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I’m constantly told that I’m short of storage on my 2015 MacBook Air. I’m considering adding an external ssd.
What I’d like to know is:
1) What folders/files can I put on an external ssd, and
2) How do I get them there, and make sure the MacBook knows they’re there?
Thank you.
Any files you have direct control over can be copied and pasted to the external drive. As long as the External Drive is attached to the computer - on the desktop should be an Icon and that would be the External drive. Just open the drive by double clicking it and it should open. Then look for the type of file wanted. It would be good idea or organizational purposes, make a folder on External Drive called Photo and put pics in the folder. Repeat the folder creation for Music, Videos etc.
Purchase an external Drive ( SSD) for speed of moving files / folder. Be sure to shop for a reliable drive and with the required type of connections to match your computer. Example - computer has USB-A female connectors >> Drive should have USB-A Male connectors.
As New - it may be formatted to something Apple does not like or can not understand. Also, reformat it using Disk Utilities >> View >> View ALL attached drives. Look for the Upper Most Name of this External Drive ( example Western Digital ). That is the drive to format as ( if Only for Apple Usage ) as HFS and GUID Partition Map - Erase.
As for the files and folder you can copy to new drive, Only Files and Folder under your direct control. System Files will not work. Therefore, Files of Documents, photos, videos, music, podcasts can be copied to external drive.
Then I conclude, the Internal Drive is the small 128 GB size drive ? If that is correct - it is going to be a struggle to manage what is installed on the computer. The " Other " category as you mentioned is using 55 GB and there is nothing that can be done to it. It " Other " is not within your or my control as outlined earlier. Apple has made that clear I am sorry to say.
The only thing I can suggest is inventory the computer and decide what application are Required to be on the drive and what applications can be removed as per Developers Specific Instructions. That and What is “Other” storage on a Mac, and how can I clean it out? and Free up storage space on your Mac though, I do not expect this will really help on such a small internal Drive.
Thank you, so two further points:
1) If I move files to the external ssd how does the MacBook know they are there? Presumably if I put my music files there I can tell it in Music-Preferences, but I don’t know how to do that for e.g. photos. Is there a similar method, I don’t know my way around Photos so well.
As for document files, is it just a matter of looking for them there when I want to open one, and doing a Save As where necessary?
2) The biggest amount of disk space is taken up by files described as “Other”, is there a way of moving those, as that would free up the most space, or is that a different question.
Btw, the article you linked was interesting. I was confused by the bit that says “iCloud Drive: Contains all files stored in iCloud Drive. It may also contain files in your Desktop and Documents folders if you store them in iCloud Drive.”. I thought the iCloud Drive was cloud storage (hence the name). This suggests that files stored in your iCloud Drive are on your local drive. Am I misunderstanding something?
iCloud is a Conduit to have files in the cloud so if one has more than one Apple Device, changes made on one device is reflected to all Other Apple Devices using the same Apple ID and logged in.
iCloud was not designed or intended to act like and External Drive for Storage. And Yes, files on iCloud and a Copy of that same file are actually on all devices. That is, so when Internet Connect is not available at the time a change is made - the moment Internet Connection is established, puff - the changes are uploaded to iCloud and then All Devices have the the changes reflected on the file.
No - they can be Only on the External drive. Just be certain you have additional copies on another external drive. Like anything - drives to get corrupted or fail and now all your files are in danger of being lost forever.
That said, the real issue is the size of the Internal Drive being so small. Keeping documents etc on the external drive will free some space but not really enough space to do an upGrade to a newer macOS.
Am not a salesperson for Apple or anyone else, but purchasing a newer Refurbished Apple Computer Directly from Apple Website that has a larger Internal Drive say, 256 GB or larger might resolve this balancing act of Space. Have purchased from Apple the refurbished computer - like new even new battery - and have never had any issue. Comes with 14 Day Return Policy not questioned asked, 90 Days Free Phone Support and 1 year Warranty.
Just a thought as your is already 6 going on seven year old.
I was thinking of an IMac Mini. I have just bought a keyboard, trackpad and big screen to use with the MacBook, so anything else will have to wait a while, but I’ll give some thought to your suggestion, thank you again.
Thank you. Moving those files would help, but the “Other” files take up around 55 gb of my local drive, which is nearly half of it.
Thanks again, I appreciate your help, and the useful links. I intend to buy something with more memory ultimately, but can’t afford it at the moment.
So do those files have to be on the local drive, or could they be on an external ssd like I have been considering please?
Whatever direction is chosen the Very Best ;-)
Thank you.
What files can I put on an external ssd
