The SSD capacity is 126GB, 35 GBs is in documents / apps / email. MacOS is less than 15.5 GB.
System Data shows at 46.22 GBs!
At any given point, the available space is less than 30 GBs. How to remove a portion of the System Data head, if not all? Please help. Surely entire 45+ GBs should not be so important to be residing in the SSD perpetually.
MacBook Air 13″, macOS 12.6
Ronasara wrote:
Unless you seriously want to disable your Mac, you don't want to mess with system data. In fact, it cannot be done since it is write protected by Apple.
I think you might be confusing "System Data" with macOS's actual system files.
In System Settings -> General -> Storage in macOS Ventura and later, or in Apple menu -> About This Mac on macOS Monterey and earlier, macOS classifies its critical system files as "macOS" or "System". It classifies miscellaneous data as "System Data" in macOS Monterey and later, or "Other" in macOS Big Sur and earlier.
"macOS" or "System" files are indeed critical and write-protected by Apple since OS X El Capitan, using System Integrity Protection. In macOS Big Sur and later, they are locked into a sealed snapshot of the system volume, which is inherently read-only.
"Other" or "System Data" refers to data that doesn't fall into user-friendly categories (Photos, Apps, Messages, etc). This usually refers to internal app data, such as a user's emails stored in Outlook for Mac, or save files/data for games. neuroanatomist wrote an excellent user tip on how to identify this data and reduce it: What is “Other” storage on a Mac, and how… - Apple Community
Ronasara wrote:
Unless you seriously want to disable your Mac, you don't want to mess with system data. In fact, it cannot be done since it is write protected by Apple.
I think you might be confusing "System Data" with macOS's actual system files.
In System Settings -> General -> Storage in macOS Ventura and later, or in Apple menu -> About This Mac on macOS Monterey and earlier, macOS classifies its critical system files as "macOS" or "System". It classifies miscellaneous data as "System Data" in macOS Monterey and later, or "Other" in macOS Big Sur and earlier.
"macOS" or "System" files are indeed critical and write-protected by Apple since OS X El Capitan, using System Integrity Protection. In macOS Big Sur and later, they are locked into a sealed snapshot of the system volume, which is inherently read-only.
"Other" or "System Data" refers to data that doesn't fall into user-friendly categories (Photos, Apps, Messages, etc). This usually refers to internal app data, such as a user's emails stored in Outlook for Mac, or save files/data for games. neuroanatomist wrote an excellent user tip on how to identify this data and reduce it: What is “Other” storage on a Mac, and how… - Apple Community
Unless you seriously want to disable your Mac, you don't want to mess with system data. In fact, it cannot be done since it is write protected by Apple.
How to clear System Data from the SSD? MBA 2017
