac. And nothing is ever removed without your review. See [Privacy and security](https://moreroom.app/support/privacy-security).

## Scan without Full Disk Access

On the access screen, click **Scan Without Full Access**. MoreRoom then works normally but never opens the protected places listed above, so macOS never asks about them. The consequences:

- those folders are missing from the map, so the scanned total is smaller than what your disk really uses;
- items the scan can’t read show **Needs Full Disk Access** in the inspector;
- **Downloads Cleanup** can’t look at your Downloads folder;
- **Keep in the Cloud** needs Full Disk Access to see which cloud files are downloaded, and asks for it.

As long as access is off, the home screen shows “Without Full Disk Access, protected folders are skipped” with a **Grant Access…** button, and MoreRoom shows the access screen again each time you open it: click **Scan Without Full Access** to carry on.

## Check or change it later

Open **MoreRoom › Settings…** (`⌘,`), **General** tab: the **Full Disk Access** row says **On** or **Off**, with an **Open Settings…** button.

To take access away, turn MoreRoom off in **System Settings › Privacy & Security › Full Disk Access**. MoreRoom keeps working, in the limited mode described above.

## If it doesn’t work

If you turned MoreRoom on but it still says access is off, see [macOS keeps asking for permission](https://moreroom.app/support/permission-prompts): it usually comes from a second copy of MoreRoom, or from a switch that was turned on for an older copy.

## Related articles

- [macOS keeps asking for permission, or Full Disk Access stays off](https://moreroom.app/support/permission-prompts.md)
- [Scan your Mac, your home folder or any folder](https://moreroom.app/support/scan-your-mac.md)
- [Privacy and security: what MoreRoom reads and sends](https://moreroom.app/support/privacy-security.md)
- [Why MoreRoom’s numbers differ from Finder and System Settings](https://moreroom.app/support/numbers-differ.md)

## Still need help?

Write to us: a real person reads every message and answers within 2 business days. https://moreroom.app/contact