Delete OS Update Installer

BioRich wrote:

Hi folks.

I updated Sequoia and it took up >20 GB for some reason. I can't find the installer and I need the space. How can I get this deleted? I've viewed my drive by list, sorted by size declining, and still can't find it.

Any insight appreciated. Cheers

After the install — the installer self deletes.

~/Applications/ "Install macOS Sequoia.app"

The full installer is macOS Sequoia, Version: 15.1, Size: 14.2 GB

Look some where else for your 20GB— I would try simply shutting down and rebooting the machine more than once.

if in doubt—

How to free up storage space on your Mac - Apple Support

Free up storage space on Mac - Apple Support

Try something like OmniDiskSweeper for a GUI to get a good look at itemized file size and location:

OmniDiskSweeper http://www.omnigroup.com/more

From Diskutility —

It may be even tighter than you think since the "Available" storage value is very misleading, but for some reason Apple decided to display this value every where. You need to look at the actual Free space value shown in Disk Utility. You should always have at least 20GB+ of Free storage space at all times for the normal operation of macOS.....you may need to have even more depending on the workloads since that 20GB disappears very quickly.

If you completely run out of Free space on an APFS volume, then you may not even be able to delete anything to make more room due to how the APFS file system works & how Apple has implemented it.

You can use OmniDiskSweeper to locate the largest files & folders, but even this type of app is unable to see some areas of the drive (even within your own home user folder) due to all the recent privacy & security features, but it should allow you to see stuff that you should be able to delete within your home user folder(s).

With an APFS volume the data you have deleted may still reside in hidden APFS backup snapshots for some time until the backup app automatically deletes the snapshots.

View APFS snapshots in Disk Utility on Mac - Apple Support

I hope you have frequent & regular backups since there are a lot more new ways to lose access to data stored on the internal SSD of the recent Macs due to all the hardware, software, and security changes. Completely running out of Free storage space is one of those things.