I've scanned and it's the same result, 9/10s of my hard drive is being used up by system files. This can't be right. This lovely Powerbook is next to useless as I can't save anything. I just want to know how to get the system files down to a sensible proportion of the disk space.
MacBook Pro 13″, macOS 14.6
CarlBennett wrote:
Thank-you all for your suggestions, but each one of them totally misses the point. My hard drive is 250Gb. My Documents are 2.5Gb. That is the largest thing I have created. The System Data files are taking up 167Gb. In other words, more than HALF the total hard drive is being taken up by files I did not create and cannot get rid of.
This is totally and utterly ridiculous.
maybe it is Time Machine local snapshots(?)
View APFS snapshots in Disk Utility on Mac
About Time Machine local snapshots
Try something like OmniDiskSweeper for a GUI to get a good look at itemized file size and location:
OmniDiskSweeper http://www.omnigroup.com/more
CarlBennett wrote:
Thank-you all for your suggestions, but each one of them totally misses the point. My hard drive is 250Gb. My Documents are 2.5Gb. That is the largest thing I have created. The System Data files are taking up 167Gb. In other words, more than HALF the total hard drive is being taken up by files I did not create and cannot get rid of.
This is totally and utterly ridiculous.
maybe it is Time Machine local snapshots(?)
View APFS snapshots in Disk Utility on Mac
About Time Machine local snapshots
Try something like OmniDiskSweeper for a GUI to get a good look at itemized file size and location:
OmniDiskSweeper http://www.omnigroup.com/more
This user tip suggests several free apps that can help you find really big files and decide what to do with them. They generally require Admin access, and take a quarter hour or so to get your report.
What is "Other"; storage on a … - Apple Community
.
If you follow the suggestions above and still have insufficient space, then the solution is to purchase and install an external disk for storage. (For storage, a lower cost mechanical disk should do.) It is easily connected with a vendor provided USB cable. Use Disk Utility to format the disk. Do NOT use any vendor provided maintenance app. They will cause problems. Then you can copy files from the HD to the new disk and then delete them from the HD to clear needed storage. Easy to do and problem solved.
CarlBennett wrote:
My Powerbook has 171Gb of system files on it and I have no space to do anything. How do I fix this? It's ridiculous
I've scanned and it's the same result, 9/10s of my hard drive is being used up by system files. This can't be right. This lovely Powerbook is next to useless as I can't save anything. I just want to know how to get the system files down to a sensible proportion of the disk space.
Powerbook? There are 25 models of Powerbooks that last one manufactured was 1998
for storage issue do some general housecleaning, which includes emptying the trashcan.
How to free up storage space on your Mac - Apple Support
Free up storage space on your Mac - Apple Support
While your frustration is understandable, you aren't really providing much information that the people here can use to help you - for example, you are on a 13" MBP running Sonoma according to your profile tag, so the likelihood that the cryptographic sealed System volume that is mounted at /System has ballooned to a ridiculous size is...well kind of ridiculous. Files in /Library, including un-emptied trash and snapshots...maybe...but most of the people are shooting in the dark trying to give you things to try.
You say you've scanned the drive and 9/10 are "system files"...cool...scanned with what? What directories or mount points are these files in and what are the largest files? This is the sort of info that would help the community try to narrow down on your problem and how it might be addressed.
If they are missing the point, it's partially because you are obfuscating the point from them.
The usual suspects are non-Apple "anti-virus" / "cleaning" products and related scams. Might that be a factor?
Thank-you all for your suggestions, but each one of them totally misses the point. My hard drive is 250Gb. My Documents are 2.5Gb. That is the largest thing I have created. The System Data files are taking up 167Gb. In other words, more than HALF the total hard drive is being taken up by files I did not create and cannot get rid of.
This is totally and utterly ridiculous.
My Powerbook has 171Gb of system files on it and I have no space to do anything. How do I fix this? It's ridiculous
