Is there anyway to delete old versions of OS as I software update? After discussion with a Apple employee on chat, they told me that there is no way to delete old OS files and get back disk space after updates. I don't have a lot of disk space and it is prohibitive for me to cede 40gb for an update.
MacBook Pro 13″, macOS 10.15
The chat person I spoke to told me that if I updated to OS Big Sur that 32gb I need to do that would be ceded to the OS and I wouldn't be able to get that back. Is that not correct?
Yes, that is not correct. The OS takes about 16 to 20 GB of space. VM takes up whatever amount of RAM you have installed, but that has not changed. The total of all of the OS Volumes on my 8GB Mini is a little over 25GB.
If your SSD near full, it may take a while for it to clear the deleted storage due to the way SSDs work. Storage must be reset prior to use again; it cannot be immediately overwritten like a hard drive. That process may take a while if there isn't much space left free.
What "old OS" are you talking about? There should be nothing left over. It doesn't shove the old stuff in a corner and install the new stuff. The Update volume might contain parts of the installer, but that should get purged.
The chat person I spoke to told me that if I updated to OS Big Sur that 32gb I need to do that would be ceded to the OS and I wouldn't be able to get that back. Is that not correct?
Some folks get *more* space back after the upgrade. I did.
Deleting old OS after software update
