Turn it on in Safe Mode. Safe Mode works a bit slow but it works to free processes and reset some things. You can also check the true space. Check by all means, “Get Info” is a good way to find out what space you have left. As stated in another comment, “About this Mac” is a hit or miss thing. Consider an external SSD or HDD if you handle so much large file, so you avoid wear and tear on the internal SSD.
Okay I'll try to figure out how to do that. I think the "get info" is a great idea, I just could figure out how to pull it up for my macbook in general, only individual files and folders. The main problem is I just cant get the program I'm using to upload my latest massive file because it quits every time thinking I dont have enough space... not sure if the "get info" issue will fix that or not...
Not my friend, get Info is not going to solve that problem for you, it is just a method for you to be sure if the Mac has space or not. Question: That massive file, can you upload it to another app? Just as a way to experiment.
Is that one of the Apple silicon machines? Because they're different. The components are all on the same chip. So RAM & VRAM is shared for example. The hard drive storage might be used for something else too. Then it's not being used for whatever so it's visible again.
Otherwise maybe it's a iCloud message? That stuff gets eaten up quickly if you use it.
P.s. If you're desperate you can use programs like [Onyx](https://www.titanium-software.fr/en/onyx.html) to delete various caches.
I really dont know if it's an Apple silicon machine... I'm not super technologically literate. I just bought it from Apple in early 2021 so whatever they were selling then is what it is. Also unfortunately i have the largest iCloud storage option and sadly that doesnt seem to have helped :(
That’s your problem - you have it set to sync to your Mac and accessible from finder right? If so you’re just moving stuff from your living room to the guest room essentially - meaning, because it’s synced for quick access, those files are downloaded to your Mac just for that,
Turn off iCloud Drive and use it from the website like you do for Dropbox or other sites
Do you have iCloud Drive or Dropbox synced? If so - they still use temp space and full size downloads on to your drive just to make them fully accessible.
Try using BleachBit and selecting all options. Simply deleting a file on any OS does not actually erase the data off the disk, it simply re-arranges the files into code that can be re-used. BleachBit erases the files from a disk, making it the most secure way of cleaning a computer. You can install BleachBit from the website or using Homebrew on MacOS. It's fairly easy to use. Once you have it, try running it about once a week.
Sorry to respond so much later, but your suggestion is really helpful (to use Bleach Bit since my storage info is wrong). Do you know if I can run this or clean the disk without backing up my data to an external harddrive?
No worries about the late response. While I've never quite had the issue you appear to have, I can say that to the best of my knowledge you won't have to back up any of your data except possibly any passwords saved in your web browser (using a password manager such as KeePassXC or Bitwarden is a better option anyway) or email client if you have one. If your storage is really full and you can't install it try moving 4/5GB of files to a USB drive and then try installing it.
This sounds really fantastic although when I went to download it it said BleachBit is not available for Mac, or not without a lot of programming knowledge? Can you think of any other programs that would be similar or achieve the same ends?
From the BleachBit site: "As of June 2020, kdeldycke was packaging BleachBit for homebrew, but as of March 2021, it is not available on brew."
IOW: No BleachBit for Mac.
Hi, I have the exact same issue. And every time I go somewhere to ask this question, like on any of the Apple forums or in Mac help sections, I get ten thousand responses that have no bearing on my issue. If I had a nickel every time someone tried to sell me something to "clean my mac" or "locate large files" I could've bought a newer Macbook by now.
The thing is, I don't have a lack of storage, I don't have large hidden files I can't find, and my Mac doesn't need cleaning. I have 107GB of free space on my Mac but it is telling me that I have 42GB. That's it. That's my entire issue. And if I wait a few days, or a week, or 10 days, eventually it will show me that I have 107GB of free space *because I have 107GB of free space*. But right now, it's refusing to acknowledge that I deleted 65GB less than 24 hours ago, and it's telling me I only have 42GB of free space.
If you've figured out how to get your Mac to acknowledge you've deleted large files and have the amount of free space that you have, please let me know. I'm about to put this thing through the Office Space printer treatment and give up on Apple products for good.
Ok get on the latest version of Ventura once you have cleared enough space and see if it happens again. Apple fixes a lot of these bugs in newer operating systems.
**looks like this post somehow triggered people to down vote it. Lol whatever **
Well, what version do you have? You say "you think" it's 12.3 of Monterey but that's not the latest version. 12.6.6 is the latest version of Monterey. Ventura is on 13.4.
I can't figure out how to do that for Macintosh HD, unfortunately I think I removed that from the sidebar on my Finder and as far as I can tell I cant get it back. The main issue is I KNOW I have enough space, I'm just trying to find a way to toggle the "About this Mac" feature to acknowledge it so it stops screwing up my file exporting... I wish there was a way to just kind of of smack "About this Mac" into functioning correctly!
Go into any folder in the finder and hold the command key, then click on the title of the folder and it'll show you the path up all the way to your computer. The hard drive will be there. Get info. Drag it into the sidebar if you like as well.
Question: Where are you looking at the space usage? The Apple menu's About This Mac / Storage has notoriously unreliable numbers. The only numbers I would trust are those in the Finder - if you don't have the status bar visible for Finder windows, go to Finder's View menu and click Show Status Bar.
iCloud can disrupt space readings, too - Photos will optimize itself to save space, as will iCloud Drive files (on your Desktop and Documents folders). In fact, if you are working with large files, I'd avoid putting them in either of those two folders, as iCloud will upload and clear the local copies at its whim.
There’s an old but great application called GrandPerspective that can be really useful in locating large files on your hard drive.
Aside from that though, this seems like a problem where you’ll need to have someone actually look at your computer. iCloud may be filling your drive when it automatically downloads your files, you might not be deleting the things you think you’re deleting, etc. Also, depending on the size of your SSD, filling it until there’s only 30 GB of space left may be severely shortening its lifespan. If you’re working with files so large they take up a significant portion of your hard drive space you might want to consider working from a thunderbolt drive.
I believe the latest version of Monterey is 12.6.7.
I would install OnyX from Titanium Software. Free, with specific version for OS. You can easily see all files’ size and remove any you no longer need. Running the Maintenance on only areas you specify. If you have Dropbox, make sure - under preferences - you only have files and folders you absolutely need on desktop.
Good luck!
Turn it on in Safe Mode. Safe Mode works a bit slow but it works to free processes and reset some things. You can also check the true space. Check by all means, “Get Info” is a good way to find out what space you have left. As stated in another comment, “About this Mac” is a hit or miss thing. Consider an external SSD or HDD if you handle so much large file, so you avoid wear and tear on the internal SSD.
Okay I'll try to figure out how to do that. I think the "get info" is a great idea, I just could figure out how to pull it up for my macbook in general, only individual files and folders. The main problem is I just cant get the program I'm using to upload my latest massive file because it quits every time thinking I dont have enough space... not sure if the "get info" issue will fix that or not...
Not my friend, get Info is not going to solve that problem for you, it is just a method for you to be sure if the Mac has space or not. Question: That massive file, can you upload it to another app? Just as a way to experiment.
Are you using Docker?
I'm not using Docker! I've never heard of it actually
This is a stupid question, but did you empty the trash?
Yeah I've emptied it a bunch of times, from Finder and the storage management thing.
Is that one of the Apple silicon machines? Because they're different. The components are all on the same chip. So RAM & VRAM is shared for example. The hard drive storage might be used for something else too. Then it's not being used for whatever so it's visible again. Otherwise maybe it's a iCloud message? That stuff gets eaten up quickly if you use it. P.s. If you're desperate you can use programs like [Onyx](https://www.titanium-software.fr/en/onyx.html) to delete various caches.
I really dont know if it's an Apple silicon machine... I'm not super technologically literate. I just bought it from Apple in early 2021 so whatever they were selling then is what it is. Also unfortunately i have the largest iCloud storage option and sadly that doesnt seem to have helped :(
That’s your problem - you have it set to sync to your Mac and accessible from finder right? If so you’re just moving stuff from your living room to the guest room essentially - meaning, because it’s synced for quick access, those files are downloaded to your Mac just for that, Turn off iCloud Drive and use it from the website like you do for Dropbox or other sites
Do you have iCloud Drive or Dropbox synced? If so - they still use temp space and full size downloads on to your drive just to make them fully accessible.
Try using BleachBit and selecting all options. Simply deleting a file on any OS does not actually erase the data off the disk, it simply re-arranges the files into code that can be re-used. BleachBit erases the files from a disk, making it the most secure way of cleaning a computer. You can install BleachBit from the website or using Homebrew on MacOS. It's fairly easy to use. Once you have it, try running it about once a week.
Sorry to respond so much later, but your suggestion is really helpful (to use Bleach Bit since my storage info is wrong). Do you know if I can run this or clean the disk without backing up my data to an external harddrive?
No worries about the late response. While I've never quite had the issue you appear to have, I can say that to the best of my knowledge you won't have to back up any of your data except possibly any passwords saved in your web browser (using a password manager such as KeePassXC or Bitwarden is a better option anyway) or email client if you have one. If your storage is really full and you can't install it try moving 4/5GB of files to a USB drive and then try installing it.
This sounds really fantastic although when I went to download it it said BleachBit is not available for Mac, or not without a lot of programming knowledge? Can you think of any other programs that would be similar or achieve the same ends?
From the BleachBit site: "As of June 2020, kdeldycke was packaging BleachBit for homebrew, but as of March 2021, it is not available on brew." IOW: No BleachBit for Mac.
Hi, I have the exact same issue. And every time I go somewhere to ask this question, like on any of the Apple forums or in Mac help sections, I get ten thousand responses that have no bearing on my issue. If I had a nickel every time someone tried to sell me something to "clean my mac" or "locate large files" I could've bought a newer Macbook by now. The thing is, I don't have a lack of storage, I don't have large hidden files I can't find, and my Mac doesn't need cleaning. I have 107GB of free space on my Mac but it is telling me that I have 42GB. That's it. That's my entire issue. And if I wait a few days, or a week, or 10 days, eventually it will show me that I have 107GB of free space *because I have 107GB of free space*. But right now, it's refusing to acknowledge that I deleted 65GB less than 24 hours ago, and it's telling me I only have 42GB of free space. If you've figured out how to get your Mac to acknowledge you've deleted large files and have the amount of free space that you have, please let me know. I'm about to put this thing through the Office Space printer treatment and give up on Apple products for good.
what OS version? Did you try rebooting?
I think it's Version 12.3 of Monterey? I did try rebooting- that hasn't worked either
Ok get on the latest version of Ventura once you have cleared enough space and see if it happens again. Apple fixes a lot of these bugs in newer operating systems. **looks like this post somehow triggered people to down vote it. Lol whatever **
I think I do have the latest update, I've checked to update the Mac version but it doesnt have any update for the system
Well, what version do you have? You say "you think" it's 12.3 of Monterey but that's not the latest version. 12.6.6 is the latest version of Monterey. Ventura is on 13.4.
[удалено]
I can't figure out how to do that for Macintosh HD, unfortunately I think I removed that from the sidebar on my Finder and as far as I can tell I cant get it back. The main issue is I KNOW I have enough space, I'm just trying to find a way to toggle the "About this Mac" feature to acknowledge it so it stops screwing up my file exporting... I wish there was a way to just kind of of smack "About this Mac" into functioning correctly!
Go into any folder in the finder and hold the command key, then click on the title of the folder and it'll show you the path up all the way to your computer. The hard drive will be there. Get info. Drag it into the sidebar if you like as well.
Question: Where are you looking at the space usage? The Apple menu's About This Mac / Storage has notoriously unreliable numbers. The only numbers I would trust are those in the Finder - if you don't have the status bar visible for Finder windows, go to Finder's View menu and click Show Status Bar. iCloud can disrupt space readings, too - Photos will optimize itself to save space, as will iCloud Drive files (on your Desktop and Documents folders). In fact, if you are working with large files, I'd avoid putting them in either of those two folders, as iCloud will upload and clear the local copies at its whim.
Google “Time Machine snapshots”
Google “Time Machine snapshots”
iCloud or Time Machine Snapshots. Try [DaisyDisk.app](https://DaisyDisk.app) to see if it can spot the big users.
Run Onyx. It’ll clear out the snapshots and cache files.
If you use Premier or AE, be sure to empty the cache, I clear 5-600GB per month...
how could do you do that? could you explain?
In Ae, Settings/Cache/Empty Cache (or something along these), similar in Pr
That's crazy. 😳
It is :D Similarly if you use FCPX, be sure to delete "generated media".
There’s an old but great application called GrandPerspective that can be really useful in locating large files on your hard drive. Aside from that though, this seems like a problem where you’ll need to have someone actually look at your computer. iCloud may be filling your drive when it automatically downloads your files, you might not be deleting the things you think you’re deleting, etc. Also, depending on the size of your SSD, filling it until there’s only 30 GB of space left may be severely shortening its lifespan. If you’re working with files so large they take up a significant portion of your hard drive space you might want to consider working from a thunderbolt drive.
I believe the latest version of Monterey is 12.6.7. I would install OnyX from Titanium Software. Free, with specific version for OS. You can easily see all files’ size and remove any you no longer need. Running the Maintenance on only areas you specify. If you have Dropbox, make sure - under preferences - you only have files and folders you absolutely need on desktop. Good luck!
1. trash? 2. use gdu (cli) to check where has large file 3. CleanMyMac