I'm trying to install software (TurboTax) and I keep getting the error "The operation can't be completed because the disk is full." But my hard drive is NOT full and has 161GB of space left. TurboTax doesn't even require 1GB of space. I have emptied the trash and restarted my computer, but I still keep getting this error. Why is this happening and how do I fix it?
iMac 21.5″, macOS 11.1
Figured it out. I was getting errors about Time Machine and after some research I realized the two problems were connected and a result of me updating to Mac OS 11.1 last week. I followed the instructions below for using Terminal to delete Time Machine snapshots and after I did that Disk Utility started showing more free space on my hard drive, and the problems I was having went away.
[Link Edited by Moderator]
Is it an error presented by the TurboTax installer? If so, it would probably be the installer running an incorrect check for available space prior to attempting the install instead of allowing the file system to handle the error. You would need to talk to Intuit to ask them why they are reporting that error.
If it is coming from macOS, I don't know why.
Well, whatever it is, it saved you from that disaster.
Have you tried restarting?
Or, try booting into Safe Mode and see if you can install TurboTax.
I cannot open other pieces of software on my computer such as Photoshop. I was getting an error about the scratch disk being full, even after several restarts. Then I discovered that Disk Utility says I only have 17GB of space left. Not sure why there is such a huge discrepancy between that and the 161GB stated when I go to About This Mac, but that Disk Utility number doesn't change no matter how many files I delete or move to an external drive.
Yes, it is coming from the installer, but I know that's the not the problem. I tried to download CleanMyMac and it won't even download because my disk is "full".
"Disk full" error even though disk is not full
