Why wont my "about my mac" update now that I've deleted large files?

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Level 1

9 points

Why wont my "about my mac" update now that I've deleted large files?

I have a MacBook Pro with 500GB of memory. Recently i just transferred my 300GB of iTunes library onto an external hard drive to free up some space on my MacBook. I deleted it off my internal memory and have checked that it is no longer in Finder. BUT, when I go into "about my mac" and check the memory, it's still saying that I only have 200GB available. I am finding this a bit frustrating now and just want to get it sorted.

I have already restarted my MacBook and held down cmd + r, then when into disc utility but this is also not helping my situation.

MacBook Pro with Retina display, OS X Mountain Lion (10.8.4)

Posted on Aug 12, 2013 7:01 AM

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Answer 1

Best reply

mende1

Level 10

93,538 points

Aug 12, 2013 7:24 AM in response to loz114

Welcome to Apple Support Communities

Reindex your hard drive > http://support.apple.com/kb/ht2409 Spotlight controls the hard disk space you see in About this Mac, so a reindex should work.

Also, are you sure you deleted the library? Maybe you just copied it

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Answer 2

Linc Davis

Level 10

209,547 points

Aug 12, 2013 9:03 AM in response to loz114

“You may notice a difference in available space statistics between Disk Utility, Finder, and Get Info inspectors. This is expected and can be safely ignored. The Finder displays the available space on the disk without accounting for the local snapshots, because local snapshots will surrender their disk space if needed."

About Time Machine's "local snapshots" on portable Macs

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Answer 3

mende1

Level 10

93,538 points

Aug 12, 2013 9:07 AM in response to Linc Davis

Linc Davis wrote:

“You may notice a difference in available space statistics between Disk Utility, Finder, and Get Info inspectors. This is expected and can be safely ignored. The Finder displays the available space on the disk without accounting for the local snapshots, because local snapshots will surrender their disk space if needed."

About Time Machine's "local snapshots" on portable Macs

Looking at the OP's question, I don't know where he/she says that Finder gives a different amount of free space. He/she simply says that the iTunes library is not in Finder anymore, and I suppose it means that it's no longer in the internal drive. This has nothing to do with local snapshots, or we may need more information

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Answer 4

loz114 Author

Level 1

9 points

Aug 12, 2013 9:30 AM in response to mende1

on a closer look, it was this snapshots from my Time Machine. my iTunes has been completely removed from my Mac. I looked on the internet on how to stop local snapshots being saved on the Mac and have now stopped that from saving in my internal drive. (my Time Machine will only save on my dedicated Time Machine hard drive)

thanks for all the advice, was very helpful.

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Answer 5

mende1

Level 10

93,538 points

Aug 12, 2013 9:34 AM in response to loz114

You are welcome

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Answer 6

Linc Davis

Level 10

209,547 points

Aug 12, 2013 10:46 AM in response to loz114

If you're using Time Machine to back up a portable Mac, some of the free space will be used to make local snapshots, which are backup copies of files you've recently deleted. The space occupied by local snapshots is reported as available by the Finder, and should be considered as such. In the Storage display of System Information, local snapshots are shown as "Backups." The snapshots are automatically deleted when they expire or when free space falls below a certain level. You ordinarily don't need to, and should not, delete local snapshots yourself.

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Answer 7

loz114 Author

Level 1

9 points

Aug 12, 2013 11:15 AM in response to loz114

yea you dont need to manually delete these snapshots, but you are able to turn off local snapshots in the Terminal App.

my snapshots were reaching almost 300GB of my space. As I back up with Time Machine daily anyway, i just switched off local snapshots.

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Answer 8

Linc Davis

Level 10

209,547 points

Aug 12, 2013 11:50 AM in response to loz114

You don't need to do that either. Just leave it alone.

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