Continuing Early 2019 iMac Space Issues

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Level 1

121 points

Continuing Early 2019 iMac Space Issues

I'm posting again about this, so that I can be a little more specific. Apple Created these Macs, and I guess wanted to save money (or make more money by selling cloud storage or requiring people to upgrade their computers), by only installing 256GB for storage on them. The idea was (I guess!) that everything other than the OS and a few odds and ends could be stored in the cloud. With the help of a 4TB external SSD drive, this has worked for me.

Now... I have only about 2-3GB left available on the MacHD, and things are starting to fail -- Time Machine won't work, my cloud based backup won't work, even Apple Mail is needing to quit because there's so little space.

Before you start telling me to offload my Photos, Music, and Videos, please look at the attachment below. I hardly have any of those kinds of files on my internal drive. While the Applications are the biggest space-eater, about 80% are Apple-based, most of which I use. The others take up hardly any space. There are some big Adobe apps, also which can't be moved off. I thought I'd move the entire Application folder to an external drive, but nope, that's a no-no.

Then I thought, per someone's suggestion I'd use an external drive as StartUp, and boot from there. After a day of downloading the latest OS, and trying to get files transferred, restarting from the boot drive brings me to a gray screen, which I was unable to fix without rebooting on the MacHD. And someone else said booting from an external drive is not advisable.

I'd love to sell this Mac and buy a newer one, with at least twice the space, but that's not in the cards financially for me right now. Between the System Data, the OS, and the Applications, I'm pretty maxed out.

So my questions are:

1) Anybody else having this problem? And were you able to solve it?

2) Why is my Mail app taking up almost 10GB of space? (I've deleted 10's of thousands of emails. the usage goes down and then it pops back up again.

3) What apps have you successfully been able to move to an external drive?

4) In general, how have folks managed their Mac space issues?

Thanks, in advance.

Posted on Mar 5, 2025 5:36 PM

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Answer 1

rkaufmann87

Level 10

148,470 points

Mar 5, 2025 5:55 PM in response to Buffsters

Please do the following ASAP.

It will help us get a good idea of what is causing your problem if you provide a report of your system, that way we do not have to play 20 questions with you. The report we are requesting does NOT provide any personal information and is extremely safe to use. Please navigate towww.Etrecheck.com and download the free version of EtreCheck. Once you have you downloaded the app and installed it, please run the report and save it. This report will help us get a good idea what has been installed on your system and help us be able to diagnose what may be wrong.

When you have your report, you can attach it when you reply to this message and we can then review it and help you determine what is needed to get your system running well again.

For instructions on how to download your EtreCheck report and attach it to your reply to this message please click How to use the Add Text Feature When Post… - Apple Community It is helpful to us if you download the report to your Desktop.

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Answer 2

rkaufmann87

Level 10

148,470 points

Mar 5, 2025 6:57 PM in response to Buffsters

Well the report doesn't show anything necessarily wrong with the computer. So that means it is time to get yourself an external SSD (a 1-2 TB model) and use that as your boot drive. Either that or replace the computer with a properly configured machine and instead of focusing on how much the machine costs focus on getting the correct configuration for your current needs and the foreseeable future.

To setup an external SSD follow the steps in How to setup an external SSD as your startup disk and the SSD I'd recommend is the https://eshop.macsales.com/shop/owc-envoy-pro-fx. Why this drive, OWC specializes in Macs and the thing is well tested, OWC only sells thoroughly tested and proven product, you won't find better quality available and the service OWC provides. I am not affiliated in any fashion with OWC, just a longtime and satisfied customer.

If you decide to move to another Mac, then I'd recommend the current Mac Mine M4 with 24GB of RAM (because it seems you use Adobe apps) and a 1 or 2 TB SSD. This will outperform your current machine and future proof you for yeas to come.

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Answer 3

tbirdvet

Level 6

17,090 points

Mar 6, 2025 10:18 AM in response to Buffsters

Just for the record I have a 2019 27" iMac and use an external drive to boot. I have zero issues. Using an external boot drive on Intel Mac is very easy and robust. I use WD NVME drive in a TB enclosure for speed and works great. Your email seems higher than it should be unless you have many attachments to those that are taking up storage.

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Answer 4

rkaufmann87

Level 10

148,470 points

Mar 6, 2025 1:13 PM in response to Buffsters

If you replace the computer just buy one with adequate storage and that will eliminate the need for an external drive to boot from it. For most people 16GB of RAM and 1 TB of storage handles most of their needs. For heavy users (photographers, videographers, artists, etc..) they may need more storage and RAM however for the typical home user that does some family photography, listens to music, has some movies, does e-mail, surfs the net) then 1 TB tends to be plenty of storage. For home users that have large libraries of photos, music and movies they can easily store these on external HD's and still have everyday access to them.

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Answer 5

Buffsters Author

Level 1

121 points

Mar 6, 2025 1:24 PM in response to rkaufmann87

Thank you! I will consider the 1TB. I was thinking the 512GB would be enough, given I store most everything I can on my 4TB external hard drive, and that's double what I have now. Should be enough I think, unless applications keep growing beyond the 512 capacity. I've found the 16GB RAM has been good enough, even using Adobe applications, which as you know are memory hogs.

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Answer 6

rkaufmann87

Level 10

148,470 points

Mar 6, 2025 2:00 PM in response to Buffsters

It is wise to over buy for future needs, your current library of apps is using almost 50% of your storage and that storage amount (115 GB) will grow, this is why I recommend getting a 1 TB machine. Yes, it is more money but a few years from now LONG after the money is set you will still be enjoying your machine. You have made a mistake 1x, maybe making the same mistake again is NOT smart.

The Mac I'd recommend is a the M4 Mac mini, the machine (16GB RAM and 1 TB SSD) is $999, factor in a nice display for $300 and for less than you probably paid for your old machine you will have a VERY substantial upgrade! You can use the iMacs keyboard and mouse so there is no expense there, you may need so adapters ($20 tops for some USB to USB C adapter) for your USB A & USB B devices and you should be set. You can still use your external HD too. To migrate from the old computer to the new one simply follow the steps in Writing an effective Apple Support Communities Question and you will be up and running within a couple of hours after the migration finishes.

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