How much free space should I leave on a 2TB SSD (MPB M1) to maintain the drive? I have now 137 GB free.
(Was looking for a thread but could not find this information; I am sure it is often asked.)
tx
MacBook Pro 14″, macOS 15.3
I understand that a generally accepted rule of thumb for available free space on the startup drive is a minimum of 10%-15% of its total capacity at all times.
At the very least I'd say a minimum of 100GB is as close as I'd ever like to be to having full drive. A startup drive that becomes too full can prevent a Mac from booting. Why take chances?
"How much free space should I leave on a 2TB SSD (MPB M1) to maintain the drive? I have now 137 GB free. (Was looking for a thread but could not find this information; I am sure it is often asked.) tx"
-------
Space to Save:
IMO: How much to storage space to save ultimately depends on the size of your hard drive. For a 128GB hard drive, I'd keep 40GB free, whereas for a 2TB hard drive, I'd keep 100-200GB free.
Your Music library can easily be housed on an external drive. It's really just a matter of copying the current media folder – Home > Music > iTunes > iTunes Media – to a new location on the external drive and then, within the Music app, define the new location of that media folder in Music > Settings... > Files > Music Media folder location.
Also enable "Copy files to Music Media folder when adding to library" so any music you add will also be copied to the external drive.
Once the media folder has been moved and the Music app told where to find it, the Music app will continue to perform just as it always has. Music that you add to your library will be copied to the new location and accessed from that location on the external drive.
How much storage that saves on your internal drive depends on the size of your library.
Please also see: Change where your music files are stored on Mac - Apple Support
And: How to move the Music folder on Mac to ex… - Apple Community
Thanks. It looks like I am getting close to the cutoff point. I wonder how others manage these kinds of things. I have a lot of music files on my internal drive (860 GB). I also have multiple backups in various media (cloud, external disks) with redundancies. What I have never had to do before is move files off of my primary machine to make room for my work files.
It's so much easier to store everything in one place and to treat it as the 'master' from which all copies and backups spring. If I were to move my music to an external drive, I would need to keep track of which disk is the master and which ones are the "children" (copies). It just adds a layer of complexity and creates possibilities for confusion down the road when I, say, want to add more music files to the backup chain.
I don't want to get into NAS or RAIDS. Life's too short, I'm not that skilled in tech, and I prefer simplicity. But I also realize that when I replace my M1 machine in half a year to a year from now, getting a 4TB machine would be serious overkill. If it weren't for the music files I could easily live with 2TB and have plenty of room to grow. A 3TB machine would be perfect. But that seems not to be on the menu at Apple.
"How much free space should I leave on a 2TB SSD (MPB M1)?: [...]If I were to move my music to an external drive, I would need to keep track of which disk is the master and which ones are the "children" (copies). It just adds a layer of complexity and creates possibilities for confusion down the road when I, say, want to add more music files to the backup chain.[...]"
-------
You are welcome.
Sharing Music with Others:
If you have an Apple Music Subscription, you can share this across your devices with others. With a Music Subscription, you have to pay on a monthly basis. Point is is, you upload it all to iCloud, and then let other access it across their own Apple Account. That seems the best route to take: Share Apple and App Store Subscriptions with Family Members on iPhone - Apple Support
Thanks. The music library for the Music app is smaller (285GB) and it will continue to live on my internal drive. The other folder consists in my "masters" (flac files or aiff files) from which I generate playable music. It's really just a matter of expediency, keeping it all under one roof. But that may no longer be possible given my shrinking free space.
<< It's so much easier to store everything in one place and to treat it as the 'master' from which all copies and backups spring. >>
if using Time Machine, it backs up your entire computer, including every attached drive that is in any Mac format (Time machine can't back up Windows New Technology File System (NTFS) drives, so when you get a new drive, be sure to Erase the DEVICE by choosing its immutable manufacturer-given device-name.)
Also, you can't save space if you copy your music to a second drive, but fail to Delete it from the original drive. So when moved to a new drive, its in One place.
<< "so when you get a new drive": ie, new machine? >>
No. We were talking about possibly adding a new external drive. External drives Often come formatted as NTFS.
If you are gullible enough to use the drive-maker's utilities, they can simulate a Mac Volume inside a Windows NTFS File. That can NOT be backed up properly,
So be sure you erase your NEW external drive, and erase not just a Mac Volume, with a user-friendly name Like "Macintosh HD", but the ENTIRE Physical DEVICE with catchy names like "WD800HLFS-75G6U1 Media".
Oh, I see. I always erase new external drives and format them for APFS, and give them nicknames that I can then use to label them on the outside surface (like SD 1 or 2). You're right, it does make identifying them easier when using CCC or some other software for copying/backing up files. thanks.
I should have written MBP.
Thanks.
"every attached drive that is in any Mac format" (unless you exclude it, I assume)
"so when you get a new drive": ie, new machine?
Appreciate the tips.
How much free space should I leave on a 2TB SSD (MPB M1)?
