Looks like no one’s replied in a while. To start the conversation again, simply ask a new question.

Disk Space keep decreasing. Help!!

Hi everyone.


Just yesterday I've got a message saying that my disk is almost out of space. I didn't know how that happened as it is an office computer, and all of the large files were saved on the external drive. But anyway, I've decided to deleted al of the unused files, older email messages, couple of entire folders, and emptied both email and mac's trash. Finally I can get couple of giga bytes available.


The problem doesn't stop there. The space ultimately decreasing byte by byte, and by midday it was down from 2 GB to just 100 MB now. I don't know what is going on. I haven't even saved a single file, and the only thing I do since morning is exchanging emails with my co-workers.



Please help me to explain what is going on and how to fix it, because I have no idea what to do anymore.


Thank you so much.

iMac, Mac OS X (10.7.5)

Posted on May 20, 2015 7:27 PM

Reply
1 reply

May 20, 2015 7:42 PM in response to yust512

That sounds like a log file growing. Use

OmniDiskSweeper (free download)

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

or similar utility to see where your space is going. Log files will be found in

private -> var -> log


If you do find your space is tied up in log files, look at what is in the log files because there is a good chance you have a failing process (or processes) that are generating constant log file entries.


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.

Disk Space keep decreasing. Help!!

Welcome to Apple Support Community
A forum where Apple customers help each other with their products. Get started with your Apple ID.