I tried to update my software on my Macbook Air for the Big Sur update. it says i need 4.94 GB of space to update. How do I make that space available? what can I get rid of? or can I purchase more space?
MacBook Air 13″, macOS 10.15
You can't purchase more space - the internal storage of the MacBook Air is fixed.
Your options include:
1) Delete old content you no longer need
2) Delete old content that is backed up somewhere else and restore it after the upgrade
3) Offload some data to iCloud - for this the OS automatically identifies idle data, copies it to iCloud and transparently downloads it again any time you need it (as long as you're connected to the internet). Kind of like option 2, but automatic.
Check System Preferences -> AppleID -> Optimize Mac Storage to enable this.
Unless you have a lot of junk files you no longer need and can remove, it is clear that now is the time when you need to purchase an external drive, transfer files over to it, then delete those files from your computer's hard drive to clear up space. These days, external drives have become very inexpensive to purchase, easy to install with a USB cable and most are very compact and do not even require any external power. You may have to reformat the disk, though. This is an easy, quick solution.
How do I create more space on my computer to update the IOS software?
