Running out of storage - system data is huge after upgrade to macOS Tahoe 26.2

Question

Running out of storage - system data is huge after upgrade to macOS Tahoe 26.2

I upgrade from Sequoia to Tahoe 26.2 last week and ever since this, I am constantly running out of disk space on my M2 MacBook Air. System data alone is currently above 100GB. It was never like this before. I have already cleared up ~/Library/Caches a few days ago (saved about 40GB), but now I am already at my capacity limit again (and it is not ~/Library/Caches that is causing it this time - this is currently only contributing about 500MB).

This is quite concerning that simply upgrading OS is causing such a problem.

Is there any official advice on what can be done?

Any advice on which additional folders I could safely delete? Or tools that can help me clear this up or at least identify in which folders the files are that are contributing to this massive lump of data?

MacBook Air, macOS 26.2

Posted on Feb 7, 2026 11:13 AM

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Answer 1

Top-ranking reply

HWTech

Level 9

69,728 points

Feb 7, 2026 11:30 AM in response to wallywallllter

Run the third party app EtreCheck and post the complete report here so we can examine it for clues.

How to use the Add Text Feature When Posting an EtreCheck Report - Apple Community

FYI, deleting the cache files is not going to help since they will be rebuilt as soon as you use the associated app. Any increase is just temporary.

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Answer 2

Feb 7, 2026 11:20 AM in response to wallywallllter

if you have Time Machine enabled for automatic backups, it is preparing to make a new backup, including any changes induced by your upgrade.

If you have not connected your external drive recently, snapshots of the lists of files to be backed up are being saved on the boot drive.

if this is the case for you, connect your external Time Machine drive and let it make a "real" backup to the external drive, and it will clear those snapshots when competed.

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Answer 3

tbirdvet

Level 6

17,223 points

Feb 7, 2026 2:30 PM in response to wallywallllter

Review this for some help:

https://discussions.apple.com/thread/256239409?sortBy=newest_first

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Answer 4

Feb 7, 2026 11:39 AM in response to Grant Bennet-Alder

You might be onto something. I do have Time Machine backups enabled and am probably not connecting the external drive often enough. Travelling right now but will try this out immediately when I get back home on Monday and will report back.

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Answer 5

Feb 7, 2026 11:51 AM in response to HWTech

EtreCheck Pro Report

Have included it here

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