tommykambo

Q: Macbook Pro Storage "other" is taking up all the space

Screen Shot 2015-05-20 at 6.21.38 PM.png

I just bought a new macbook pro in April and now it is may and some how my storage is taken up by other and i want to know how to get rid of it.

Note i only use couple of application on my mac such as iPhoto,iMovie,iTunes, Pixelmator, and Spotify. I rarely use any other application on my mac which is making me frustrated on my my memory is taken up so much.

MacBook Pro, OS X Yosemite (10.10.3)

Posted on May 20, 2015 5:25 PM

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Q: Macbook Pro Storage "other" is taking up all the space

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  • by BobHarris,

    BobHarris BobHarris May 20, 2015 5:53 PM in response to tommykambo
    Level 6 (19,272 points)
    Mac OS X
    May 20, 2015 5:53 PM in response to tommykambo

    It could be Time Machine Snapshots

    <About Time Machine local snapshots - Apple Support>

     

    OmniDiskSweeper (free download)

    <http://www.omnigroup.com/more>

     

    DO NOT delete files in your Home Folder -> Library tree as there are things like your iPhone backups, your email messages, your application preferences, etc…  If you think you have found something in your Home Folder -> Library that can be deleted, you should ask first.

     

    DO NOT delete files outside your home folder, as you may end up deleting something essential to Mac OS X, and turn your Mac into an expensive “Door Stop”.

     

    I will point out that you will find some very large files in private -> var -> vm (these are the Mac OS X virtual memory paging files (swapfiles) and where Mac OS X stores the copy of RAM when your Mac is put to sleep).  The swapfiles get deleted on reboot, and the sleep image is just going to be created again when you put your Mac to sleep.

     

    If you think you have found something to delete outside your home folder, it would be best to ask first before deleting.  There are many examples of people deleting files outside their home folder, or renaming files, or changing the ownership or permissions of files, and then their Mac stops running.  Do not be one of those people.  Ask first.

  • by Klaus1,

    Klaus1 Klaus1 May 21, 2015 3:41 AM in response to tommykambo
    Level 8 (48,821 points)
    May 21, 2015 3:41 AM in response to tommykambo
  • by OGELTHORPE,

    OGELTHORPE OGELTHORPE May 21, 2015 11:38 AM in response to tommykambo
    Level 9 (52,101 points)
    Mac OS X
    May 21, 2015 11:38 AM in response to tommykambo

    OTHER is a legitimate category but if it seems too large, reindex Spotlight and that may make the appropriate size adjustments:

     

    https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201716

     

    Ciao.

  • by tommykambo,

    tommykambo tommykambo May 21, 2015 5:32 PM in response to Klaus1
    Level 1 (4 points)
    iPhone
    May 21, 2015 5:32 PM in response to Klaus1

    I've seen this a million times and it is not helping but thank you for helping

  • by tommykambo,

    tommykambo tommykambo May 21, 2015 5:33 PM in response to OGELTHORPE
    Level 1 (4 points)
    iPhone
    May 21, 2015 5:33 PM in response to OGELTHORPE

    I've already tried to reindex but the only helped my application space go lower, but thank you suggesting

  • by tommykambo,

    tommykambo tommykambo May 21, 2015 5:36 PM in response to BobHarris
    Level 1 (4 points)
    iPhone
    May 21, 2015 5:36 PM in response to BobHarris

    I've open the time machine application and it has not been set up yet, none of my application has been used except the following application i've used

  • by BobHarris,

    BobHarris BobHarris May 21, 2015 7:12 PM in response to tommykambo
    Level 6 (19,272 points)
    Mac OS X
    May 21, 2015 7:12 PM in response to tommykambo

    tommykambo wrote:

     

    I've open the time machine application and it has not been set up yet, none of my application has been used except the following application i've used

    Again, I suggest you run OmniDiskSweeper to see where your storage is being used.

  • by dds86,

    dds86 dds86 Jan 3, 2016 9:14 PM in response to BobHarris
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Jan 3, 2016 9:14 PM in response to BobHarris

    I had 199.7 GB in "other" category of Storage on my MacBook Pro Retina.  I ran the OmniDisk Sweeper, free download, and it identified exactly where the storage was.  I was able to eliminate 110 GB of files and movavi Screen shot recordings I no longer needed.  What a terrific tool!  Thank you for the tip.