Showing out of space message on Mac but there is plenty of iCloud space

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Level 1

8 points

Showing out of space message on Mac but there is plenty of iCloud space

I have seen other complaints like this, but no resolution.

This morning, folders on my Mac desktop were labeled "out of storage". But I have plenty of storage space on my iCloud account. I upgraded fairly recently.

How do I fix this, quickly and in an uncomplicated way?

What does it mean, practically? I need to work on those files, and I work under deadline.

The onset was sudden, literally overnight. They were not tagged yesterday.

I did try to upgrade my OS, but couldn't because of lack of space on my computer. Jeez, those systems files have gotten huge. About a week ago. Also, I recently purchased a new monitor. I can't see how either of these would have caused this issue.

I can see the files when I access iCloud directly, and they are not marked there. However, they are marked when I access iCloud through the 'usual' way on my computer screen.

HELP!!!

Don

Mac mini, 11.5

Posted on Jan 29, 2022 7:59 AM

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Answer 1

Top-ranking reply

léonie

Level 10

202,245 points

Jan 29, 2022 11:24 AM in response to dboek

"This morning, folders on my Mac desktop were labeled "out of storage". But I have plenty of storage space on my iCloud account. I upgraded fairly recently."

Does the error message you are seeing refer to your iCloud storage or the local storage on your Mac?

As your Mac is clearly out of local storage, move large files and folders from your Mac to an external volume, so the system can again work reliable.

Moving files to iCloud Drive will only save storage on your Mac, if you have enabled the "Optimise Mac Storage" for iCloud. And it will take some time for the optimisation to take effect.

You could try to force the optimisation by selecting large files on iCloud Drive, ctrl-click them and use the command "Remove download". This will free the storage immediately.

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Answer 2

dboek Author

Level 1

8 points

Jan 29, 2022 3:38 PM in response to léonie

Thanks, Leonie. I agree with you, in the sense that I had already tried everything you suggested.

However, the problem appeared to be a hang up that occurred when I unsuccessfully tried to download the new version of the Mac operating system, dubbed "Monterey." I had been using "Big Sur." There was not enough space on my computer's hard disk to install, so I simply didn't, and kept working. However, my computer was having none of it. I noticed today while throwing away and relocating files that the Monterey installer was still on my computer's drive, but getting rid of it diid not solve the problem.

What did was installing Monterey. I had cleaned out so many files that there was space, so I was able to install this time.

How did I figure it out? Thanks to a helpful phone call with someone from Apple. I had to schedule in advance, but it was a fairly painless process with a tech who really knew her stuff, and was nice and patient as well.

Lessons? Well, I miscalculated in getting a small hard drive capacity on my Mac mini. I figured I could simply connect inexpensive external storage, very fast because of the USB C Thunderbolt ports. True - however you need enough to download new systems etc and there's memory involved as information is transferred and recorded. Lesson learned.

Also, I didn't at all like "out of space" messages when I just paid to upgrade my iCloud and have over 40 GB available (the files flagged 'out of space' ironically were text files of a few kb each, as in 4 or 5, but vital text!) However, Apple did come through, and I also appreciate your reply Leonie, thanks.

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Showing out of space message on Mac but there is plenty of iCloud space

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