Yok.M
Level 1 (0 points)

Q: macbook air "Aboout This Mac" storage indicator incorrect

I'm using a Macbook air 13'' thats running on OSX Yosemite 10.10.1. There seems to be  a problem with the storage indicator. I click on the apple logo on the top left and go to storage to check the remaining space and the numbers don't seem to be right. The image below is what i get.Screen Shot 2015-01-02 at 1.12.44 PM.png

The amount of space Apps takes up is higher then all my apps added up and the space free difference to the total space is incorrect. After adding the amount of space the system says I take up from the number of the picture above its about 196GB so it just does not match the 185.16GB free of 249.77GB. Also I go in to my application folder and Highlight all the apps and folders and the system says i only have 14GB of files. I look into Disk Utility and it says I've only used 64GB Screen Shot 2015-01-02 at 1.18.21 PM.png

I was wondering if anyone can explain what the problem is. Is it that my Macbook Air is actually low on space or is it reading my files wrong? And what can i do to fix the problem. Thanks in advance!

MacBook Air, OS X Yosemite (10.10.1)

Posted on Jan 2, 2015 1:31 PM

by dwb,Solvedanswer
dwb dwb
Level 7 (24,467 points)
Notebooks
A:

Open System Preferences and select the Spotlight Tab. Click on the Privacy tab and drag your hard drive icon onto the window. Not just one folder - the entire hard drive. Quit System Preferences. This will delete the spotlight index. Open System Preferences again, select the SpotLight tab, and select your hard drive icon. Click on the minus sign to delete it from the list. Quit System Preference. This should start the computer reindexing. For a while your computer will feel slow and the fans will probably gear up.

Posted on Jan 2, 2015 2:23 PM

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Q: macbook air "Aboout This Mac" storage indicator incorrect

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  • Helpful answers

  • by dominic23,Helpful

    dominic23 dominic23 Jan 2, 2015 1:47 PM in response to Yok.M
    Level 8 (42,122 points)
    Mac OS X
    Jan 2, 2015 1:47 PM in response to Yok.M

    1. Re-index Macintosh HD.

     

     

       Spotlight reindexing will take a while to finish.

     

       System Preferences > Spotlight > Privacy

     

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

     

       You will see a new category  “Other” in the Storage Display.

     

          About “Other”:

     

       http://support.apple.com/en-us/HT202867



    2. Try OmniDiskSweeper. This will give the storage size details of the items.

     

           https://www.omnigroup.com/more

     

     

       Select Macintosh HD and click  “Sweep Selected Drive” at the bottom.

     

       Delete the files yo don’t want to keep.

     

       Be careful. Delete only the files that can be safely  deleted.

     

    3. Discrepancy in calculating space between Finder and Disk Utility

     

        “Finder does not take into account the  Backups/ local snapshots,

        but disk utility includes them.”

     

        http://pondini.org/TM/30.html

  • by dwb,

    dwb dwb Jan 2, 2015 1:52 PM in response to Yok.M
    Level 7 (24,467 points)
    Notebooks
    Jan 2, 2015 1:52 PM in response to Yok.M

    Welcome to the joys of Spotlight - a wonder when it works (or a wonder that it works) I get confused about that. The spotlight index seems to become corrupted rather easily - dominic has shown you how to do the reindex which should make it more accurate. In Disk Utility verify the disk (not permissions) and assuming it reports no repairs are necessary you can trust the information it give you. If it reports that repairs are needed reboot holding Command R and once you’ve booted into the Recovery partition you can run Disk Utility and repair the drive.

  • by Yok.M,

    Yok.M Yok.M Jan 2, 2015 2:15 PM in response to dominic23
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Jan 2, 2015 2:15 PM in response to dominic23

    So for my problem with the Application number would i only drag my application folder in to the privacy tab of the spotlight search or everything?Screen Shot 2015-01-02 at 2.11.42 PM.png

  • by Yok.M,

    Yok.M Yok.M Jan 2, 2015 2:17 PM in response to dwb
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Jan 2, 2015 2:17 PM in response to dwb

    Thanks for the response. I appreciate it. I tried to verify the disk and there wasnt any problems though however. Any other suggestions?

  • by dwb,Solvedanswer

    dwb dwb Jan 2, 2015 2:23 PM in response to Yok.M
    Level 7 (24,467 points)
    Notebooks
    Jan 2, 2015 2:23 PM in response to Yok.M

    Open System Preferences and select the Spotlight Tab. Click on the Privacy tab and drag your hard drive icon onto the window. Not just one folder - the entire hard drive. Quit System Preferences. This will delete the spotlight index. Open System Preferences again, select the SpotLight tab, and select your hard drive icon. Click on the minus sign to delete it from the list. Quit System Preference. This should start the computer reindexing. For a while your computer will feel slow and the fans will probably gear up.

  • by Yok.M,

    Yok.M Yok.M Jan 2, 2015 2:47 PM in response to dwb
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Jan 2, 2015 2:47 PM in response to dwb

    I probably sound really dumb but i don't know where the hard drive icon is haha.

  • by dwb,Helpful

    dwb dwb Jan 2, 2015 3:03 PM in response to Yok.M
    Level 7 (24,467 points)
    Notebooks
    Jan 2, 2015 3:03 PM in response to Yok.M

    Not dumb at all - by default the Mac’s hard drives are hidden from the desktop. Rumor has it that Steve Jobs hated a desktop that had stuff on it. Unlike Jobs, I like having the hard drive icon. In the menubar select Finder > Preferences and select the General tab. At the top you can click checkmarks to show the internal drive, external drives, etc. Click on the first one (hard disks) and your computer’s hard drive will appear in the top right corner.

     

    Or, open a Finder window and scroll through the sidebar to the left until you find Devices. The first item under Devices should be your computer (it’ll have whatever name you gave your computer). Click on your computer and the window will show the Macintosh HD (and probably several other things). Your hard drive is the Macintosh HD.

  • by Yok.M,

    Yok.M Yok.M Jan 2, 2015 10:07 PM in response to dwb
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Jan 2, 2015 10:07 PM in response to dwb

    Got it done after i put the hard drive on the desktop. It was a piece of cake to finish! Thanks for all your help