On my Mac (2019) I have a 1TB SSD and a 1TB HDD. My SSD is nearly full and I would like to move some folders to the HDD but it won't let me - as in, if I try to drag and drop nothing happens. I have checked permissions for HDD and it says I have custom access. Bearing in mind I am not technically minded, can anyone help with an easy solution? Please bear in mind my newbie ignorance lol. Thanks to anyone who can help :)
Q - " On my Mac (2019) I have a 1TB SSD and a 1TB HDD."
A - A Mac from 2019 would probably be running Catalina macOS 10.15 and the Operating System resides in a Read Only Volume called " Macintosh HD". Files on that Volume can not be moved to another Drive or another location on the existing drive .
A - Only Files that are on the Macintosh HD-Data Volume ( User Account ) Home Folder can be moved.
A - Also, unclear the 1 TB HDD referenced in above is an External Drive ?
A - If so in what exact Drive Format is the External Drive " Apple can Read MS Windows formatted drive in the native Windows format NTFS but can not Write to that drive format.
A - From what exactly location is the user attempting to move files from ( Macintosh HD or Macintosh HD-Data )?
What format is the drive you are trying to write to?
This External Drive appears to be used as a Time Machine Backup Drive.
An External Drive used for for Time Machine Backup in Monterey macOS 12.5.1 is struck ( Rendered ) as a READ ONLY DRIVE and the user can not just Copy and Paste or for that matter Drag and Drop files onto it - period.
The above is by Apple Design and not an accident.
Empty Space - it is suggested to keep at least 15% to 20% of the Drive Total Capacity as Empty Space for good operations of the computer and for additional updates to Monterey to download, expand and install.
Rebuild the Spotlight index on your Mac
What is “Other” storage on a Mac, and how can I clean it out?
Free up storage space on your Mac
How to delete Time Machine snapshots on your Mac
See used and available storage space on your Mac
Locate backups of your iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch
Notation - If the user is using a cloning software like Carbon Copy Cloner - suggest tweaking the Safety Net Feature in this software. It may be making addition Snap Shots that are not being Cloned to the Eternal Drive. If this should be the case, these Snap Shot could be using additional space on the drive
The final word from Apple on Managing the " Other/ System Data “ Category
Other / System Data: Contains files that don’t fall into the categories listed here. This category primarily includes files and data used by the system, such as log files, caches, VM files, and other runtime system resources. Also included are temporary files, fonts, app support files, and plug-ins. You can't manage the contents of this category. The contents are managed by macOS, and the category varies in size depending on the current state of your Mac.
Suggestion - when posting images so not include the Serial Numbers of the computer as this is considered Identifiabel and Personal Information
You are welcome
Agree, another external drive will be needed for sure
Not sure if these screenshots answer your questions :(
Thanks for your help, much appreciated. Time to get an external drive I think...
Can't move files to my internal HDD
