Storage in About This Mac reports 52GB for "known files" but 103GB for Other

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Level 2

223 points

Storage in About This Mac reports 52GB for "known files" but 103GB for Other

Hi,

I've got a very "light" install of macOS Big Sur: Apple apps (work and life), Office, Discord, iMovie with two small projects, and one or two other apps. Had Xcode installed at one point but have since removed it, using guides online. Time Machine is turned off.

According to About This Mac the "recognized" sections - App, Docs, Messages, System, etc. - totals 52GB. Other is 102.85GB. The drive is 250.69GB or else I wouldn't care much, when a third of my drive is "Other" and I cannot find where on my drive all of this space is going to, I figure I should be doing something about it.

I've already ready run DaisyDisk and CleanMyMac X but they aren't reporting much about this (meaning they won't delete it.) I also think the first macOS build on this device was Sierra or High Sierra and it's been upgraded since; I don't think it had an OS X build.

I know that on iOS/iPadOS this space is for files that the Storage system doesn't "report." For example, in years past, if I sync'd MP4 files without minimal metadata, they showed up in Video; if I had them tagged with a bunch of metadata Other would explode in size. It could be that Other is a collection of plist files or library files but why on earth wouldn't that be a part of System? It could be the intermediate files from Xcode, but I cleared those already. I'd say it's media/metadata but I don't have much on this box - no music and a handful of MP4 files. I would think it's iMovie cruft but that's all stored in the iMovie folders.

Also, iCloud only has 0.54GB used so doubt there's an issue coming from that area.

Should I reinstall macOS at this point to reclaim this space or is this just "how it works" in modern macOS, and the space will free up as I need it?

I also saw https://discussions.apple.com/docs/DOC-4052 that which points to http://pondini.org/OSX/LionStorage.html which is now a dead domain.

Thanks!

MacBook

Posted on Jan 15, 2021 9:41 AM

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Answer 1

Top-ranking reply

Old Toad

Level 10

215,748 points

Jan 15, 2021 10:53 AM in response to randyrants

The Other category is a potpourri of files which can include:

• System temporary files

• macOS system folders

• Archives and disk images (.zip, .iso, etc. - often found in the Downloads folder)

• Personal user data

• Files from the user’s library (Application Support, iCloud files, screensavers, etc.)

• Cache files: browser, Mail

• Mail messages & attachments

• Fonts, plugins, extensions

• Safari reading list

• iTunes backups

• Crud resulting from jailbreaking your iDevice

• Game data

• Saved data files

• Call history

• Notes

• Media

• Voice memos

• Other files that are not recognized by a Spotlight search

• Media files that cannot be classified by Spotlight as a media file because they are located inside of a package

They can be located anywhere on your hard drive. The files that you have control over are located in the Documents, Downloads, Pictures, Music and Movies folders. You can use either of these two free apps, GrandPerspective or OmniDiscSweeper, to find the largest files on your drive so you can determine if they can be deleted or moved to an external HD for storage.

Note: you can empty the Downloads folder after the apps and/or updates that were downloaded have been installed or applied. Many users have found a couple of Gigabytes of files in their Downloads folder which are no longer needed.

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Answer 2

Jan 17, 2021 7:45 PM in response to randyrants

I found Other typically refers to ~/Library/Cache and other temporary files. Depending on your web surfing activities, typically the Cache is the largest area of files. While you are in the ~/Library you might want to go through and remove all files related to Apps you no longer use. Once again, depending on the program, some of those files can be massive. Another area I always find convoluted is PodCasts. Especially if you are subscribed to daily Podcasts, those can fill up your hard drive space pretty quick.

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Answer 3

randyrants Author

Level 2

223 points

Jan 16, 2021 9:45 PM in response to Old Toad

I'll try the apps, but of the list above, these cannot apply because I do not use these and/or there is exactly 100MB in my download folder on my device:

• Archives and disk images (.zip, .iso, etc. - often found in the Downloads folder)

• Files from the user’s library (Application Support, iCloud files, screensavers, etc.)

• iCloud has less than 1GB

• Cache files: browser, Mail

• Don't use mail; I'll check the apps to see what might be lingering

• Mail messages & attachments

• Fonts, plugins, extensions

• No custom Fonts (and no Adobe products), no plugins, no extensions (I checked)

• Safari reading list

• Empty

• iTunes backups

• Never used on this box

• Crud resulting from jailbreaking your iDevice

• Haven't jailbroken anything

• Game data

• Call history

• Notes

• Media

• Voice memos

Possible but why aren't these included in System if they are part of the System?

• System temporary files

• macOS system folders

Could be possible but how, when you consider how little information I have installed/use the box for, mounting to more than is installed?

• Personal user data

• Saved data files

• Other files that are not recognized by a Spotlight search

• Media files that cannot be classified by Spotlight as a media file because they are located inside of a package

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Answer 4

randyrants Author

Level 2

223 points

Jan 16, 2021 10:06 PM in response to Old Toad

This is neat: I ran OmniDiskSweeper - gave it full disk access and let it run. After it finished sizing the drive for files, it reported that there was 63GB being used on the drive. I took a look at About This Mac and after adding up all of "known" space used, I come up with 59GB, so that's pretty close. I'd wage the guess that the delta of 4GB falls into the places called out above: cached data, documents, etc.

That said, About this Mac still shows 103GB as Other. Being generous and assuming that the 4GB delta is part of that, where is the other 99GB of Other hiding?

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Answer 5

randyrants Author

Level 2

223 points

Jan 17, 2021 7:38 PM in response to Old Toad

...that's bunk though.

I mean, I get that About This Mac will take types it doesn't know about and lump it into Other. As I call out above, I've seen it in iTunes for years with iPhone/iPad but this isn't that. For example, when I go into Disk Utility. I see the same amount of data claimed. I have a 250.68GB drive and Disk Utility reports that I have 95GB free and OniDiskSweeper tells me I'm using 63GB. That means that something on the box has claimed 92GB even though the OS cannot tell me what is using it or why I can't find it.

So is Disk Utility faulty too?

My underlying reason for asking this is because I'm wondering if this is "normal" so that I can figure out if it's worth reinstalling macOS from scratch or not. If it's uncommon for 1/3 of the drive to be reserved for "other" then I think it's time to obliterate the drive and start over.

Thanks!

So I'm supposed to ignore Disk Utility too? That doesn't sound right, especially when I understand why About This Mac can mis

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Answer 6

Old Toad

Level 10

215,748 points

Jan 17, 2021 9:14 AM in response to randyrants

That's why most of us recommend not using the graphical storage. It's know to be convoluted, difficult to understand and not straight forward for users.

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