Other storage suddenly jump from 5gb to 37gb

Question

Other storage suddenly jump from 5gb to 37gb

Hi,

I have MBP 2019 16'' and with only 4 months of use the logic board got damaged and I needed to change it (completely annoying). At this time I was with Catalina 10.15.7. Now with the new logic board, I did not update and it came with Catalina 10.15.1.

Yesterday I picked the laptop from the service store and started to use it. I lost all my files and docs with the logic board issue and did not have a backup. Actually, I have not transferred most of them so not a big problem.

The problem is: When setting up the computer I checked the storage and it was ok. Before the damaged logic board and when I started to use the laptop after serviced my storage was around 5GB in the Other section. Now, and suddenly, it is 36GB and keeps increasing.

I have no backup in Time Machine, no photos, no iPhone backup, nothing... I have no idea why as the laptop is really new! What should I do?

Thank you!

MacBook Pro 16″, macOS 10.15

Posted on Mar 29, 2021 5:29 PM

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Answer 1

dominic23

Level 10

83,916 points

Mar 29, 2021 5:48 PM in response to aleborbasevero

A user cannot do much about "Other" category in Storage.

It is up to macOS.

Quote:

Other: Contains files that don’t fall into the categories listed here. This category primarily includes files and data used by the system, such as log files, caches, VM files, and other runtime system resources. Also included are temporary files, fonts, app support files, and plug-ins. You can't manage the contents of this category. The contents are managed by macOS, and the category varies in size depending on the current state of your Mac.

https://support.apple.com/guide/system-information/see-available-storage-space-syspf9b375b9/11.0/mac/11.0

Please read articles listed "See Also" section at the bottom of this page.

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Answer 2

dominic23

Level 10

83,916 points

Mar 29, 2021 6:13 PM in response to aleborbasevero

It is the system that manages this category of space. User has no control over it according to the article.

Try restarting the Mac.

For additional info: Optimize storage space on your Mac

This Mac I am using now is also reporting 17GB "Other".

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Answer 3

Mar 29, 2021 5:58 PM in response to dominic23

dominic23 thanks for the reply.

The problem is, how can my mac's storage be 5GB full in the Other category before and now, for no reason, jump to 37GB? I just started to use the computer, barely installed software, no backups, no photos, no videos, nothing. And it keeps increasing!

My girlfriend's MacBook Air is been in use for almost a year and it has only 5GB in Other section. This can't be normal.

Thanks.

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Answer 4

Mar 29, 2021 6:20 PM in response to dominic23

Thanks! I totally understand the "user has no control" and I read the article and all the recommendation does not apply to me. The bin is empty, no documents, no TV show, no clutter... Actually, the computer is completely empty (as the photo shows, I only have 5.74GB of Apps and 1.82GB of documents).

There is no logic or good reason to suddenly have 37GB. As I said, this can't be normal. How long have you been using your Mac?

Thanks.

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Answer 5

Mar 30, 2021 9:04 AM in response to dominic23

I downloaded OmniDiskSweeper and it founded 4 files around 3gb each. The name of the files were something like updated1, 2, 3 and 4.

I updated my MacBook to Catalina 10.15.7 and the Other section decreased 25gb. (Not sure why 25gb instead of 12, but that worked).

🙂

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Other storage suddenly jump from 5gb to 37gb

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