kdm9206

Q: how do i get more space on my drive?

How do I clean up my drive?

MacBook Air, OS X Mavericks (10.9.2)

Posted on May 6, 2014 7:32 PM

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Q: how do i get more space on my drive?

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  • by PlotinusVeritas,

    PlotinusVeritas PlotinusVeritas May 6, 2014 7:50 PM in response to kdm9206
    Level 6 (14,806 points)
    May 6, 2014 7:50 PM in response to kdm9206

    offload static files, (pics video, music) etc.  that you dont need on a frequent basis

     

     

          

    See here for answer about the OTHER which is taking up space:

     

    http://pondini.org/TM/30.html

     

    and here:

     

    http://pondini.org/OSX/DiskSpace.html

     

    See Kappys excellent note on the rest of “other” files taking up your space:

    What is "Other" and What Can I Do About It?

     

     

    Dont use your SSD as a storage device, its NOT.   No notebook is a data storage device, contrary to how people love to use them.

     

     

    The working premise of your Solid State Drive and having enough space inside your Macbook

  • by Linc Davis,

    Linc Davis Linc Davis May 6, 2014 8:59 PM in response to kdm9206
    Level 10 (207,926 points)
    Applications
    May 6, 2014 8:59 PM in response to kdm9206

    Empty the Trash if you haven't already done so. If you use iPhoto, empty its internal Trash first:

     

    iPhoto ▹ Empty Trash

      

    Do the same in other applications, such as Aperture, that have an internal Trash feature. Then restart the computer. That will temporarily free up some space.

     

    According to Apple documentation, you need at least 9 GB of available space on the startup volume (as shown in the Finder Info window) for normal operation. You also need enough space left over to allow for growth of the data. There is little or no performance advantage to having more available space than the minimum Apple recommends. Available storage space that you'll never use is wasted space.

      

    When Time Machine backs up a portable Mac, some of the free space will be used to make local snapshots, which are backup copies of recently deleted files. The space occupied by local snapshots is reported as available by the Finder, and should be considered as such. In the Storage display of System Information, local snapshots are shown as  Backups. The snapshots are automatically deleted when they expire or when free space falls below a certain level. You ordinarily don't need to, and should not, delete local snapshots yourself. If you followed bad advice to disable local snapshots by running a shell command, you may have ended up with a lot of data in the Other category. Ask for instructions in that case.

       

    See this support article for some simple ways to free up storage space.

     

    You can more effectively use a tool such as OmniDiskSweeper (ODS) or GrandPerspective (GP) to explore the volume and find out what's taking up the space. You can also delete files with it, but don't do that unless you're sure that you know what you're deleting and that all data is safely backed up. That means you have multiple backups, not just one. Note that ODS only works with OS X 10.8 or later. If you're running an older OS version, use GP.

        

    Deleting files inside an iPhoto or Aperture library will corrupt the library. Any changes to a photo library must be made from within the application that created it. The same goes for Mail files.

     

    Proceed further only if the problem isn't solved by the above steps.

     

    ODS or GP can't see the whole filesystem when you run it just by double-clicking; it only sees files that you have permission to read. To see everything, you have to run it as root.

     

    Back up all data now.

     

    If you have more than one user account, make sure you're logged in as an administrator. The administrator account is the one that was created automatically when you first set up the computer.

       

    Install the app you downloaded in the Applications folder as usual. Quit it if it's running.

     

    Triple-click anywhere in the corresponding line of text below on this page to select it, then copy the selected text to the Clipboard by pressing the key combination command-C:

    sudo /Applications/OmniDiskSweeper.app/Contents/MacOS/OmniDiskSweeper
    sudo /Applications/GrandPerspective.app/Contents/MacOS/GrandPerspective

    Launch the built-in Terminal application in any of the following ways:

     

    ☞ Enter the first few letters of its name into a Spotlight search. Select it in the results (it should be at the top.)

     

    ☞ In the Finder, select Go ▹ Utilities from the menu bar, or press the key combination shift-command-U. The application is in the folder that opens.

     

    ☞ Open LaunchPad. Click Utilities, then Terminal in the icon grid.

     

    Paste into the Terminal window by pressing command-V. You'll be prompted for your login password, which won't be displayed when you type it. You may get a one-time warning to be careful. If you see a message that your username "is not in the sudoers file," then you're not logged in as an administrator.

     

    The application window will open, eventually showing all files in all folders, sorted by size. It may take a few minutes for the app to finish scanning.

     

    I don't recommend that you make a habit of doing this. Don't delete anything as root. If something needs to be deleted, make sure you know what it is and how it got there, and then delete it by other, safer, means. When in doubt, leave it alone or ask for guidance.

     

    When you're done with the app, quit it and also quit Terminal.

  • by dwb,

    dwb dwb May 7, 2014 5:14 AM in response to kdm9206
    Level 7 (24,073 points)
    Notebooks
    May 7, 2014 5:14 AM in response to kdm9206

    I'll pile on too, what the heck.

     

    This is a frequently asked question - lots of people with 64GB and 128GB drives run out of drive space much more quickly than they expect. If you look to the right of this window you'll see a box balled More Like This - you can get very detailed help clicking on one of them. Especially one with a green checkmark by it since that indicates that the original poster got the help she/he needed.

     

    To get started though there are four things I always suggest:

     

    1) restart in Safe Mode: restart and after the chime press and hold the left Shift key until the Apple logo appears. The startup will take longer than usual because the drive integrity is being checked. Also temporary files are being deleted - some of which occasionally don't get deleted on schedule as they should. This might free up some space.

     

    2) what takes up the most space are media files: videos, music, and photos. These are things you can move to an external drive and free up lots of space quickly.

     

    3) putting things in the trash doesn't automatically delete them. You must empty the trash - look under the Finder menu. (Don't be insulted if I've told you the obvious - it isn't obvious to lots of users.)

     

    Also, some programs such as iPhoto, Mail, and DevonThink (just to name a few) have their own trash cans so deleting items in these programs is just step one. Step to is to delete the trash in their own trash cans.

     

    4) there are lots of programs that catalog your drive to show what you have (and what's taking up space). Some are free - OmniDiskSweeper is a good one. Others are shareware. I like DaisyDisk. Use one of these to look over your drive for things you can delete. And remember - deleting anything thats not in your personal drive space can be dangerous to your computer's health.