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npmccoy Author

Level 1

5 points

Why will my Mac laptop not update when I have plenty of available storage?

Hello.

I have 124 GB of free disk space on my MacBook Air, but every time I try to upgrade to Monterey it tells me I don't have enough free storage. The update only requires 16.9 GB. How do I correct this issue?

Thank you.

MacBook Air 13″, macOS 11.4

Posted on Jan 19, 2023 4:39 AM

Top-ranking reply

WheelieNick

Level 8

40,371 points

Posted on Jan 19, 2023 5:18 AM

Try and boot the Mac in the safe mode, to see if you can do the Monterey upgrade from there

For an intel Mac the way to boot in the safe mode will be

Turn on or restart your Mac, then immediately press and hold the Shift key until you see the login window.
Log in to your Mac.
You might be asked to log in again.
On either the first or second login window, you should see “Safe Boot” in the menu bar.

When the Mac is booted in the safe mode, go to system preferences>software update and try to perform the update

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Why will my Mac laptop not update when I have plenty of available storage?

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