Storage issue on Macbook Pro

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Level 1

4 points

Storage issue on Macbook Pro

Hi all, I have a 2017 macbook pro that only has a 250gb harddrive (silly mistake, won't happen again). For work reasons, I've needed to keep the storage well clear, and in the past I've managed to pull it right down to 60 - 100GB of usage, but for some reason it's got some crazy storage amount and I can't figure out what files are taking up so much space.

I've done the following:

Uninstalled/deleted unused applications
Used clean my mac several times to remove large/unused files
Emptied the bin
Gone through all user/disk folders and cleared them out, even all of the folder's storage added up doesn't add up to what the system information is telling me
Run first aid
Done a PRAM reset

I have google drive file stream installed for backing up work files (it's a lot of video editing/video projects), but surely once that's backed up that wouldn't be taking up space on my computer...

What the heck is in the "other" storage bit that is taking up so much space? What else can I do to free up some more storage?

Thanks in advance.

MacBook Pro 13″, macOS 11.5

Posted on Oct 8, 2021 3:56 PM

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Answer 1

Top-ranking reply

steve626

Level 6

11,639 points

Oct 8, 2021 10:38 PM in response to taniagreen

There are programs that can help track this down:

DaisyDisk

OmniDiskSweeper

Grand Perspective

Look at the root level of your drive, how much space is the Users folder taking up?

Have you configured Google Drive so that when files are copied to it, the Google Drive files (which you say is a backup of files on your Mac) aren't also stored locally on your Mac? This can happen with other cloud storage systems like Dropbox as well. When this happens, your files can double (or more) the space they take on your Mac because the backup is stored both locally and in the cloud.

Then look at your user directory, the one with your name. How much space is that using?

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