Mac Os X Hard Drive Space

  

May 19, 2013  Via: OS X Daily. Delete Unwanted Speech Voices From Your Mac. Hard drive space is at a premium these days, with files getting larger and solid state drives (SSD) becoming more affordable. In the Disk Utility app on your Mac, select a volume in the sidebar, then click the Partition button. In the pie chart, select the partition you want to delete, then click the Delete button. The partition is removed, reformatted, and all free space is assigned to the previous partition. Nov 05, 2015  This is a short tutorial on how to free up space on your mac's hard drive. Find hidden files that are taking up a ton of space and you didn't even know! Brave Browser Download: https://brave.com.

Jun 25, 2018  Our resident Mac Help guru, Peter Cohen, previously told us about the 'Other' storage category on Mac computers and what it catalogs: In short, you're seeing space taken up by plug-ins, documents, and caches stored by OS X. It's worth noting that these files aren't normally harmful or wasteful to your computer's system; most are intended to help your Mac run efficiently, and ideally, you.

From MacFixIt
Mac OS X 10.3.8 Special Report: Disappearing hard drive space
For some users, an issue is more prevalent under Mac OS X 10.3.8 where available space on the startup volume rapidly declines autonomously.
In many cases, this issue is caused by problematic hardware device drivers or other software components that rapidly record error messages to system logs, causing them to swell and occupy previously free space.
MacAlly's iShock driver is notorious for this behavior under Mac OS X 10.3.8 and is a prime case example for this issue.
The iShockXDriver application has an apparent incompatibility with Mac OS X 10.3.8 that causes repeated error entries to the system.log file, causing the file to swell to sometimes enormous sizes (several gigabytes). MacAlly has since released an updated driver -- version 1.0.4 -- that resolves this issue.
Other devices can cause the disappearing drive space problem as well, however, and once they have generated the abnormally large log files, there are a few methods for deleting them and re-claiming lost space.
The easiest method is to use the Console application located in the Applications/Utilities folder on a normal Mac OS X installation. Once you have launched this application, click the 'Logs' button in the top navigation bar, and select the offending (swollen) log file. Press the 'Clear' button to delete its contents.
What if you're not sure which log file is swelling? Mac OS X log files are stored in the /var/log directory on a normal installation. This directory is invisible, however, so you will need to use Mac OS X's 'Go to Folder' command (located in the 'Go' menu in the Finder) in order to access it.
Once you're in this directory, look for any abnormally large files with the naming scheme 'System.log.(a number).gz,' i.e. 'System.log.1.gz' and move them to the trash.
An alternative method is simply to use the Finder's 'Find' command (located in the Finder's 'File' menu) to search for any files over a given size -- usually 100 MB or so. It is important that you add a criterion (by clicking the '+' button next to an existing criterion) to search for both visible and invisible files -- doing so will ensure the appropriate log files are found. Drag these files to the trash (you'll be asked to enter your administrator password) and delete them.
Some shareware utilities -- including Cocktail -- can also clear various log files.
After or before attempting any of the above procedures, try disconnecting any USB or FireWire devices and check for persistence of the log swelling.
Some typical reader reports (of which we've received several dozen) concerning the disappearing hard drive issue under Mac OS X 10.3.8, implicating specific devices and offering a few other data points:
Bruce writes: 'Same problem here. My PowerBook 1.25 GHz started the week with 30 GB free on the drive and over the course of the week, dropped to 4 GB free. I moved 10 GB of stuff to another disk, which got me to 14GB of space, but the other 16G is still absent. I ran MacJanitor, but that didn't change anything. After restarting the computer, I suddenly had 22 GB free. Somehow the restart gained me 8 GB of space, but the other 8 GB is still missing. I've repeated this process twice over the past two weeks with the same result. A restart will result in several GB of disk space being freed up, and the longer the computer goes without a restart, the more is lost.'
Michael Cappelletti writes 'I too am having hard drive space problems after the latest system update. I have discovered that the console.log files are the problem on all accounts.'

Our resident Mac Help guru, Peter Cohen, previously told us about the 'Other' storage category on Mac computers and what it catalogs: In short, you're seeing space taken up by plug-ins, documents, and caches stored by OS X.

It's worth noting that these files aren't normally harmful or wasteful to your computer's system; most are intended to help your Mac run efficiently, and ideally, you shouldn't ever have to clear out your Other files. Unfortunately, they can quickly clog up a computer low on storage — especially if you're storing a large number of iPhone or iPad backups.

Whether you're looking to free up space on your hard drive or just want to do some spring cleaning, here are some simple steps to get your Mac free and clear.

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A note on what happened to 'Other' space in macOS Sierra and higher

When Apple added its storage management feature to macOS Sierra, called Optimize Storage, it reorganized what 'other' storage is and where it's located on the Mac. Much of it has been divided out through other categories so it's easier to find and remove.

The 100GB of Other storage I used to carry on my iMac is whittled down to just 5GB. You can still clean out old and unnecessary content from your Mac with macOS Sierra and High Sierra by using Optimized Storage. It's just a little easier to find those unused files than it was before.

A lot of the features of Optimized Storage remove content from your Mac and store them in iCloud. If you're concerned with how much storage you're using up in iCloud, you can customize or disable some Optimized Storage features to keep a balance between what's on your Mac and what's in iCloud.

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What's this 'Purgeable' category all about?

If you check your system storage graph in macOS, you'll probably discover a category called Purgeable. This is part of Apple's Optimized Storage service. When you move your Documents into iCloud (part of the Store in iCloud component) and your hard drive gets low on storage, only recently opened files are kept on your Mac. Older documents are stored in iCloud, while a shortcut icon is kept on your Mac (files are automatically re-downloaded to your Mac as soon as you open them). The Purgeable files are what Optimized Storage will move to iCloud and delete from your hard drive only if your hard drive starts to get full. Purgeable files also include caches and temporary files that used to fit into the Other category, which will also be deleted as your hard drive starts to fill up.

Though your Other storage might have been spread out across categories in macOS Sierra and higher, you can still follow the below steps to manually clean up your Mac and get rid of unnecessary files.

How to check your storage space on your Mac

If you are concerned with how much storage space you have remaining on your Mac computer, you can check its usage folder to see how much space each category is taking up, including Other.

  1. Click on your desktop or the Finder icon from the Dock.
  2. Select the Apple Menu icon in the upper left corner of the screen.

  3. Click on About This Mac.

  4. Select Storage.

Your Mac breaks down its storage categories as follows: Apps, Movies, Photos, Audio, Backups, and — that annoying, undescriptive category — Other.

Apple offers the Fusion Drive as build-to-order options for the $799 Mac mini and the upcoming iMac, but if you are willing, able, and have the parts, you can make your own Fusion Drive. Feb 03, 2020  If your Fusion Drive appears as two drives instead of one in the Finder, it's no longer working as a Fusion Drive. Here's how to fix it. Fusion Drive, a storage option on some iMac and Mac mini computers, combines a hard drive and flash storage in a single volume for improved performance and storage capacity. May 01, 2015  Where the '#' designates a number assigned to the drive by OS X. Locate the mount points for the SSD and HDD you wish to use to create the Fusion Drive. Mar 12, 2020. If your Mac is using macOS Sierra or earlier, include the -applicationpath argument, similar to the way this argument is used in the command for El Capitan. Use the bootable installer After creating the bootable installer, follow these steps to use it. Create fusion drive mac os sierra 2017.

How to remove cached files

Now that you know how much space your Other files are taking up, it's time to reduce their footprint on your Mac. You can start by removing items you don't need, including caches for your web browser, saved Apple Music streams, and photo previews.

A note on deleting cache folders: You only want to delete old and unnecessary files, as current cache files store your preferences. We strongly recommend only deleting cache files from old apps.

  1. Click on your desktop or select the Finder icon from the Dock.
  2. Select the Go menu in the upper left corner of the screen.

  3. Click on Go to Folder.

  4. Type ~/Library/caches into the text box. A list of caches from active apps will appear on your desktop.

  5. Select the app folder you wish to remove the cache from.
  6. Right-click (or control-click) on the app folder.

  7. Select Move to Trash.

How to remove downloaded files

Chances are, your Downloads folder is stuffed with Other-type files, including installer packages, documents, and folders you have already made copies of somewhere else. If you want to make some room on your Mac, it may be time to clean out your Downloads folder.

  1. Click on your desktop or select the Finder icon from the Dock.
  2. Select the Go menu in the upper left corner of the screen.

  3. Click on Downloads.

  4. Select the file you wish to remove.
  5. Right-click (or control-click) on the file.

  6. Select Move to Trash.

If you want to save a file from the Downloads folder but don't want it clogging your drive, consider moving it to an external hard drive or flash drive, or uploading it to an online storage option like Dropbox.

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How to delete old device backups in iTunes

If you tend to get new iOS devices fairly regularly, you may have unnecessary device backups stored on your computer via iTunes. Backups take up 4-5GB each, on average; there's no need to hold on to older device backups if you no longer have the device or have it stored in iCloud.

Third-party software that can help

While you don't need any third-party app to 'clean' your Mac, there are some very handy system access tools out there that make it easier to regularly remove unwanted files.

CleanMyMac 3

With CleanMyMac, you have easy access to a list of features that help you keep your Mac free of unnecessary junk. It scans your entire system and recommends files you should delete based on how old they are and whether they are considered unnecessary to your workflow. It's a lot like Apple's Optimized Storage, but with a few additional features. My favorite is the recommendation to delete all content related to an application. Sometimes, you'll end up with a couple of files left behind by an app when you delete it. CleanMyMac provides a one-button purge of everything associated with that app.

DaisyDisk

DaisyDisk scans your Mac and gives you a pie chart that makes it easy to see what files are using up the most space. You can identify files that are in the Other storage category and drag them to the delete box.

Onyx

Onyx is a robust Mac system access tool that, in-part, can delete caches, logs, temporary items, and other files that find their way into the Other storage category.

Cocktail

Hard

Cocktail is another useful system access tool that you can use to clear caches, purge memory, and manage hidden Apple app settings, which might be automatically sending files into the Other category abyss.

Questions?

Still having trouble with Other? Let us know in the comments.

Mac Os X Hard Drive Space Requirements

Updated June, 2018: Updated the section on deleting iPhone and iPad backups in iTunes to direct people to the article about doing that. The rest of these steps are still correct.

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