I am running Sequoia 15.6.1, using System Settings, it says I have 955.06 gb of 4 TB used, but on Disk Utility it says I have 3.04 TB available with 2.71 TB purageable, the bar on top says I have 331.02 GB available, how do i get rid of the purgeable from the drive. I have tried several suggestions in the community, but to no avail. Thank you.
[Edited by Moderator]
Original Title: Purgeable Storage
Mac Studio
is it Sequoia? Because on macOS Sequoia you don’t really “delete” purgeable space manually, it’s storage macOS flags as safe to clear when apps or the system actually need it.
That’s why Disk Utility shows more space available than the System Settings view. The only time purgeable data hangs around is if macOS thinks it might still be useful (like local Time Machine snapshots, cached iCloud files, or temp data). If you want to force it to shrink, the cleanest ways are: connect your Time Machine disk so local snapshots get flushed, move a large file temporarily onto the drive and then delete it (this triggers macOS to free purgeable space), or use tmutil listlocalsnapshots / in Terminal to check and prune old ones.
But unless you’re hitting real “disk full” errors, it’s best to leave purgeable space alone, macOS manages it automatically and it’ll clear the moment you need that storage.
is it Sequoia? Because on macOS Sequoia you don’t really “delete” purgeable space manually, it’s storage macOS flags as safe to clear when apps or the system actually need it.
That’s why Disk Utility shows more space available than the System Settings view. The only time purgeable data hangs around is if macOS thinks it might still be useful (like local Time Machine snapshots, cached iCloud files, or temp data). If you want to force it to shrink, the cleanest ways are: connect your Time Machine disk so local snapshots get flushed, move a large file temporarily onto the drive and then delete it (this triggers macOS to free purgeable space), or use tmutil listlocalsnapshots / in Terminal to check and prune old ones.
But unless you’re hitting real “disk full” errors, it’s best to leave purgeable space alone, macOS manages it automatically and it’ll clear the moment you need that storage.
You don't, the Operating System will move a portion of the Purgeable Space to Empty Space when I deems it necessary
From another contributor @etresoft regarding Free Space and Available Space
Free vs available disk space huge differe… - Apple Community
Quote >> “ The "available" storage is the amount of used storage that the operating system could automatically delete if it felt that it was really necessary. The "free" storage is the amount that you can actually use for something.
There are system processes that run in the background and automatically delete some of the "available" storage and convert it to "free". If you completely run out of storage, then those system processes will try a little harder. When you "delete" files you are just hinting to the operating system that you don't need those files anymore. The operating system will eventually remove them, but on its own schedule.
Certain tools will allow you to force the issue and manually clean up some of this storage and manually delete local snapshots. But that is only temporary. " << End Quote
How do I get rid of the purgeable from the drive on Mac?
