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Hard disk is full with unknown documents

Hello,

I am using MacBook Air with OS Catalina 10.15.04. My system has a 121 GB hard disk, which I know is relatively limited nowadays.

However, the availability of this HD is in my opinion far below 121 GB. At this point I have removed all but 2 documents in the /documents/ folder (I am the only user on this system). Yet the system tells me that it reserves

6.87 GB on apps (seems realistic)

6.16 GB on email (this is not the problem, as email storage is set to auto clean by month)

11.18 GB on system - don't know what it is, but doesn't seem extraordinary big

96.29 GB on "remaining" - This reservation simply forces me to empty my hard disk from any documents at all - I had meanwhile to remove all pictures, all movies, all music, but this reservation does not seem to release itself.

I am attaching a recent EtreCheck report but this one doesn't state any anomalies, apart from the HD being low in capacity.

What is going wrong here and how can I fix it?

Best regards,

Steven

EtreCheck v 5.6.2 (5220): 2020-10-15 16:06:52

MacBook Air 13″, macOS 10.15

Posted on Oct 15, 2020 7:29 AM

Best reply

stevenvanbauwel Author

Level 1

8 points

Posted on Oct 16, 2020 5:39 AM

Hello,

the first thread is of no value it is the standard Apple support page, it just tells you that "others" exists but doesn't explain what it is or how to clean it.

the only really helpful thing in the 2nd treats is this one: https://eclecticlight.co/2020/04/09/where-did-all-that-free-space-go-on-my-apfs-disk/ - I bought daisy disk and scanned the system with it, this is helpful: it showed me that my photo library is synchronizing from my main iMac and iCloud which consumes up to 80% of this limited HD on the MacBook Air. Deleted it here. Resolved.

I find it stupid that Apple does not provide a true disk analysis or repair tool in its standard offerring. Why do I have to spend 10€ on yet another 3rd party product to do a normal housekeeping job?

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Hard disk is full with unknown documents

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