Mac utility · Society Sound Studios
Know what's on every drive. Even the ones in the closet.
Disk Catalog scans a drive once and remembers everything on it — every file, folder, size and date. Then you can search all of it instantly, with the drive unplugged and sitting on a shelf.
Disk Catalog
VERSION 2.3
Try it — this is the real thing, not a screenshot. Search for “808”, “wav” or “master” below. The drive is not connected.
The problem
You have twelve drives and no idea which one it's on.
So you plug in one. Then another. Then the one behind the desk. Spotlight can't help — it only sees what's currently mounted. Disk Catalog scans each drive once, keeps the index on your Mac, and answers in milliseconds whether or not the drive is connected.
Full-text search across every drive
Built on SQLite's FTS5 index. Results come back as you type, across a million files, without the drive attached.
Feels exactly like Finder
List view and Miller-column view, back/forward history, keyboard navigation. A real Mac app, not a wrapped web page.
Label drives that look alike
Two drives both called “Backup”? Add a note to either one and it appears on hover, so you always know which is which.
Update without starting over
Rescan a whole drive or just one folder. If the drive isn't connected it refuses, and leaves your existing catalog untouched.
Built for hundreds of thousands of files
Tested on volumes past 400,000 files and multiple terabytes. Scanning is batched and runs in the background.
Nothing leaves your Mac
No account, no cloud, no telemetry, no network calls. The catalog is a local database in your own Application Support folder.
Read-only by design
It reads your drives. It never changes them.
Disk Catalog opens your drives to record file names, sizes and dates — and does nothing else. It does not move, rename, modify or delete a single file on any drive you scan. The only thing it ever writes is its own catalog database, stored on your startup disk.
Before you buy — please read
This app is not signed by Apple. Installing takes one extra step.
Disk Catalog is an independent build, not sold through the Mac App Store and not notarized with a paid Apple developer certificate. macOS will block it the first time you open it. This is expected, it is not a virus, and it takes about thirty seconds to get past — but you should know before you buy.
What you will actually see
A dialog saying Disk Catalog “can't be opened” or “is damaged and should be moved to the Trash.” On recent versions of macOS this dialog gives you only Done and Move to Trash — there is no “Open Anyway” button on it.
Click Done. Do not click Move to Trash. Then follow the steps below to approve it in System Settings. You only ever do this once.
- Open the downloaded
.dmgand drag Disk Catalog into your Applications folder. - Open your Applications folder and double-click Disk Catalog. macOS blocks it — click Done.
- Go to Apple menu → System Settings → Privacy & Security, then scroll down to the Security section.
- You'll see a line saying Disk Catalog was blocked. Click Open Anyway, then confirm Open Anyway once more.
- Open Disk Catalog again. It launches normally — and every time after this, it just opens like any other app.
Requirements
What you need
- Operating system
- macOS 13 (Ventura) or later
- Processor
- Apple Silicon (M1 / M2 / M3 / M4) or Intel — universal app, no Rosetta needed
- Download size
- 3.4 MB
- Delivery
- Instant download link after purchase, plus a copy in your receipt email
- Internet
- Only to download. The app itself never connects to anything.
- Version
- 2.3
Terms
Disclaimer & limitation of liability
Unsigned software
Disk Catalog is distributed as an unsigned, non-notarized macOS application. It has not been reviewed, certified, or notarized by Apple, and it is not distributed through the Mac App Store. macOS will display a security warning on first launch, as described in the installation steps above. By purchasing and downloading, you acknowledge that you understand this and are choosing to bypass macOS Gatekeeper to run the app.
Provided “as is”
This software is provided “as is,” without warranty of any kind, express or implied, including but not limited to the warranties of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, and non-infringement. Society Sound Studios makes no guarantee that the software will be error-free, uninterrupted, or compatible with any particular system or configuration.
Limitation of liability
To the fullest extent permitted by law, Society Sound Studios and its owner shall not be held liable for any claim, damages, data loss, hardware issue, business interruption, or other liability — whether direct, indirect, incidental, or consequential — arising from or in connection with the software or its use. You install and use this software at your own risk.
Your data
Disk Catalog reads file names, sizes, and dates from the drives you choose to scan, and stores that index locally on your Mac. It does not modify, move, rename, or delete files on any scanned drive. It does not transmit any data off your machine. You remain responsible for maintaining your own backups of any drive you scan.
Refunds & support
Because this is an instantly-delivered digital download, please make sure your Mac meets the requirements above before purchasing. If you run into trouble installing it, contact us before requesting a refund — the first-launch security step is almost always the cause and we're happy to walk you through it.
Questions
Before you ask
Why does my Mac say the app is damaged?
It isn't. That message appears for any app that hasn't been notarized with a paid Apple developer certificate, and it's triggered by the download itself, not by anything wrong with the file. Follow the five installation steps above and it will open normally from then on.
Do I need to keep the drive plugged in?
Only for the initial scan. After that the catalog lives on your Mac, and you can search and browse the entire drive with it disconnected, on a shelf, or in another building.
Can it open or play the files it finds?
No — and that's the point. Disk Catalog tells you what exists and exactly where it lives. To open a file you plug the drive back in, now knowing precisely which one to reach for.
How big a drive can it handle?
It's been used on volumes with more than 400,000 files and several terabytes of data. Scanning that much takes a while the first time; searching it afterward is effectively instant.
What happens if I rescan while the drive is unplugged?
Nothing bad. The app detects that the drive is unreachable, stops before making any changes, and tells you to reconnect it. Your existing catalog is never wiped by a failed scan.
Does it work on Windows?
No. Disk Catalog is a native macOS application and there is no Windows version.
Will it run on my older Mac?
If it's running macOS 13 Ventura or newer, yes — on both Intel and Apple Silicon machines. It will not run on macOS 12 Monterey or earlier.
Scan once. Find it forever.
Stop plugging in drives one at a time hoping it's on this one.
Buy & Download — 3.4 MBDISK CATALOG 2.3 · SOCIETY SOUND STUDIOS · MADE FOR PEOPLE WITH TOO MANY DRIVES