I have a MacBook Pro (Retina, 13-inch, Mid 2014) with 8 GB RAM 250 GB storage, mac OS Catalina version 10.15.7 . I am trying to free up space for installing the update. While I can store my desktop and documents in my iCloud, I cannot do so with my photos. I get an error message saying "Cannot communicate with a helper application". This persists on multiple retries, including restart in safe mode etc. Please advise
MacBook
Hello mehernoor,
Thank you for using Apple Support Communities.
We understand that you are trying to free up space on your MacBook Pro to update macOS. When you attempt to store photos to iCloud, you get an error that your computer "Cannot communicate with a helper application". We would recommend taking a look at the following support article to troubleshoot issues with iCloud Photos.
Get help with iCloud Photos - Apple Support
Best regards.
Additional comment
I followed the instructions in your support article to turn on icloud photos to increase storage space. I get an error message Photos cannot find the System Photo Library named “Photos Library.photoslibrary”. I was asked to find another photo library or create a new one. I did not find any other photo library and so tried to create another library. I then get an error message saying there is not enough storage! I note that more than 200 GB of storage for items listed as "Other" and less than 50 GB for Apps, iCloud drive, Mail and system. Seems like a catch 22 problem.
How do I increase storage?
mehernoor,
Thank you for the updated information. If you still need to free up space to install an update, you can use the following support article to provide information for that.
If you need more space for an update - Apple Support
Part of the reason that the update needs space on the iPhone is that it needs to unpack and move files during the installation process. You can use the information in the following article to connect to a computer and update iOS using the computer.
Update your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch - Apple Support
Best regards.
You have given me a link for increasing space on an iPhone running iOS. This link does not help at all as I am using a MacBook Pro and not an iPhone. I believe I had stated this clearly in the first sentence. Please provide information regarding increasing space on a MacBook Pro running the Mac OS Catalina or advance my problem to a higher status. Please do not refer me back to the first link as this did not help.
mehernoor,
Apologies for the oversight. Here are a couple of support articles for freeing up storage space on your MacBook Pro.
How to free up storage space on your Mac - Apple Support
Optimize storage space on your Mac - Apple Support
Cheers.
I still get the same error message
I still cannot free up space on the HD to allow for software updates.
iCloud Error message Cannot communicate with helper application
