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Turning on the drive in macOS 26

macOS shows two switches for Empti’s drive, and only one of them stays on. Here’s the one to use.

Last updated 10 November 2026

The short answer: open System Settings → General → Login Items & Extensions, scroll down to By Category, click ⓘ next to File System Extensions, and turn on Empti there. Don't use the switch in Empti's own row higher up the list: macOS turns that one straight back off.

Turn it on

Empti's drive is a file system extension. macOS asks you, not Empti, to allow it, and it stays off until you do.

  1. Click Empti's icon in the menu bar and choose Turn On the Drive…. During set-up, the same button is Open Settings on the Turn on the drive step. Either way, System Settings opens at General → Login Items & Extensions.
  2. Scroll down to By Category.
  3. Click ⓘ next to File System Extensions.
  4. Turn on Empti in the sheet that opens, then click Done.

Back in Empti, the File System Extension row says On and the drive appears in Finder within a few seconds.

Why there are two switches

Login Items & Extensions lists Empti twice:

  • Under its own name, near the top, with an ⓘ that shows a switch for the extension. On macOS 26 that switch doesn't stick: turn it on, and macOS turns it back off.
  • Under By Category → File System Extensions, further down. This is the switch that works.
If the switch keeps turning itself off

You're almost certainly in Empti's own row. Close the sheet, scroll down to By Category and use File System Extensions instead.

Check that it's on

  • In Empti: open Settings → Permissions. The drive should say On. Each row there has a Show me button that opens the right place in System Settings.
  • In the menu bar: Empti's menu no longer shows Turn On the Drive….
  • In Finder: the drive is under Locations in the sidebar (at /Volumes/Empti), or at ~/Empti in your home folder if the sidebar helper is off.

It was on, and now the drive is gone

macOS can switch the extension off after Empti updates, so check it first after an update. Turn it back on the same way, under File System Extensions.

If it's on and the drive still doesn't appear:

  1. Click Empti's menu bar icon. It names anything else that's missing: Sign In…, Unlock Vault… or Connect Drive.
  2. Open Settings → Advanced and click Re-check.
  3. Still nothing? In Settings → Advanced, click Copy next to Last mount output and send it to support.

That's a separate, optional switch. In Settings → Permissions, turn on Drive in the sidebar. If macOS asks you to approve it, turn on Empti under Allow in the Background in Login Items & Extensions. Without it, the drive still works, in the Empti folder in your home folder.

More in the help centre: Getting started and Troubleshooting.