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disk space

iMac 2011late 2009, OS 10.11.6

When I do Get Info on my hard disk icon, I get "Used ... 255.52 GB on disk"). But when I total up all the pieces (System, Library, User, etc.) I only get 80 GB. What's going on?

iMac Pro

Posted on Mar 12, 2019 10:10 AM

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Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Posted on Mar 14, 2019 6:48 AM

Well, OK, now it is clear. Amazing that people didn't understand. It has to do with permissions. I was stunned that one User folder, which Get Info's out as 7.9GB, was a bit bigger. I was copying that folder, and it told me that it was copying 133GB of data. Huh???


Looking into it, it was clear that one user had enormous music and picture files for which the assigned permission was ONLY to that user. That is, no one else could access them. Not even Admin.


So, if you can't access those files, the only way you know that they're there is to copy them. (Well, "About this Mac"->Storage is aware of them, but you don't know where they are from that Finder app.) You can't open those files, but the finder will tell you how much is being copied. So Get Info will only tell you how much is on the disk that, I guess, Admin has access to.


Bottom line. Get Info will only tell you the size of what Admin has access to.

14 replies
Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Mar 14, 2019 6:48 AM in response to Dannymac22

Well, OK, now it is clear. Amazing that people didn't understand. It has to do with permissions. I was stunned that one User folder, which Get Info's out as 7.9GB, was a bit bigger. I was copying that folder, and it told me that it was copying 133GB of data. Huh???


Looking into it, it was clear that one user had enormous music and picture files for which the assigned permission was ONLY to that user. That is, no one else could access them. Not even Admin.


So, if you can't access those files, the only way you know that they're there is to copy them. (Well, "About this Mac"->Storage is aware of them, but you don't know where they are from that Finder app.) You can't open those files, but the finder will tell you how much is being copied. So Get Info will only tell you how much is on the disk that, I guess, Admin has access to.


Bottom line. Get Info will only tell you the size of what Admin has access to.

Mar 12, 2019 11:37 AM in response to Dannymac22

Be careful with Onyx, if you use it, use it at the presets only. It used to be a useful utility but most of what OnyX does is now taken care of by the system.


The Storage tab is known to report incorrectly. Also check by choosing your Mac HD and "Get Info" (command-i). It may be different. Try rebuilding Spotlight index.

How to rebuild the Spotlight index on your Mac - Apple Support


Some of the space may also be from Time Machine Snapshots.

About Time Machine local snapshots - Apple Support


Download Omni DiskSweeper:

https://www.omnigroup.com/more

DiskSweeper can give you a more accurate read of disk space than Finder or Storage Tab of About this Mac. It can also show you the precise size and location of all your files. It will inventory your disk starting from the files that take up the most space. If you want you can even delete files from OmniDisk Sweeper. But be careful some of the items may be important to your system.


Check Mail menu > Window > Connection Doctor. If you have check marked “Log connection activity” turn it off.


For information about the Other category in the Storage display, please see Apple Support Topic

https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT202867


Purgeable Space:

If you are using iCloud Drive those files are marked as Purgeable on your Mac, which means when you run low on disk space they will be overwritten.


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

iPhoto ▹ Empty Trash

In Photos: File Show Recently Deleted ▹ Delete All 



Mar 13, 2019 7:25 AM in response to macjack

Sheesh, OK.


Here is the result of doing "Get Info" on my hard drive. It says 254GB used.


And here is what OmniDiskSweeper comes up with when first launched. Again, 254GB is allegedly used.


But once OmniDiskSweeper does a sweep of the disk, this is what it sees - only 94.7GB.

As far as I know, that's really what's on the disk. But somehow, 254GB keeps coming up.


So the issue is, where does this incorrect 254GB keep coming from??

Mar 12, 2019 12:35 PM in response to macjack

Well, that Spotlight rebuilding doesn't make a lot of sense. You drag the folder or disk that you want to index again to the list of locations that Spotlight is prevented from searching ... and then you drag it out? That's supposed to do something?


As to OmniDiskSweeper, I open it up, and it immediately says my disk has 252GB used, which is what "Get Info" was telling me. But when I "sweep" that disk, only 90GB shows up in the file/folder list.


Very confusing. Where is that 252GB coming from?



Mar 13, 2019 5:39 AM in response to Dannymac22

Well, that Spotlight rebuilding doesn't make a lot of sense. You drag the folder or disk that you want to index again to the list of locations that Spotlight is prevented from searching ... and then you drag it out? That's supposed to do something?

Yes, it rebuilds the index.

As to OmniDiskSweeper, I open it up, and it immediately says my disk has 252GB used, which is what "Get Info" was telling me. But when I "sweep" that disk, only 90GB shows up in the file/folder list.

Can you post the output?

disk space

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