Menu Bar & Widget Volume Monitor
Keep an eye on the volumes you care about.
Volume Keeper is a native macOS menu bar app and interactive desktop widget for monitoring external drives, SSDs, and network shares. Track live mount status, set smart low-space alerts, test drive speeds, and safely unmount drives with one click.
Volume Keeper at a glance
Volume Keeper is an upcoming native macOS app and WidgetKit desktop widget for monitoring external and network volumes, smart low-space alerts, drive speed testing, and batch unmounting.
Menu Bar & Desktop Widget
Glance at volume capacity, health, and mount status right from your menu bar or desktop.
Smart Alerts & Hysteresis
Custom GB / % thresholds and notifications for space drops and unexpected drive unmounts.
Network Shares & Batch Eject
Manage SMB/AFP mounts with keep-alive pings and unmount all drives with one click.
Early access
Get Volume Keeper first
Join the waitlist and we'll email you the moment Volume Keeper launches on macOS — plus a heads-up before release.
From menu bar to desktop widget
Volume Keeper keeps your storage setup organized across the menu bar, dedicated Volume Manager, and interactive desktop widgets.
- Select external drives or connect to network shares (SMB, AFP, NFS, FTP, WebDAV) to add them to your watch list.
- View live mount status, used capacity, and free space directly in your Mac menu bar or interactive desktop widgets.
- Receive smart notifications with hysteresis if a drive disconnects unexpectedly or drops below your custom low-space threshold.
- Run built-in drive speed benchmarks or safely batch-eject all managed volumes before disconnecting your dock or laptop.
Designed natively for macOS power users
A lightweight SwiftUI menu bar app and WidgetKit extension powered by shared App Group storage and 100% on-device privacy.
- Menu Bar Extra (LSUIElement) Lives quietly in your menu bar with zero Dock icon clutter. Click to view all managed volumes, free space, and mount state instantly.
- Interactive Desktop Widgets Small, medium, and large WidgetKit widgets with live drive capacity and interactive App Intent buttons to eject or reconnect.
- Smart Low-Space Alerts Set custom GB, percentage, or whichever-first thresholds with 10% hysteresis buffer to eliminate repeated alert spam.
- Network Shares & Reconnect Manage SMB, AFP, NFS, FTP, and WebDAV shares with secure Keychain credentials, auto-reconnect, and keep-alive pings.
- Batch Eject & Safe Disconnect Eject individual drives or unmount every managed volume at once before unplugging your Thunderbolt dock or laptop.
- Drive Speed Benchmark Test sequential read/write throughput and latency on external drives and internal volumes directly in Volume Manager.
- Daily Critical Reminders Optional 24-hour repeating notification for watched volumes that stay disconnected or critically low on free space.
- Battery & Display Aware Adaptive backoff polling pauses automatically when your display goes to sleep, saving battery on MacBook models.
- 100% On-Device & Private Zero analytics, no tracking, and no external servers. All volume settings and bookmarks remain strictly on your Mac.
Privacy & Accessibility by design
- No third-party trackers
- No analytics
- 100% on-device storage
- Follows WCAG accessibility guidelines
Comparison with alternatives
Why use a dedicated macOS volume monitor and widget?
| Feature | Volume Keeper | macOS Finder / Disk Utility | Manual Terminal Scripts |
|---|---|---|---|
| Menu Bar Glance & Status | Yes (MenuBarExtra) | No menu bar icon | No |
| Desktop & Notification Widget | Yes (WidgetKit with App Intents) | No desktop widget | No |
| Custom Low-Space Alerts | GB / % thresholds with hysteresis | Generic OS warning | Manual scripts |
| Network Share Keep-Alive | Yes (automatic pinging) | No, shares drop silently | Custom cron jobs |
| Batch Eject All Managed Drives | Yes (One-click Eject All) | One by one in Finder | Manual loop command |
| Integrated Speed Benchmark | Yes (built-in read/write test) | Requires 3rd party tool | dd / CLI tools |
Who it's for
Volume Keeper fits anyone who works with external hard drives, fast SSDs, or network storage on Mac.
- Photographers & Video Editors Keep track of fast media cards, RAID arrays, and archival SSDs without opening Finder or Disk Utility.
- Dock & Multi-Drive Users Safely unmount every connected volume with a single click before unplugging your Thunderbolt dock or laptop.
- NAS & Network Storage Users Keep SMB and network shares connected with automatic keep-alive pings and secure Keychain credential recall.
Frequently asked questions
What is Volume Keeper?
Volume Keeper is a native macOS menu bar app and desktop widget for monitoring external hard drives, SSDs, and network shares (SMB, AFP, NFS, FTP, WebDAV).
How do the desktop widgets work?
Volume Keeper includes interactive WidgetKit widgets (Small, Medium, and Large) that display live drive capacity, mount status, and interactive buttons to eject or reconnect drives directly from your desktop or Notification Center.
How do low-space alerts work?
You can set custom low-space and critical-space thresholds using absolute GB, percentage of capacity, or whichever comes first. Alerts use smart 10% hysteresis so fluctuating drive space does not spam notifications.
Does Volume Keeper support network drives?
Yes. You can add SMB, AFP, NFS, FTP, and WebDAV network shares. Volume Keeper stores credentials securely in macOS Keychain, sends periodic keep-alive pings to prevent dropped connections, and offers one-click reconnect.
Does Volume Keeper track me or send data online?
No. Volume Keeper has no tracking, no analytics, and no cloud connections. All volume configurations and security-scoped bookmarks are stored 100% locally on your Mac.
Need help or want early access?
Contact us to join the waitlist or ask questions about Volume Keeper.
- Email support development@thelittlebakery.org
- Typical response time within 2 business days