What are other files & folders in Big Sur file transfer?

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tommmy Author

Level 2

194 points

What are other files & folders in Big Sur file transfer?

Hello

I finally got around to installing Big Sur on my MBP mid 2019

I decided to erease my hard disk, boot from a cloned copy where I had downloaded the installer.

I installed and am in the process of transferring information

My hard disk is 1TB. I have 200gb icloud drive. In Catalina I had about 180 gb free. In icloud I have 100gb free.

I don't deselect anything in the transfer window and after a while get a message "not enough space to transfer. select fewer items to continue"

"Other Files & Folders" is 1.06 TB. What is this? Can I deselct that safely?

I am then only user. For tests I have two additional admin accounts. Together they use about 1GB

Under my user there are three iCloud Dive (Archive) accounts. number 1 has 125GB the other two together have about 200MB. What are these and could I deselect them.

How can I conclude installation of Big Sur without losing data?

thanks

MacBook Pro with Touch Bar

Posted on Aug 28, 2021 1:02 PM

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Answer 1

Tesserax

Level 10

158,748 points

Aug 28, 2021 3:01 PM in response to tommmy

AFAIK, the "Other Files and Folders" option of Migration Assistant copies items at the root level of the HDD/SSD that are not in the root level System, Library, Applications, Users, or hidden system domain folders. Unfortunately, there is no way Apple provides you with a means to "pick & choose" individual files or folders to transfer.

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Answer 2

tommmy Author

Level 2

194 points

Aug 28, 2021 3:30 PM in response to Tesserax

Thanks guys

My problem has been solved.

My backups are made with Carbon Copy Cloner. This app has an option: Safety Net which keeps older copies of files as long as there is space on the target disk.

My HD is 1TB my target disk is 2TB. My HD had about 900GB, the target had twice that amount. That was the problem

Fortunately I had a Time Machine backup and am in the process of transferring from there.

Something to watch out for. Scary if I had not had my TM

Tommy

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Answer 3

Ronasara

Level 6

15,543 points

Aug 28, 2021 2:48 PM in response to tommmy

I hope this information is useful.

The Other Category should not be altered, modified, move or deleted since it is part of the Mac’s operating system. Doing so would corrupt the OS and render the OS inoperative requiring a Wipe and Re-Installation.

The Other category is a potpourri of files which include:

• System temporary files

• macOS system folders

• Archives and disk images (.zip, .iso, etc. - often found in the Downloads folder)

• Personal user data

• Files from the user’s library (Application Support, iCloud files, screensavers, etc.)

• Cache files

• Fonts, plugins, extensions

• Other files that are not recognized by a Spotlight search

• Media files that cannot be classified by Spotlight as a media file because they are located inside of a package

They can be located anywhere on your hard drive. The files that you have control over are located in the Documents, Downloads, Pictures, Music and Movies folders.

Also, if your OS becomes too full your computer will stop functioning. This is a good time to seriously consider adding an external drive for storage. Then you can move files onto it and then delete them from your HD to clear needed space. Easy to do and problem solved.

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What are other files & folders in Big Sur file transfer?

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