IMac internal drive shows only about 10% space left. In checking the files and folders in the drive by using the “get info” on the iMac for each file and folder on the drive, I can’t find any large file or folder. The individual folders do not add up to anything close to the total shown for the drive. Where is the large difference that I can delete to get the drive at a safe capacity?
Mac Pro, OS X 10.11
Hi Adam, a few things to check...
Have you emptied the trash lately?
Look for iOS backups…
/Users/YourUserName/Library/Application Support/MobileSync/Backup
Purging local backups
Please note that although this doesn't affect your remote backup from Time Machine, this will get rid of the redundancy (at least until the next Time Machine backup) that a local backup disk will provide. If you need such redundancy or are worried about the recovery of your data then you would be best served to let macOS determine when to purge these files.
Start Terminal from spotlight.
At the terminal type tmutil listlocalsnapshotdates
Hit enter.
Here, you'll now see a list of all of the locally stored Time Machine backup snapshots stored on your disk.
Next you can remove the snapshots based on their date. I prefer to delete them one at at time. Once my "System" disk usage is at an acceptable level, I stop deleting but you can delete all of them if you want to reclaim all of the disk space.
Back at the terminal, type tmutil deletelocalsnapshots YYYY-MM-DD-HHMMSS , where will be one of the dates from your backup. This will be in the form of xxx-yy-zz-abcdef. Try to start with the oldest snapshot.
Hit enter.
Repeat for as many snapshot dates as required
http://www.thagomizer.com/blog/2018/03/27/cleaning-up-time-machine-local-snapshots.html
tmutil deletelocalsnapshots / # deletes all the snapshots
Thanks to BobHarris file sizes, Applications -> Utilities -> Terminal:...
sudo du -hx | sort -h
sudo will prompt for admin password but not reflect what you type, so hit enter after carefully tying the PW. :)
Hi Adam, a few things to check...
Have you emptied the trash lately?
Look for iOS backups…
/Users/YourUserName/Library/Application Support/MobileSync/Backup
Purging local backups
Please note that although this doesn't affect your remote backup from Time Machine, this will get rid of the redundancy (at least until the next Time Machine backup) that a local backup disk will provide. If you need such redundancy or are worried about the recovery of your data then you would be best served to let macOS determine when to purge these files.
Start Terminal from spotlight.
At the terminal type tmutil listlocalsnapshotdates
Hit enter.
Here, you'll now see a list of all of the locally stored Time Machine backup snapshots stored on your disk.
Next you can remove the snapshots based on their date. I prefer to delete them one at at time. Once my "System" disk usage is at an acceptable level, I stop deleting but you can delete all of them if you want to reclaim all of the disk space.
Back at the terminal, type tmutil deletelocalsnapshots YYYY-MM-DD-HHMMSS , where will be one of the dates from your backup. This will be in the form of xxx-yy-zz-abcdef. Try to start with the oldest snapshot.
Hit enter.
Repeat for as many snapshot dates as required
http://www.thagomizer.com/blog/2018/03/27/cleaning-up-time-machine-local-snapshots.html
tmutil deletelocalsnapshots / # deletes all the snapshots
Thanks to BobHarris file sizes, Applications -> Utilities -> Terminal:...
sudo du -hx | sort -h
sudo will prompt for admin password but not reflect what you type, so hit enter after carefully tying the PW. :)
I also suggest looking at snapshots, if you use or have had a problem with Time Machine.
see > View APFS snapshots in Disk Utility on Mac - Apple Support
As well as den.thed's sound advice...
Try the Applications -> Utilities -> Terminal:...
sudo du -hx | sort -h
BDAqua wrote:
As well as den.thed's sound advice...
Try the Applications -> Utilities -> Terminal:...
sudo du -hx | sort -h
Hi BDAqua, I upvoted you first replay. Like me, I'm guessing that the OP is not a terminal user.
I use Disk Utility to routinely check for local snapshots on my boot drive:
As the screen shot shows I hadn't done it in a long time so cleared out quite a bit of real estate. I usually remove all by the last one created.
Eliminating snapshots reduced data in drive a substantial amount!
Yes, I have emptied the trash.
I also have used Daisy Disk app which shows almost half of my internal disk is “still hidden” and app says it can’t locate. Is there a way to locate and delete to free up 493 GB which is the amount of hidden data?
You're welcome.
You may be correct, but I think this command is pretty safe & quick. :)
Internal iMac Drive is Near Capacity
