Apps not starting/Freezing - No space left on device

I have 258 GB left of 1.03 GB yet am having issues with apps not starting but when I start by showing package details I get messages like this:

/System/Applications/Messages.app/Contents/MacOS/Messages ; exit;

stu@iMac ~ % /System/Applications/Messages.app/Contents/MacOS/Messages ; exit;

zsh: killed /System/Applications/Messages.app/Contents/MacOS/Messages

zsh: failed to write history file /Users/stu/.zsh_sessions/99FC20D7-1C57-4A17-B3A9-BCACAB809E00.historynew: no space left on device

Saving session...shell_session_save:echo:4: write error: no space left on device

...copying shared history...cp: /Users/stu/.zsh_sessions/99FC20D7-1C57-4A17-B3A9-BCACAB809E00.history: fcopyfile failed: No space left on device

...saving history...truncating history files...shell_session_save_history:21: failed to write history file /Users/stu/.zsh_history.new: no space left on device

I also had Google Drive telling me I am almost out of local storage but as you can see have at least 25% free.

Any ideas please?

Thanks

iMac 27″, macOS 14.6

Posted on Aug 16, 2024 8:15 AM

Top-ranking reply

etresoft

Level 9

57,554 points

Posted on Aug 16, 2024 5:26 PM

Stuart_Storm_Chaser wrote:

I have 258 GB left of 1.03 GB

I assume you mean 1.03 TB. You have and iMac with a Fusion Drive, right?

you can see have at least 25% free.

No. Your hard drive is full.

The system is often misleading about storage. It is reporting 258 GB of "available" storage, not "free" storage. Your "free" storage is zero.

After a day or so, the system may be able to purge some of that 258 GB and this will repeat in 3-7 days, and every 3-7 days henceforth. You'll need to identify what is taking up all of your storage and delete some files. I recommend keeping 100-200 GB of truly "free" storage at all times. That seems to be the "sweet spot".

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17 replies

Aug 23, 2024 10:16 AM in response to etresoft

So from my original posts where the disk utility is saying Available. 263.89 GB (9.04 GB Purgeable) it WAS saying

Available 269.48 GB (250 GB purgeable).

Mac About under storage it was saying 269 GB Available.

My own checks of the data I had used (including Apps) came to 676 GB. You are very confidently asserting I was using "every last byte". Well in that case you'd be able to advise how I could determine what that was - or at the very least several hundred GB I simply couldn't account for.

Aug 18, 2024 1:37 PM in response to Owl-53

Whilst I appreciate you taking the trouble to respond I wonder if you appreciate that you’ve actually been zero help in resolving my problem?

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Apps not starting/Freezing - No space left on device