what can I do to create more space for my macbookair, to update the operating system? I have 128 gigs of memory and a 2 terabyte time capsule for backups. I had no idea I would eventually need more space for upgrades... any suggestions?
MacBook Air 13", OS X 10.11
In addition to babowa's comments you can reclaim disk space by making sure you delete old email messages, text messages, Photos (including its own Trash), downloaded files you no longer require, etc. With only 128 GB of total space, you will need to be mindful of what you really need to keep.
Starting your Mac in "Safe Mode" deletes certain cache files maintained by the system which will reclaim a little bit of space: Use safe mode to isolate issues with your Mac. It might be just enough to install the update.
I had no idea I would eventually need more space for upgrades.
Your drive has 128 GB of total space (not memory) which, by today's standards, is quite small. So, you need to be conservative in deciding what to keep and what to throw away. Your backup drive is nice and large, but has nothing to do with the space on your internal drive. Your drive is what makes your computer run: it reads/writes every time you do anything at all, so it always needs some empty space for it to perform properly. You should always maintain a minimum of 5 - 10 GB of empty space at all times. So, before you want to download anything, take a look at how much space you have available and either move some space hogging files to an external or delete things you no longer need.
no space!!!
