MacBook Pro System Data storage suddenly high

tekla163 wrote:

At one point, the storage overview showed that Keynote was using 100 GB; after deleting the app, that space shifted back into System Data. I can’t figure out what’s actually taking up the space.

Doesn't it seem obvious? What you deleted is now "system data". After a day or so, the "deleted" daemon will run and actually delete the local snapshot that holds that deleted Keynote data.

What could be causing this, and what’s the best way to solve it? Would it make sense to take the laptop to an Apple Store?

The Apple Store would certainly fix it. They'll erase the hard drive and install whatever the latest version of macOS happens to be. Hopefully all your software works with it.

What you want to do is try to keep 100 GB of free storage. Most likely you didn't have 300 GB of free storage. Apple prefers to report something called "available" storage, which is something different. You can see the actual free storage amount in Disk Utility. But in most other places, you'll see "available", which is totally meaningless.

tekla163 wrote:

Hello,

I’m using a MacBook Pro (M3, 18 GB memory). Until about a week ago, I had over 300 GB of free storage. After working in Adobe Premiere and importing exported videos into Keynote and PowerPoint, my System Data suddenly jumped to around 350 GB (it fluctuates up and down).

At one point, the storage overview showed that Keynote was using 100 GB; after deleting the app, that space shifted back into System Data. I can’t figure out what’s actually taking up the space.

What could be causing this, and what’s the best way to solve it? Would it make sense to take the laptop to an Apple Store?

Thanks,

Tekla

Look at your Free Storage in Disk Utility:

ref: etresoft post—Reported storage incorrect; Mac thinks I have purgeable space that isn't

Reported storage incorrect; Mac thinks I … - Apple Community