Mac OS Big Sur 11.6 Other Storage Removed

Question

Mac OS Big Sur 11.6 Other Storage Removed

I used to have approximately 100gb of lost space in the "Other" storage category on my disk. With the latest update of 11.6 all this storage is reported to be released and suddenly my Macbook Pro 16' has massively gained free storage. Of course, I am very glad for this as so far no problems have arisen. I have 2 questions about this:

1) Will the lack of "Other" storage cause potential issues? (I have Time Machine backups just in case)

2) Was this planned to happen? (since the report for release changes mentioned only security fixes)

You will find a picture of my new storage attached after updating to 11.6.

MacBook Pro (2020 and later)

Posted on Sep 15, 2021 1:09 AM

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Answer 1

Ronasara

Level 6

15,519 points

Sep 15, 2021 11:15 AM in response to Nikos_Computer_Scientist

As you said, there have been no problems. Let's take a look at what the"other" includes.

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.

I have highlighted some of the items that increase or decrease in volume. Since these things vary, that explains why the change you see. I hope this helps.

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Mac OS Big Sur 11.6 Other Storage Removed

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