The small print

Privacy & licence

Last updated 15 October 2026

The short version: Tote doesn't collect anything about you. There's no account, no tracking and no analytics, and your files never leave your Mac. The only time Tote goes online is a quick daily check for a new version, which you can switch off. Tote is free to use, and comes as it is, without a warranty.

Who makes Tote

Tote is made by Daniel Jerome Fisher, trading as DJF Website & Graphic Designer, in Havant, UK. If you have a question about this page or about Tote, get in touch through hello@gettote.app.

The Tote app

Your files stay on your Mac. Tote never uploads, shares or changes the files you put in a tote. For most files it only keeps a note of where they are, and when you drag them out, your Mac moves or copies them just as Finder would.
Items Tote saves for you. Some things you drop in aren't files yet, such as a photo from the Photos app, an image or link from a web page, or a bit of text. Tote saves these as files in its own folder on your Mac (~/Library/Caches/com.danieljeromefisher.tote) and deletes them automatically after 7 days.
Folder access. macOS may ask whether Tote can access your Downloads, Desktop or Documents folder the first time you drop in a file from there. Tote only uses this to show a preview of that file and hand it on when you drag it out.
Settings. Your choices, such as whether shaking opens a tote, are stored on your Mac only.
Update checks. Once a day, Tote downloads a small file from gettote.app that says what the latest version is. Nothing about you, your Mac or your files is sent with it: no account, no ID and no cookies. Like any visit to a website, the request does reveal your internet address to the server that answers it (see "The website" below). You can turn this off by unticking Check for Updates Automatically in Tote's menu.
Tote has no analytics, no crash reporting and no adverts.

The website

gettote.app is hosted by Cloudflare. Like any host, Cloudflare handles technical details such as your internet address and browser type in order to deliver the site and protect it from attacks. Their privacy policy explains how they handle this.
The site uses no cookies, no analytics and no tracking scripts. Its font and images are loaded from gettote.app itself, not from other companies' servers.
Downloading Tote is just a file download. You don't need to give a name or email address.

Tips on Ko-fi

Tips are completely optional. If you choose to leave one, it's handled by Ko-fi and their payment partners (such as PayPal or Stripe) under their own privacy policies. Daniel only sees what Ko-fi shows creators, such as the name and any message you choose to add.

Licence: using Tote

Tote is free to download and use, at home or at work, on as many Macs as you like.
You're welcome to share the link to gettote.app. Please don't sell Tote, bundle it with other software, or share changed copies of it.
Tote is provided "as is", without warranty of any kind. It's been built and tested with care, but no software is perfect. When you drag files out of a tote, they're moved or copied just as Finder would, so keep backups of anything important, as you would anyway.
As far as the law allows, DJF Website & Graphic Designer isn't liable for any loss or damage arising from using Tote. Nothing here limits any liability that can't be limited by law, or your rights as a consumer.
The name Tote, its icon and its design belong to DJF Website & Graphic Designer.

Changes

If anything here changes, for example if Tote ever needs to collect something new, this page will be updated first and the date at the top will change.