macOS Storage: Large Files empty in System Settings?

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Level 7

24,284 points

macOS Storage: Large Files empty in System Settings?

Over the past few versions of macOS the method of displaying every file on the computer, starting with the largest has changed.

When I select System Settings/General/Storage and click on the "I" for a particular category I get no files listed under "Large Files".

I have to select "File Browser" to show every file in descending order.

Why is the Large Files column empty? Does it only display files over let's say 50GB?

Is this normal or could the fact I am booting from an external NVMe be causing it?

Mac mini

Posted on Jan 26, 2026 1:35 AM

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Answer 1

Ian R. Brown Author

Level 7

24,284 points

Jan 26, 2026 3:42 AM in response to Zurarczurx

Thanks but there is no problem.

I have studied Spotlight for over 2 years since it started writing up to 100GB daily and followed the info on the forums but decided that it's simpler to just disable Spotlight as I have no real use for it.

My post was just to satisfy my curiosity about the Large Files column not working and the answer would seem to be the absence of Spotlight.

Apparently the File Browser works because it accesses metadata instantaneously from the APFS volume, so Spotlight would appear to be rather superfluous.

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Answer 2

Ian R. Brown Author

Level 7

24,284 points

Jan 26, 2026 2:22 AM in response to Ian R. Brown

An AI response suggested that problems with Spotlight could cause the absence of files under that heading.

As I have Spotlight turned off to prevent massive daily disk writes, that would appear to be the cause.

However, it is rather surprising that selecting File Browser instantly populates that column with every file in descending order . . . File Browser is doing exactly what I would expect Large Files to do.

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Answer 3

Zurarczurx

Level 4

2,588 points

Jan 26, 2026 2:36 AM in response to Ian R. Brown

You could create a saved search in Finder which looks for files greater than a certain size. The search is saved in the sidebar of Finder for easy to access and can be sorted by sizes. I use one and exclude Movie files from it.

However...... if spotlight is playing up then this might not work properly and you should fix this first. The problem you have with massive disc writes isn't normal unless you are changing masses of info on your disc every day. There's a fair bit of help on these boards with fixing Spotlight.

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