Storage full due to 'system' 3 year old Mac. How can I reduce this?

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Level 1

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Storage full due to 'system' 3 year old Mac. How can I reduce this?

Hello,

I have a 2017 mac book air with a total storage capacity of 121GB, of this I only have a remaining storage capacity of 9.01GB. Of the total storage 85.6GB is taken up by 'System'. Due to this there aren't really any non-essential apps or programs I can delete to create space.

I downloaded CleanMyMac and found around 1.5GB of storage I can cleanup to make more space available.

However, I can't update to the new iOS and have regular issues with slowdowns and programme closures requiring a hard shutdown to resolve.

Is there anything I can do to reduce the size of the 'system' on my mac?

When I can keep available storage to around 10GB the mac runs find but it often dips below this and runs into issues. I feel like its only 3 years old and has a lot of life left in it but I am forced to potentially look at upgrading due to this storage issue and feel a little bit ripped off by apple.

Any advice would be gratefully accepted!

All the best

Sam

MacBook Air 13″, macOS 10.14

Posted on Nov 5, 2020 3:19 AM

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Answer 1

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babowa

Level 9

78,103 points

Nov 6, 2020 11:28 AM in response to Sampagejones

Sorry, but I cannot help with Outlook - I'd guess it is syncing as you said. You'd need to either turn off the outlook syncing - and I do not know if you can just choose not to sync the Outlook or if it has to be the entire Mail app period.

Worst case scenario: If all else fails, you could choose to delete the Outlook account from your settings and simply access it via the browser? I realize that's not ideal, but it would keep all of those emails off your very limited hard drive space.

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Answer 2

Nov 5, 2020 4:07 AM in response to Sampagejones

get rid of "clean my mac" that will cause problems down the road and your MacBook already has better software.

i would delete files you put in and don t use daily.

i think the 2017 can upgrade the ssd drive, i put a 256GB in my 2010 MacBook air and have a faster and larger macboook.

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Answer 3

babowa

Level 9

78,103 points

Nov 5, 2020 7:21 PM in response to Sampagejones

just as a caution: an SD card is not a reliable way to hold your files - an external drive is recommended. And, you need to keep a minimum of 15 GB of storage available at all times. Your SSD is not just storage, it also contains and runs your OS which needs room to read/write everything you do.

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Answer 4

Sampagejones Author

Level 1

8 points

Nov 6, 2020 9:06 AM in response to babowa

Would an SD card work as a direct extension of the SSD or is it just like having an external drive to store files and programs in? I haven't been able to update my iOS due to not having enough storage so wondered if this would extend the space on the main drive allowing me to update?

Or would I just need to move all of my documents and programs onto the SD drive to create enough space on the SSD to allow it to update?

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Answer 5

babowa

Level 9

78,103 points

Nov 6, 2020 9:14 AM in response to Sampagejones

No, you cannot “extend” or increase your storage space. You need to move things to another drive and then delete them on your device. Deleting them is the only way to create space.

And, you need to maintain a minimum of 15 GB of empty space at all times. Your drive is not simply storage space — it also holds the OS (which by the way is macOS, not iOS - that is a different OS for iDevices, not computers) and needs space to run it along with all the commands/tasks you tell it to do.

So, you need to create about 25 GB of space on your drive now; then you should be able to do the update. Then you can evaluate how much space is left and delete/move more items. FWIW, if/when you need to get a replacement for your laptop, do not buy anything with such a tiny drive - get a minimum 256 or 512 GB size drive.

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Answer 6

Sampagejones Author

Level 1

8 points

Nov 6, 2020 9:21 AM in response to babowa

Ah I see. I just don't really understand how I can reduce my storage enough to allow it to update. I barely have anything on my laptop as it is.

I currently have approx 7gb of available space, 15gb of apps (mainly made up of excel, word, powerpoint and outlook which I need for work), a handful of gb in documents and then the vast majority is 88gb of 'system' out of a total of 121gb.

I'm currently running macOS (sorry got my OS mixed up there) Mojave. Do you think that this machine is just not going to be able to update at all? It's feels frustratingly like its been designed in such a way to force you to spend another £1k on a new laptop before you really need to.

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Answer 7

babowa

Level 9

78,103 points

Nov 6, 2020 9:35 AM in response to Sampagejones

The system should not be taking up that much space.

Another question: do you have Time Machine enabled and are making regular backups? TM will create snapshots (as temporary backups) on your drive if you do not have an external attached and those can take up considerable space until they are “offloaded” to the external backup.

Download and run Omni Disksweeper to show you what exactly is taking up the space.

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Answer 8

Sampagejones Author

Level 1

8 points

Nov 6, 2020 9:39 AM in response to babowa

I don't think so - I followed a youtube tutorial which included a way to search and delete time machine backups in terminal and when I searched I had none listed. Also when I open the time machine application it just seems to have 'today/now' listed and the button to restore is greyed out which I assume means there are no backups.

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Answer 9

Sampagejones Author

Level 1

8 points

Nov 6, 2020 9:47 AM in response to babowa

Right so I've run the Omni disksweeper program - it looks like its outlook data that is taking up approx 60gb of the storage. I think it must have something to do with the fact that I have my work emails logged in as I have access to the main shared email address which has a decade of emails and attachments in it.

I'm assuming this is because there is some setting switched on for offline syncing. Do you know of a way to switch this off, otherwise I can try googling a solution.

Thanks so much for your help with this by the way.

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