Macbook air 2014 - hard disk almost full

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Level 1

8 points

Macbook air 2014 - hard disk almost full

I've got a macbook air around 2014 vintage but up to now working fine. Recently had disk space nearly full message which I though was unusual as I'm not a heavy user of the laptop. No massive amount of photos. I have done a bit of research to try to find the problem but no joy.

I have deleted a few big files applications.

I have tried to manage the disk space after going on to 'about this mac'. My macbook doesn't have the button there and it is running El capitan which means it should have the button?

I am trying to download Mac Catalina but the installer never seems to boot after download. I was hoping this would come with the option to manage storage space button.

I have set the macintosh HD as a folder on the desktop. I have a 256GB HD.

Applications - 10.83GB

Library 6.22GB

System - 8.77GB

User information - 4KB

Users - 34.13GB

Am I missing a trick here? Why is my disk space full? I've only got about 60GB of data...

Thanks in advance!

MacBook Air 13″, OS X 10.11

Posted on Jun 5, 2020 10:36 PM

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Answer 1

Axel Foley

Level 10

149,598 points

Jun 6, 2020 10:25 AM in response to jim0z

Hi Jim,

I know you are not lying. Never thought that you were. Somewhere we are missing something in the photos category. Your image that you posted from Disk Utility, suggests Photos as taking up 145GB plus you have 16GB of movies as well. Thanks for totaling up the *.JPG files which came to about 16GB. We now need to figure out the large gap between what Disk Utility is telling us and what you are seeing. The gap is approximately 129GB worth of disk space related to photos. Note that not all photos end with JPG file extension. There are TIF PNG GIF RAW HEIC etc. depending on which app/process/format that one may be using.

Do you import photos from an external camera at all? I ask because your JPEG files are rather large for each photo and therefore was wondering whether you use a DSLR to take pictures and then import them on your MacBook Air.
What is the file size of your photo library on your MacBook Air? This is a file that is named Photos Library.photoslibrary
Do you use iCloud for your Photos? If you do then is Optimize Storage option for photos set to ON on your MacBook Air?

I am making my assumptions for your available disk space by looking at the image that you posted in one of your earlier posts.

Thanks and let me know what you find out.

Axel F.

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Answer 2

Axel Foley

Level 10

149,598 points

Jun 6, 2020 2:12 AM in response to jim0z

The images that you posted tell a different story.

You have used a total of approximately 240GB of disk space (and not 60GB as stated in your post). Majority of it is media (Photos, Movies and Audio). You have 145GB worth of photos! Thats a lot of photos.

You need to maintain 25GB - 30GB of free space to keep your MacBook Air running smoothly. Time to make a plan to see how much space can be freed up.

Axel F.

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