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I'm trying to see what is taking up most of the storage on my MacBook

Hi. For the past few months I'm unable to see the list of items that is taking up most of the storage on my MacBook. It loads for hours but never loads the items. Please assist in resolving this.


MacBook Pro

M2

Memory 8GB

MacOS: Ventura 13.4

MacBook Pro 13″, macOS 12.0

Posted on Jun 20, 2023 4:19 AM

Reply
Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Posted on Jun 20, 2023 6:32 PM

Hi itsmemyles

Welcome to the Apple (user-to-user) Community.


Re: "I'm trying to see what is taking up most of the storage on my MacBook"


Seems your MacBook Pro has very little memory / storage space / free in which to operate smoothly.

(Generally, leaving about 50Gb free will allow for smooth operaton.)


Backing up everything on your Mac is always a good step to take, before deleting any files / freeing up space.


Re: "It loads for hours but never loads the items. Please assist in resolving this".


If you haven't already done so, try emptying the trash, and then restart your Mac (Apple menu >Restart). Then log back in & check if that freed up enough space to allow the process underway in your screenshot to complete.


Else: Apple support have articles online that may be helpful:

ie: Articles are for Monterey MacOS 12 (else choose Ventura at the top if you have updated your MacOS)


How to:

Back up your files with Time Machine on Mac - Apple Support


See used and available storage space on your Mac - Apple Support


Free up storage space on your Mac - Apple Support


Optimize storage space on your Mac - Apple Support


Connect and use other storage devices with Mac - Apple Support


More support if needed:

MacBook Pro - Official Apple Support


All the best :-)

5 replies
Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Jun 20, 2023 6:32 PM in response to itsmemyles

Hi itsmemyles

Welcome to the Apple (user-to-user) Community.


Re: "I'm trying to see what is taking up most of the storage on my MacBook"


Seems your MacBook Pro has very little memory / storage space / free in which to operate smoothly.

(Generally, leaving about 50Gb free will allow for smooth operaton.)


Backing up everything on your Mac is always a good step to take, before deleting any files / freeing up space.


Re: "It loads for hours but never loads the items. Please assist in resolving this".


If you haven't already done so, try emptying the trash, and then restart your Mac (Apple menu >Restart). Then log back in & check if that freed up enough space to allow the process underway in your screenshot to complete.


Else: Apple support have articles online that may be helpful:

ie: Articles are for Monterey MacOS 12 (else choose Ventura at the top if you have updated your MacOS)


How to:

Back up your files with Time Machine on Mac - Apple Support


See used and available storage space on your Mac - Apple Support


Free up storage space on your Mac - Apple Support


Optimize storage space on your Mac - Apple Support


Connect and use other storage devices with Mac - Apple Support


More support if needed:

MacBook Pro - Official Apple Support


All the best :-)

Jun 21, 2023 1:25 AM in response to itsmemyles

Well, at least we can certainly see the difference in storage! You have done well.


Re: Loading items:

Wondering if there is another memory-intensive task / app also in operation.

If you wish, you could check by opening the Activity monitor, to see what processes on your Mac are using memory.

(If there is no (square black) app icon in the dock ... look in Applications > Utilities)

View memory usage in Activity Monitor on Mac - Apple Support


You can also view what processes are in operation:

Eg: View information about Mac processes in Activity Monitor - Apple Support

I'm trying to see what is taking up most of the storage on my MacBook

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