My Mac suddenly created a snapshot after I installed the overdue Mojave update. I have almost 66Gb of free space, but 65Gb of it is shown as purgeable space. I already tried utilizing terminal commands to manually delete the snapshot and it shows that it is deleted successfully, but there is still no change in free space. Finder, 'Get info', and Disk utility all show different values. How can I clear this space?
MacBook Pro 13″, macOS 10.14
Hello, JoRizky143.
This support doc has info about the local snapshots, including how to force TM to delete them.
About Time Machine local snapshots - Apple Support:
Hello, JoRizky143.
This support doc has info about the local snapshots, including how to force TM to delete them.
About Time Machine local snapshots - Apple Support:
On Big Sur, there is a snapshot of the OS. From macOS Terminal, post the output of
diskutil list
diskutil apfs listSnapshots /
Each line is an individual command.
See https://eclecticlight.co/2021/01/13/big-sur-boot-volume-layout/ for reference.
Try it in Safe mode...
Safe Boot, (holding Shift key down at startup), does the problem occur in Safe Mode? Could take 10 minutes.
Have you restarted, maybe a Safe Boot?
On APFS-based Macs, there are additional commands under diskutil apfs - listSnapshots and deleteSnapshot.
diskutil apfs
Usage: diskutil [quiet] ap[fs] <verb> <options>
where <verb> is as follows:
list (Show status of all current APFS Containers)
listUsers (List cryptographic users/keys of an APFS Volume)
listSnapshots (List APFS Snapshots in a mounted APFS Volume)
listVolumeGroups (List all current APFS Volume Group relationships)
convert (Nondestructively convert from HFS to APFS)
create (Create a new APFS Container with one APFS Volume)
createContainer (Create a new empty APFS Container)
deleteContainer (Delete an APFS Container and reformat disks to HFS)
resizeContainer (Resize an APFS Container and its disk space usage)
addVolume (Export a new APFS Volume from an APFS Container)
deleteVolume (Remove an APFS Volume from its APFS Container)
eraseVolume (Erase contents of, but keep, an APFS Volume)
changeVolumeRole (Change the Role metadata flags of an APFS Volume)
unlockVolume (Unlock an encrypted APFS Volume which is locked)
lockVolume (Lock an encrypted APFS Volume (diskutil unmount))
changePassphrase (Change the passphrase of a cryptographic user)
setPassphraseHint (Set or clear passphrase hint of a cryptographic user)
encryptVolume (Enable FileVault security in background or instantly)
decryptVolume (Disable FileVault security in background or instantly)
deleteSnapshot (Remove an APFS Snapshot from an APFS Volume)
defragment (Arm or check status or begin APFS defragmentation)
updatePreboot (Update a macOS Volume's related APFS Preboot Volume)
syncPatchUsers (Copy Volume Group crypto users System-to-Data role)
diskutil apfs <verb> with no options will provide help on that verb
Hi, D.I. Johnson.
I already came across that support doc and it got me confused because it says that snapshots are automatically deleted if space is needed like whenever the user tries to update the software. I'm trying to download the Big Sur update but I'm prompted saying I've got no space available. That is why I'm trying to manually delete the snapshot. I already tried the deletelocalsnapshot and the thinlocalsnapshot, but the snapshot is too stubborn
Yes, I'm aware of the the thinlocalsnapshot terminal command but have no experience with it.
Snapshots do seem to be stubborn creatures.
And even though Apple say that TM deletes them when needed, it never seems to be when you or I need them gone. 😡
Hi!
I tried a string of commands to locate the snapshot and to attempt to delete it, but I get the response, Error -69528 saying: Unable to delete the given APFS Snapshot because it is busy (mounted). Any idea how I can work my way around this?
Deleting local snapshot to clear up space