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Using Catalina on a Mac Mini - About This Mac - Storage shows over half my 500GB SSD is being taken up by "Other." Since I'm running out of room on the drive, how do I remove the "Other" data?
Mac mini, macOS 10.15
If things are otherwise running well on your Mac, then I consider wiping it a very last resort.
There is something about Time Machine called Local Snapshots that seems to cause a lot of concern. These snapshots live on the startup drive and do take up space, but Apple says they are automatically deleted as space is required on the drive. There is a way to force their deletion and maybe that's something that will help in your situation. Details about that are here:
About TIme Machine local snapshots - Apple Support:
https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT204015
From the above doc...
"If you want to delete local snapshots manually, turn off Time Machine temporarily:
in the menu bar. Or choose Apple menu > System Preferences, then click Time Machine.If things are otherwise running well on your Mac, then I consider wiping it a very last resort.
There is something about Time Machine called Local Snapshots that seems to cause a lot of concern. These snapshots live on the startup drive and do take up space, but Apple says they are automatically deleted as space is required on the drive. There is a way to force their deletion and maybe that's something that will help in your situation. Details about that are here:
About TIme Machine local snapshots - Apple Support:
https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT204015
From the above doc...
"If you want to delete local snapshots manually, turn off Time Machine temporarily:
in the menu bar. Or choose Apple menu > System Preferences, then click Time Machine.Hello, MichaelJonas.
“Other” storage on Mac is files that don’t easily fall into the clearer category labels like “Audio" or “Photos”. The types of "Other" files would include:
• Cache files like user cache, browser cache, and system cache.
• Documents like PDF, .psd, .doc, etc.
• Disk images and archives like .zip and .dmg.
• macOS system and temporary files.
• App plugins and extensions.
• Everything else that doesn’t fit into the main macOS categories.
• Things that Spotlight doesn’t recognize as belonging to other labeled categories.
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.
What you can do...
• Make sure you have emptied the trash.
• Empty the trash in the Photos app.
• Delete unused and unneeded installers from your downloads folder and desktop.
• Try reindexing Spotlight. That may help it recategorize the document types.
Thank you very much for replying.
I asked this because I spoke with Apple Support yesterday (different issue), and when I told her about the "Other" problem, she suggested I wipe the SSD and re-cover everything from Time Machine. I do back up with TM (everything except an external drive), but I find her suggestion a bit scary.
Thank you, again.
I'm going to try both suggestions, Spotlight and Snapshots...I'll let you know what happens.
Michael
How can I delete "Other" data from my SSD?
