Macbook Air Memory error?

Have you emptied the trash after deleting files?

Restarted the computer?

“Other” Storage

A commonly asked question is what is included in the "Other” storage category reported in the About This Mac Storage display. Other includes everything that is not audio, movies, photos, apps and backups. In other words it includes the OS, mail, documents... See http://pondini.org/OSX/LionStorage.html and What is "Other" and What Can I Do About It? and Apple Support Communities https://discussions.apple.com/docs/DOC-5142

Also see Where did my disk space go: http://pondini.org/OSX/DiskSpace.html

The instructions below will help you delete and/or offload files that are in “Other."

Time Machine Snapshots

Time Machine will use up to 80% of the disk space for local snapshots. To free this space simply plug in a Time Machine backup disk and run a backup.

Time Machine FAQ, What are Local Snapshots: http://pondini.org/TM/30.html

Recovering Disk Space

If you have less than 15 GB free or less than 10% free you definitely need to delete or offload some files or purchase a lager disk or SSD (see below). More free space is better. If you let the space fall much below 10 GB you might not be able to boot your machine.

Initial easy steps to gain disk space:

- Delete all files in the Downloads folder.

Empty the Trash.

- Start iPhoto. Empty its trash. Restart.

Restart in Safe Mode:

http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1564?viewlocale=en_US

Empty the trash.

- Delete "Recovered Messages", if any.

Hold the option key down and click "Go" menu in the Finder menu bar.

Select "Library" from the drop down menu.

Library > Mail > V2 > Mailboxes

Delete "Recovered Messages", if any.

- Empty the Trash.

- Restart.

- Re-index your system disk (Macintosh HD):

http://support.apple.com/kb/ht2409

—————

Deleting unwanted files:

Backup:

Run a Time Machine (or other) backup since you are about to delete and move files and you may need to recover from any inadvertent mistakes or decisions. You will need one external hard drive for your Time Machine (or other) backup and a second if you plan to offload some files. (See suggestions for where to purchase hard drives at the end of this message.)

For more about backups:

Time Machine Basics: http://support.apple.com/kb/ht1427

Most commonly used backup methods:

https://discussions.apple.com/docs/DOC-3045

Methodology to protect your data. Backups vs. Archives. Long-term data protection:

https://discussions.apple.com/docs/DOC-6031

Delete unwanted files:

Then use the free application OmniDiskSweeper http://www.omnigroup.com/more to explore your volume in descending order by size so you can attack the problem from the top down, deleting the largest unwanted files first. Delete with caution and do not delete any system files, for example files in ~/Library and /private. Do not rely on restoring files from Time Machine; delete only those files you never want to see again. Remember to empty the trash after trashing the files.

See: "More ways to save space if you have a spare partition or second hard drive."

http://www.thexlab.com/faqs/freeingspace.html

Pay particular attention to the following sections:

- Compress and archive old files.

- Clean up system logs and temporary files.

- Uninstall Mac OS 9

Additional references on freeing disk space:

http://pondini.org/OSX/DiskSpace.html

http://www.macmaps.com/diskfull.html

—————

Offloading files:

Consider moving some of the no-often-used large files or directories to an external disk. Use ODS again to find them. As noted above this will be at least your second hard drive. Your first one(s) is/are for your Time Machine (or other) backup(s). Do not offload files onto a Time Machine disk.

Format the second drive as Mac OS Extended (journaled). Using OWS to find large files/folders and copy them from the system drive to the external hard drive and delete them from your internal drive.

Then  > System Preferences > Time Machine > Options… > Remove the offload HD name from the exclusions list.

Now both your system disk and your external offload disk will be backed up onto your Time Machine disk.

Use OmniDiskSweeper again to explore your volume in descending order by size copying the the largest unwanted files first to the external disk and then deleting them from the internal disk. Do not touch any system files. Do not offload your entire user folder. Do offload seldom use folders/files in your user folder.

From:

Again, see: "More ways to save space if you have a spare partition or second hard drive."

http://www.thexlab.com/faqs/freeingspace.html

- Move your iTunes Music folder to another disk or partition:

- Move your iPhoto Library folder to another disk or partition:

—————

Hardware — Bigger disk/SSD:

If your Mac is under warranty or AppleCare the upgrading the hardware will void the warranty.

If your system has upgradeable storage then if you are still tight on disk space consider larger storage. If you have a disk consider replacing it with a one TB disk. Check out an upgrade to an SSD-Hybrid disk. Google "Seagate 1TB Solid State Hybrid Drive SATA 6Gbps 64MB Cache 2.5-Inch". If you have an SSD consider increasing its capacity to 240 or 480 GB. A standard 240 GB SSD would cost from $200 to $280. See OWC and Crucial: http://www.crucial.com/ for options. OWC sells 120, 240 and 480 GB SSD upgrades for MacBook Airs. A 240 GB upgrade costs $265 to $315. http://eshop.macsales.com/shop/SSD/OWC/ .

For backups and offloading data to an external drive, PlotinusVeritas gives some great suggestions for purchasing external hard drives in this thread:

https://discussions.apple.com/thread/5602141?tstart=0

Freeing Up Space on The Hard Drive

1. See Lion/Mountain Lion/Mavericks' Storage Display.

2. You can remove data from your Home folder except for the /Home/Library/ folder.

3. Visit The XLab FAQs and read the FAQ on freeing up space on your hard drive.

4. Also see Freeing space on your Mac OS X startup disk.

5. See Where did my Disk Space go?.

6. See The Storage Display.

You must Empty the Trash in order to recover the space they occupied on the hard drive.

You should consider replacing the drive with a larger one. Check out OWC for drives, tutorials, and toolkits.

Try using OmniDiskSweeper 1.8 or GrandPerspective to search your drive for large files and where they are located.