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Mac OS X 10.8.2 Shows wrong available disk space

Hi,

The free disk space (available disk space) reported in Disk Utility, About My Mac and Finder is inconsitent. I have attached a screenshot. Please help me to resolve this issue.


Notice that the free space reported:

  • About This Mac - 26.75 GB
  • Disk Utility - 26.75
  • Finder - 120.97 GB


If you add all the used space as shown in 'About This Mac' it adds up to a 142.38 GB which is greater than my disk size 120.47 GB.


Calculation: 3.41 (Audio) + 2.97 (Movies) + 2.01 (Photos) + 13.02 (Apps) + 94.22 (Backups) + 26.75 (Free) = 142.38 GB.


Thanks in advance.


User uploaded file

MacBook Air, MID 2012

Posted on Oct 25, 2012 1:23 AM

Reply
44 replies

Nov 1, 2012 4:54 PM in response to shamalk

I didn't see this the first time around, but note that this is 100% normal. Disk Utility and the storage display both include Time Machine's local snapshots in the used space. The Finder does not, because those snapshots will be automatically deleted if free space gets too low, so they are considered to be equivalent to free space. For more information on this, see:


What are Local Snapshots?

The Storage Display


Also, note that I'm not sure why an update would fix the "problem," as it should still be behaving the same way.

Nov 1, 2012 6:41 PM in response to thomas_r.

Thomas A Reed,

Please read the portion


If you add all the used space as shown in 'About This Mac' it adds up to a 142.38 GB which is greater than my disk size 120.47 GB.


Calculation: 3.41 (Audio) + 2.97 (Movies) + 2.01 (Photos) + 13.02 (Apps) + 94.22 (Backups) + 26.75 (Free) = 142.38 GB.


So it IS a problem. Because it shows wrong Information.

Aug 28, 2013 5:50 AM in response to shamalk

I've experienced this problem a few times. For me, it's always been because of local Time Machine snapshots. Try toggling Time Machine off and then back on. This fixed the issue for me – it seems to clear out the local snapshots (Disk Utility counts local snapshots, whereas Finder doesn't).


You could also try forcing a manual Time Machine update (e.g., click "Back Up Now"), although I haven't tried that.


As for the Finder automatically deleting these local snapshots when disk space gets low… it won't if you're trying to copy a large file (it fails the pre-flight check). That behavior should be reevaluated by Apple engineers.

Feb 8, 2014 6:08 PM in response to shamalk

I agree. Anyone experiencing a discrepancy between the free space shown when you Get Info on the Macintosh HD, and looking into About This Mac > More Info > Storage, toggling the Time Machine switch off then on again fixes everything.


I experienced this issue about a couple of months ago, and again today. Both times this fixed it and now I have the correct amount of space shown in all places.

Feb 9, 2014 5:53 AM in response to tim098

I agree. Anyone experiencing a discrepancy between the free space shown when you Get Info on the Macintosh HD, and looking into About This Mac > More Info > Storage, toggling the Time Machine switch off then on again fixes everything.


That's because that deletes your local snapshots. So, really, you're compromising your backup system in order to make two numbers that really don't matter that much agree with each other. That doesn't make much sense.

Feb 9, 2014 6:04 AM in response to thomas_r.

The reason why I simply had to resolve these numbers was because I use an app "Quick Disk". What is primarily does is it allows me to quickly eject which ever disks I choose, and also presents very neatly the remaining amount of space in each disk in a very neat looking UI.


Unfortunately, this app seems to pull its data from the same place that showed the incorrectly 'smaller' space. So when in fact I had 78 gb free on my hard disk, it showed only 30. I cant stand seeing that, so I had to find a fix.


Besides, I dont think switching time machine off then on again compromises the backups too much - although I am no expert here so pardon me if I'm wrong.


Edit: I am aware that even though the "smaller" space isnt indicative of how much space there really was, it kinda defeats the whole purpose of me buying this app if it doesnt show me exactly what I want to know.


User uploaded file

Feb 9, 2014 6:25 AM in response to tim098

Besides, I dont think switching time machine off then on again compromises the backups too much - although I am no expert here so pardon me if I'm wrong.


See the link about local snapshots that I posted. If those backups are something you can live without, toggling Time Machine may not be harmful.


Of course, getting too concerned with your free space in the first place isn't very productive. If disk space is getting tight enough that you have to keep looking at it, you need a bigger disk (or need to delete some files), since a nearly-full hard drive kills performance.

Mac OS X 10.8.2 Shows wrong available disk space

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