How can I reclaim 80.9 GB of unusable storage on Mac?

Hello. My Mac has been struggling with storage, and whenever I look at the storage in settings, it never finishes calculating around 80.9 GB, even when I leave it for hours. I suspect it might be because a couple of years ago, in order to back up my photos from my phone, I went and imported them into the photos app on my Mac, and then copied the photos library from my Mac with the imported photos directly to my flash drive (I copied the photos library file itself directly from my mac, and then deleted it off my mac when it was done copying. I didn't export the photos.). Would this be the cause of the issue? How can I resolve this issue and get the 80.9 GB of space back? (which would be very valuable space for me as my Mac has 256 GB of storage)


Thank you!

MacBook Air 13″, macOS 26.2

Posted on Dec 23, 2025 9:15 AM

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2 replies

Dec 23, 2025 9:55 AM in response to Meme_Lord387

You're fighting a losing battle, my friend. You'll be playing 'whack-a-mole' until you replace that Mac.

The cause of the issue is simply that your startup disk is much too short on capacity. While 256 GB may be fine for an iPhone or iPad, it is not suitable for any computer.


About the only thing you can do is start over by completely wiping the drive and reinstalling a fresh copy of macOS.

Even then, your gain probably won't last.


There simply is no other reliable way to reclaim an appreciable amount of storage space on a drive that small.

Dec 24, 2025 2:25 AM in response to Meme_Lord387

Just to build on what @ D.I. Johnson has rightfully outlined


According to your image presented


The Internal Drive has a Capacity that is almost full


The computer is too busy trying to find Empty Space to save changes that are being made


Reducing System/Volume/Data is a common question. 


1 -  System data taking too much in MacOS Sono… - Apple Community


2 - Time Machine Local Snapshot won't delete - Apple Community


3 - Over 60% storage blocked by System Data - Apple Community


How to free up ‘System Data’ and other storage on your Mac from a fellow colleague  @ neuroanatomist


Use another application to see where space is being used  Storeograph  on the Apple Apps Store 


Suggest getting an External SSD Drive and start moving your Pictures, Videos, Music, Messages and any other large files you have control over, OFF the Internal drive and Onto the External


Understanding iCloud Drive from a well written User Tip from @ Richard.Taylor


There are  two effective ways to remedy this issue:


1. Quick Fix Action as previous mentioned by @ D. I. Johnson


For Apple Silicon computers, use Disk Utility to erase a Mac.


For Apple Intel computers, use Disk Utility to erase an Intel-based Mac, then reinstall macOS.


Always make a Time Machine backup before proceeding.


Migrate only the user account, not the entire system.


Reinstall only the necessary applications from the Apple App Store or directly from the developers.


2 - Generally


When the user discovers this issue,


it’s likely because the computer’s internal drive capacity is small, such as 256 GB


Unfortunately, the user’s storage needs may have increased since the computer was purchased.


To future-proof the computer, consider spending extra money upfront on a larger drive capacity and adding more unified RAM.


Note - On Apple Silicon and newer computers.


The SSD Drive and the Unified RAM are Soldered to the Logicboard and can not be upgraded.


How can I reclaim 80.9 GB of unusable storage on Mac?

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