Memory count problem

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Level 1

8 points

Memory count problem

I am running a MacBook Pro with macOS Big Sur 11.6.2 and a 512 GB SDD. According to disk utility is the capacity 500,07 GB.

Normally I used to have about 150 GB available memory (350 GB in use), but when I last checked with disk utility it was 469 GB in use. I also get 469 GB in use when I in Finder choose Info for Macintosh HD.

However, when I try to analyse where the memory has gone with start from the upper level of the filesystem, I can only find 345 GB in use. I.e., 155 GB should be available instead of 31 GB.

Analyse of memory in Finder:

Users 187 GB

Applications 95,3 GB

Library 30,7 GB

System 26,8 GB

Hidden files 5,0 GB

TOTAL: 344,8 GB

I'd be grateful for any help.

MacBook Pro 13″, macOS 11.6

Posted on Dec 20, 2021 8:35 AM

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Answer 1

babowa

Level 9

78,151 points

Jan 16, 2022 1:59 PM in response to lawa01

Well,let's see:

Uninstall Symantec/Norton using their uninstall insructions. They are unnecessary and cause havoc with your system.
Your RAM is being used to the point of causing problems; turn off background processes and/or automatic updates, etc which will result in the Mac running better
Re. the other category: you cannot control that as it is managed by the system, but ------ it shows that you do not have a Time Machine backup. If you do not use that, TM will create "snapshots" (backups on your computer) that will use up storage space until you do a TM backup. So, in my opinion, part of your "lost" storage is being used by snapshots. You can delete those. Here is a link to the Apple document explaining the other category:

https://support.apple.com/en-gb/guide/system-information/syspf9b375b9/11.0/mac/11.0

And,, by the way, missing "memory" is not the problem - you are short on storage space. You need to watch that - if it fills up completely, your Mac will stop functioning.

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Answer 2

Dec 21, 2021 8:52 AM in response to lawa01

I would start by restarting the mac in Safe Mode.

This clears system caches and may help.

Also Please run Etrecheck and post its full report here. Use the "additional text" button and paste the report into the text box.

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Answer 3

babowa

Level 9

78,151 points

Dec 22, 2021 9:53 AM in response to lawa01

Just for clarification of the terms being used in this discussion:

memory = RAM

storage = the total storage space of your hard drive/SSD

Your question relates to storage, not memory.

And, with a laptop, Time Machine creates "snapshots" of files which have not yet been backed up to an external device. That could be one problem. The other could be the "other" category; see here:

https://support.apple.com/en-gb/guide/system-information/syspf9b375b9/11.0/mac/11.0

So, get the etrecheck report and post it here so we can see what is going on.

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Answer 4

lawa01 Author

Level 1

8 points

Jan 16, 2022 12:06 PM in response to babowa

Thank you for all your suggestions and sorry I took so long.

1. I have restarted my computer in Safe Mode without this helping.

2. When I select Storage via "About this Mac", it is the "Other" category that takes up a lot of space (238 GB). The rest of the categories feel reasonable when it comes to disk usage. So the 120 GB I'm looking for is in the "Others" category. But even though I have activated the display of hidden files in the Finder, 120 GB is missing when I sum up folders and the hidden files that are at the top level.

These extra 120 GB did not exist a number of months ago and information on space based on Finder and "Storage -About my Mac" was then the same.

3. I have also installed Etrecheck and the report has been attached. However, it was no longer possible to download it through the Apple Store. Therefore downloaded EtrecheckPro directly from the company, but has not paid for extra features.

Etrecheck Report

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Answer 5

Dec 21, 2021 8:40 AM in response to lawa01

If you have gone to Storage: you will see that there is a category named "System Data" (Others)

These includes memory on Library, and also memory that you won't be able to find in Finder.

These memory can sometime be added without you noticing, as it might be memory that the system needs for some amount of time

And as far as I know, MacOS versions have never counted used memory incorrectly.

Hope this helps.

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Answer 6

lawa01 Author

Level 1

8 points

Dec 22, 2021 8:44 AM in response to ThanhAnUwU

Thank you for your information!

What do you mean with "If you have gone to Storage"? Do I use the Disk Utility application, Finder or what to go to the Storage? Can you explain that more specific?

Best Regards

lawa01

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Answer 7

lawa01 Author

Level 1

8 points

Jan 20, 2022 7:43 AM in response to babowa

Many thanks for all the information and all the tips.

I agree that my biggest problem is that the space on my SDD disk is running out. 470 GB out of a total of 500 GB is used today, ie only 30 GB is available. A number of months ago, 150 GB was available. Everything except the "Other" category that uses 240 GB feels reasonable (based on the division according to the "Storage" tab under "About this Mac").

To get on with my problem, it would be good to have a subdivision of "Other" into smaller groups. However, I have not found any way to show this.

Since it is not possible to find the problem with the help of Finder (with activation of display of hidden files), I guess it is about links that point further to another place where the information is stored. The finder then probably only counts the link itself on a few bytes that used space. The difference between consumption according to Finder and that according to "Storage in About my Mac" is 120 GB. A number of months ago, these two matched.

Regarding RAM (your second point), there is something I have not thought of before. I am therefore very grateful for your information. I was hoping that much of this was handled via startup objects linked to the user and easy to remove, but I have very few such objects. I am therefore unsure how to proceed to deal with this issue without causing problems.

Regarding your third point. The reason why Etrecheck stated that it did not find TM backup was that I did not check this external disk before Etrecheck analysis. TM seems to work well for me and several snapshots are stored per day on the external disk. I have also used TM several times to retrieve older versions of files.

However, local snapshots always seem to be taken for the last 24 hours to be able to handle temporary interruptions to external disks. Available space on the disk seems to be divided into free and cleanable memory, where TM local snapshots seem to belong to the cleanable part of available memory. So local snapshots should then not affect the available memory. For security reasons, however, I have also deleted locally stored snapshots. This had no effect on the available memory.

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Answer 8

Jan 20, 2022 9:27 AM in response to lawa01

Local snapshots will of course use disk space, and furthermore they will appear under "Other", so it is a logical step to check for them.

What is the output of the following command in Terminal:

tmutil listlocalsnapshots /

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Answer 9

babowa

Level 9

78,151 points

Jan 20, 2022 9:46 AM in response to Luis Sequeira1

First, as stated in the link I had posted, you cannot control the other category - the OS does it.

Second, your terminology is confusing - remember we are discussing disk space, not memory. That has absolutely nothing to do with your issue.

Third, disk space will change constantly - much like a CD you add files/songs to = that will take up space. When you delete something, disk space is increased. Again, nothing to do with memory.

Local snapshots will/can fill up your disk space; they will slowly disappear when you have TM do a backup to your external disk. You can also delete them - restart your computer after doing that.

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