I'm trying to free up storage space on my macbookair and despite deleting files in documents it still says I am using 79.18GB,. I cant seem to permanently erase files as I can't see them

What is “Other” storage on a Mac, and how can I clean it out?

See used and available storage space on your Mac

Purchase reasonable large USB External Drive and move as much of Photo, Videos, Music, Podcasts, iOS Backup off the internal drive and to the external drive.

Hi Robyn,

Welcome to the Apple community where some of us try to do our best to help each other

I'm no expert, but there is something you might want to try:

Sometimes the deleted files do not show up, because they are still in the trash, and still count.

Even when the trash is emptied, they may not register ... until you "Restart".

Apple has a support page that may be useful to you:

How to free up storage space on your Mac:

https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT206996

If none of the above helps you reach a satisfactory position:

Please feel free to post again, preferably giving details of which year MacBook Air ,

and which operating system you have installed on it.

(Might need to cllick the Apple icon on the left, in the top menu bar, select "About this Mac" for the info.)

That might help someone give you more specific, or expert, help. if needed.

Cheers

Thank you Robyn,

Good to know you are seeing a difference.

I understand one should always try to keep 50Gb free space, at least.

You must be doing quite ok.

It is great you are aware to monitor keeping plenty of space free.

Some folks get quite a shock if their system becomes overloaded.

Apple has more articles online if you are interested.

Eg: about managing storage:

Optimise storage space on your Mac

https://support.apple.com/en-gb/guide/system-information/sysp4ee93ca4/11.0/mac/11.0

Cheers

Hi Aryae C

There are "other" :) discussion threads on "Other" storage, that would likely answer all you queries.

This thread (link below) seems to give good advice, and has links to useful "How to" articles from Apple Support.

https://discussions.apple.com/thread/252652178

I understand files stored on the desktop take up more memory /storage space than the same files put into a "Desktop" folder.

Sometimes there is a lot of storage space used up by the Trash Bin. You might want to check and/or empty it.

(You likely won't see the amount of storage differ until you "Restart" your computer.)

Hope this helps you :)

I have this same issue. Roughly 110 Gb is stored on "Other." This is more than all my personal data (pictures, music, documents, email, etc) combined. And I'm reaching the limit of my available 250 Gb storage.

I tried Apple support and the person I spoke with wasn't much help. Then I tried making hidden files visible, checking them out, and discovered that the Library folder in my Home/Username folder had over 100 Gb. So my question to Apple support is, how can I identify which of the files in this Library folder need to be kept, and which can be removed?

PS. Most accurate place to check storage:

Choose Apple menu  > About This Mac, then click Storage

https://support.apple.com/en-gb/guide/system-information/syspf9b375b9/11.0/mac/11.0

Thank you for your post P. Phillips,

Am very grateful for your help, and your info.

(Have lots to learn(

Very welcome - we are all learning each day. Do keep us updated on progress, if time allows.

Do come back to these Forums if / when addition questions arise.

Pierre

You're welcome, Robyn.

Interested to see how you go.

All the best!

Thank you Robyn,

All the best!

Cheers :)