"There is not enough disk space available to install the product" error message on Apple Store

Question

Level 1

4 points

"There is not enough disk space available to install the product" error message on Apple Store

Hello all,

I am trying to install a 16GB App from the App Store. I have managed to free 65GB but, still, upon trying to purchase it, I receive the error message "There is not enough disk space available to install the product".

I have seen in previous threads that we should free about 3 times the size of the software for the actual install to occur. I am well beyond that specific margin.

My main problem is that I have a 120GB disk, 50GB of which are taken by System files and about 10GB by some softwares I really want to keep.

Would there be any other reason why I receive this error?

Many thanks for your any help anyone could provide.

Fabien

MacBook Air 11″, macOS 10.14

Posted on Aug 1, 2022 8:19 AM

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Answer 1

FabienP09 Author

Level 1

4 points

Aug 2, 2022 1:57 AM in response to FabienP09

I have now managed to purge most of the space (about 24GB out of 29GB) by using the terminal-based method described in this link .

This has led to an agreed available space between the two methods which is about 58GB. This has enabled the purchase and download to proceed.

Thank you all for your answers

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Answer 2

Ronasara

Level 6

15,519 points

Aug 1, 2022 8:50 AM in response to FabienP09

The way to stop the error message is to free up sufficient space on your HD. The easiest solution would be to purchase and install an external drive. Then you can transfer files onto it which may then be deleted from your HD. Problem solved.

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Answer 3

FabienP09 Author

Level 1

4 points

Aug 1, 2022 1:18 PM in response to Ronasara

Thank you. That would be my very last resort.

I am trying to understand why I "don't have enough space on my HD" when my HD has 4 times more free space than the software size.

What kind of underlying logic makes such an error message "normal" in this context?

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Answer 4

FabienP09 Author

Level 1

4 points

Aug 2, 2022 12:06 AM in response to FabienP09

A quick update. upon running Disk Utility I can see a huge difference in free space estimation. Finder tells me there is almost 66GB free and I have now added some small 8GB external drive for support as per suggested by Ronasara

Disk Utility on the other hand tells me that I have a mere 36GB free

Is this strong discrepancy symptomatic of some weird mishandling on my part of the files or is it normal? I have also run First Aid from Disk Utility and it did not return anything (not sure what it was supposed to return anyway but it did not seem to be alarmed by anything).

Disk Utility says that there are 29GB of space which is "purgeable". What does this mean?

Many thanks.

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