System data taking 155gb on Sonoma macOS
Just updated to Sonoma on my iMac (M1 chip) and it is taking 159gb of System data!
How do I free up that much space?
iMac 24″, macOS 14.0
Just updated to Sonoma on my iMac (M1 chip) and it is taking 159gb of System data!
How do I free up that much space?
iMac 24″, macOS 14.0
System Data used to be called Other Category on earlier systems. The Other category is a potpourri of files which can include:
• System temporary files
• macOS system folders
• Archives and disk images (.zip, .iso, etc. - often found in the Downloads folder)
• Personal user data
• Files from the user’s library (Application Support, iCloud files, screensavers, etc.)
• Cache files: browser, Mail
• Mail messages & attachments
• Fonts, plugins, extensions
• Safari reading list
• iTunes backups
• Crud resulting from jailbreaking your iDevice
• Game data
• Saved data files
• Call history
• Notes
• Media
• Voice memos
• Other files that are not recognized by a Spotlight search
• Media files that cannot be classified by Spotlight as a media file because they are located inside of a package
• Files created and modified by other user accounts on your Mac.
They can be located anywhere on your hard drive.
The files that you have control over are located in the Documents, Downloads, Pictures, Music and Movies folders. You can use this free app, GrandPerspective, to find the largest files on your drive so you can determine if they can be deleted or moved to an external HD for storage.
Note: you can empty the Downloads folder after the apps and/or updates that were downloaded have been installed or applied. Some users have found a couple of Gigabytes of files in their Downloads folder which are no longer needed.
Also do this: boot into Safe Mode according to How to use safe mode on your Mac and test to see if the problem persists. Reboot normally and test again.
NOTE 1: Safe Mode boot can take up to 3 - 5 minutes as it's doing the following;
• Verifies your startup disk and attempts to repair directory issues, if needed
• Loads only required kernel extensions (prevents 3rd party kernel/extensions from loading)
• Prevents Startup Items and Login Items from opening automatically
• Disables user-installed fonts
• Deletes font caches, kernel cache, and other system cache files
NOTE 2: if you have a wireless keyboard with rechargeable batteries connect it with its charging cable before booting into Safe Mode. This makes it act as a wired keyboard as will insure a successful boot into Safe Mode.
System Data used to be called Other Category on earlier systems. The Other category is a potpourri of files which can include:
• System temporary files
• macOS system folders
• Archives and disk images (.zip, .iso, etc. - often found in the Downloads folder)
• Personal user data
• Files from the user’s library (Application Support, iCloud files, screensavers, etc.)
• Cache files: browser, Mail
• Mail messages & attachments
• Fonts, plugins, extensions
• Safari reading list
• iTunes backups
• Crud resulting from jailbreaking your iDevice
• Game data
• Saved data files
• Call history
• Notes
• Media
• Voice memos
• Other files that are not recognized by a Spotlight search
• Media files that cannot be classified by Spotlight as a media file because they are located inside of a package
• Files created and modified by other user accounts on your Mac.
They can be located anywhere on your hard drive.
The files that you have control over are located in the Documents, Downloads, Pictures, Music and Movies folders. You can use this free app, GrandPerspective, to find the largest files on your drive so you can determine if they can be deleted or moved to an external HD for storage.
Note: you can empty the Downloads folder after the apps and/or updates that were downloaded have been installed or applied. Some users have found a couple of Gigabytes of files in their Downloads folder which are no longer needed.
Also do this: boot into Safe Mode according to How to use safe mode on your Mac and test to see if the problem persists. Reboot normally and test again.
NOTE 1: Safe Mode boot can take up to 3 - 5 minutes as it's doing the following;
• Verifies your startup disk and attempts to repair directory issues, if needed
• Loads only required kernel extensions (prevents 3rd party kernel/extensions from loading)
• Prevents Startup Items and Login Items from opening automatically
• Disables user-installed fonts
• Deletes font caches, kernel cache, and other system cache files
NOTE 2: if you have a wireless keyboard with rechargeable batteries connect it with its charging cable before booting into Safe Mode. This makes it act as a wired keyboard as will insure a successful boot into Safe Mode.
Ondashek,
CMM is considered malware by most experienced users. It does absolutely nothing to enhance Mac OS and does nothing that Mac OS cannot already do. I (and many other experienced users) recommend locating CMM's uninstall instructions and following them to the letter.
Only download third party:
if you want to have a slow, unstable and feature rich (in a bad way) experience with Mac OS.
I had to be pretty brutal with my iCloud Drive and pare storage shared on my MacMini given space available. Most was detached from iCloud sharing so almost nothing is shared to local storage. I just download as necessary, manually and manually upload. As a result, do not get shared using space any more.
Hope this is a clue so you'll be able to implement what settings you prefer. Use of iCloud in this manner is a bit tricky. My space is now pretty stable. The Mini balks badly in Sonoma when at free space below 90GB, FYI.
Are you using iCloud Drive?
In Finder>Go Menu>Go to Folder, paste this in & pres Enter...
./Library/Application Support/CloudDocs/session/
What do you see in there???
What size is that folder?
Disk Cleaner is unnecessary and Parallels "Free Memory" I am not familiar with. However after reading up on it a bit if you are using Parallels to run Windows on you Mac just leave it. However if you are not then uninstall.
What I believe you need to do is to move large libraries such as photos, music and movies onto an external HD. Then re-index Spotlight. Don't be concerned so much about how much is showing on that graphic. It is designed to only be a rough guide and not a "this has to be exact" item.
my system data above 180Gb on sonoma Mac OS. out of 256 gb 180gb is occupying for system data and 20 gb is for Mac OS .
Mine using 760GB System Data.
According to your graphic Mac OS is taking 18GB
Do you regularly shutdown your iMac or do you leave it running all the time. Regular restarts are good for housekeeping.
I am having the same issue. System data taking slightly over 120GB... eager to get a fix
Thank you. What is surprising is that it was "clean" before updating which makes me think it's related to the upgrade to Sonoma
The upgrade just got the Storage regenerated and that's why it's showing up now. It's been mentioned in Ventura and Monterey.
Neither restart into SafeBoot nor deleting Caches helped!!!
Try Downloading CleanMyMac, It has shown all of the files taking up that space, for me it was all in "recently relocated" folder, so maybe you will have the exact same problem.
System data taking 155gb on Sonoma macOS