Drive labels & rename

Tusk identifies drives by their volume name. When a drive is connected, that's straightforward: macOS reports the volume name and Tusk uses it. When a drive is disconnected, the volume name is the only thing Tusk has to refer to it by.

So the volume name (and Tusk's recorded label for it) is doing a lot of work: it's the row in your file table, the entry in your Drives page, the answer to “which physical drive in my drawer holds this file.”

What makes a good drive label

• Distinct: don't name two drives the same thing. SSD 1 and SSD 2 aren't great. SSD_Edit and SSD_Archive are.
• Stable: name the drive based on its role, not its current contents. A drive labeled WeddingArchive_2024 becomes confusing the moment you start using it for non-wedding work.
• Short enough to fit on a sharpie label: you want to be able to find this drive in a drawer.BackupSSD_4TB_A is fine. Sandys-MacBook-Pro-Backup-Disk-2024-Apr is painful.
• Doesn't collide with another user's drives: if you ever lend a drive or work in a shared studio, a unique prefix saves you. NF_SSD_1 beats SSD_1.

Match the in-Tusk label to the physical sharpie

Tape a label on every external drive and SD card you use for backup. Write the same label that shows up in Tusk on it. The point isn't the label itself; the point is that future-you, looking at a stack of identical-looking drives in two years, can find the right one in 30 seconds instead of plugging in eight of them in sequence.

How to rename

You have two places to rename: macOS Finder and Tusk. The best move is to keep them in sync.

• Rename in Finder: connect the drive, right-click it in Finder under Locations, choose Rename, and type the new name. macOS updates the volume name immediately. Tusk picks up the new name on the next mount.
• Rename in Tusk: open the Drives page, click the drive, edit the label inline. This sets the in-Tusk display label without touching the volume name in Finder. Useful when you want the in-app label to differ from the macOS volume name (e.g. the volume name is something cryptic but you want a friendlier label in Tusk).

What happens when the volume name changes

Tusk identifies drives by volume UUID, not just by name. If you rename a drive in Finder, Tusk recognizes that it's still the same drive (same UUID) and updates its recorded label. The drive's file index and its place in every project's destination list stay intact.

If you reformat a drive (different UUID), Tusk treats it as a new drive. The old drive's file index entries become “tracked on a drive that no longer exists.” You can Forgetthe old drive entry from the Drives page once you're sure you don't need its history.

Two drives with the same name

macOS doesn't prevent you from naming two drives the same thing. If you have two drives both named BackupSSD, Tusk distinguishes them by UUID, but the on-screen label looks identical. The fix is to rename one of them in Finder before adding it as a destination. Future-you will thank you.