How to Remove Enpass folder in Documents

[SKL]

Hi team

I installed the latest version of Enpass Desktop for Mac from the Apple App Store, and it created an "Enpass" folder in my "Documents" folder. This "Enpass" folder does not appear when I do a "ls -al" in Terminal. Clicking on Get Info in Finder shows that the actual location is /Users/<username>/Library/Containers/in.sinew.Enpass-Desktop/Data.

How do I remove this "Enpass" folder in Documents as it creates unnecessary clutter?

Thanks.

[Gulshan Dogra]

Hi @SKL,

Welcome to the Enpass community.

Click and hold on the Enpass icon in Launchpad, and Enpass icon will start jiggling with a ⊗ sign on it. Use that, and your application will be uninstalled with the removal of Enpass container from Users/<home-folder>/Library/Containers/in.sinew.Enpass-Desktop.

[SKL]

Hi Gulshan, thanks for the reply. Just to clarify, I do not wish to uninstall Enpass, only wish to remove Enpass folder from the Documents folder, as it is cluttering it. Thanks.

[Gulshan Dogra]

@SKL,

The Enpass location can be changed from the Enpass Advanced settings, and after it is set up you can delete the Enpass folder from Documents.  

[SKL]

Hi Gulshan, as mentioned in my first message, the actual location of Enpass data is already at "/Users/<username>/Library/Containers/in.sinew.Enpass-Desktop/Data", which is what is stated in the Advanced settings. However, there is also an "Enpass" folder in "Documents" which is linked to "/Users/<username>/Library/Containers/in.sinew.Enpass-Desktop/Data". When I tried to delete the "Enpass" folder in "Documents", all the data in "/Users/<username>/Library/Containers/in.sinew.Enpass-Desktop/Data" is deleted as well.

How do I remove the "Enpass" folder in "Documents" without affecting the data in "/Users/<username>/Library/Containers/in.sinew.Enpass-Desktop/Data"? Thanks.

[Bachsau]

It is a new and very annoying feature of macOS Monterey that Documents inside containers are displayed inside the real Documents folder. It doesn't really exist there, neither as a directory nor as a link. Finder just lies to you and displays it there, much like it still displays all the Applications in the "/Applications" folder, while many of them only exist in "/System/Applications".

To answer your question: You can hide it by setting the "hidden" flag on the Documents directory of the container. Open a terminal and enter this command:

chflags hidden ~/Library/Containers//in.sinew.Enpass-Desktop/Data/Documents

 

On 8/22/2022 at 10:59 AM, Gulshan Dogra said:

@SKL,

The Enpass location can be changed from the Enpass Advanced settings, and after it is set up you can delete the Enpass folder from Documents.  

This is not possible in the Mac App Store version. For no good reason, of course, and "~/Library/Containers//in.sinew.Enpass-Desktop/Data/Library/Application Support/Enpass/Documents" would have been a better choice for the default location. The same applies to all operating systems. On Linux the default location is "~/Documents/Enpass", which is also a terrible choice, because this is clearly application data. I moved it to "~/.local/share/Enpass/Documents".

Edit: Why do I have to put two slashes between "Containers" and "in.sinew.enpass" to keep this crappy board system from replacing it with an "e"?

Edited August 28, 2022 by Bachsau

[SKL]

Thanks for sharing, @Bachsau. Since this is the percularity of Monterey, have chosen to hide the folder.

[Fred4]

I just hit this issue.

I thought my Enpass data was in my Documents folder, and it is NOT.

This is extremely dangerous for backups.

I thought my Documents folder was backing it up, and it wasn't, because it doesn't really exist. It's something worse than a symlink or alias, because if fakes you out.

I couldn't figure out why my zip command in terminal was failing, and that's the only reason I discovered it.

If it's a stupid macOS feature from Monterey, Enpass should disable it by default, so users don't think their backups are working, when they're not.

I will try to move it to the real Documents folder now in the preferences, and hope it works.

I have come across tons of apps that don't want their data moved, and I have to setup rsync to back up their data. Symlinks won't always work.

Shoving them all in the containers folder was a dumb idea on Apple's part.

Our data can now be scattered all over the place. Documents, containers, preferences, application data, just to name a few...

This is making data management a nightmare.

It also takes up a ton of space that otherwise, we would have in our documents folders.

I don't want my data files on my NVME boot volume. This is for the OS only, for speed. Fortunately, I have 1TB boot volumes.

I don't know how people could get their systems working properly with a 256GB NVME or SSD drive, or even a 512.

I'm thinking I should have put 2TB boot volumes in my Macs, but that still wouldn't resolve the sloppy AF data management.

Documents belong in the Documents folder! I don't understand how Apple cannot see that.

Companies like Enpass should help out by making sure this is clear.

Putting that fake Finder link in the Documents folder was not a good idea. It looks like a real folder, in every way. Put it in Documents for real.

I haven't seen any other software do this yet. There may be some, but enabling a brand new bleeding-edge "feature" is not necessarily a good thing.

Even leaving it alone in the containers folder would have been better, without the fake Finder folder link, because then we would see it, and deal with it.

If I hadn't been trying to create a zip command in terminal, I would have never known, until I wiped or lost my boot drive.

Unlike an alias or symlink, there's no way of knowing by looking at it, that it's a fake. You can see it in get-info, but you have to be looking for it.

I guess the good thing about Enpass doing this, is that I found it. Otherwise, I would have never known, until it was too late.

Also, other applications, like PathFinder cannot see it. It's a Finder only trick.

I would like to know if there's a global disable for this "feature", if anyone knows what it's called, or where to find more info on it.

It's bad enough having to enable our hidden libraries, but it's getting to the point, where Apple is writing code to special handle just about every folder.

We don't need them to be data nannies.

When it gets to the point where our computers become glorified iPads, I'm done with macOS. It seems like we're closer with every update. Even root can't do crap any more. The whole OS locks like it's in ROM.

[Fred4]

On 8/22/2022 at 1:59 AM, Gulshan Dogra said:

@SKL,

The Enpass location can be changed from the Enpass Advanced settings, and after it is set up you can delete the Enpass folder from Documents.  

How?

If I click it in Advanced Settings, it just reveals it in the Finder. Not the real folder, but the fake one in the Documents folder.

I want to get rid of the fake one, and actually move the real data folder to Documents.

Before I try symlinks, and other methods, is there a way to edit and move it in the settings?

 

[Abhishek Dewan]

Hi @Fred4

I would like to share that the option to change database location is only available for app downloaded from Enpass website. If you have downloaded Enpass from Mac/Windows store, it won’t be possible to change the database location.