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Not enough disk space to install

Tried to install BigSur but it says I don't have enough free space on my drive to install it. What is an easy way to clear up storage space?


iMac 21.5″, macOS 10.15

Posted on Dec 3, 2020 3:49 PM

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Posted on Dec 3, 2020 4:47 PM

How to free up storage space on your Mac - Apple Support

2 replies

Dec 3, 2020 4:41 PM in response to WasATechieOnceUponATime

You delete or move space hogging videos, movies, photos, music, etc. to an external hard drive.


You need 35 GB for the Big Sur download/install. And, you should always have an absolute minimum of 15 - 20GB empty space available at all times for the OS to function properly. So, you will need to have about 50 GB of empty space before doing the download.


FWIW. if you let the space fill up close to full, your computer will simply stop functioning. At that point, it will be very difficult to get files off of a drive which will not boot.

Not enough disk space to install

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