Differences in free space shown in OS X Yosemite

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Level 1

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Differences in free space shown in OS X Yosemite

Hi,

I have just notice that information related to free space in Yosemite shows big differences depending on how you check it.

If I check this information in "About this Mac / Storage" system shows I have this free space (sorry but screenshot is in spanish):

Then, it shows I have 143,16 GB of free space. However, if I check in Finder the storage in my Macintosh flash it shows this (see below): 183,38 GB of free space. How is it possible? I suppose it is a software problem that must be solved via system update.

MacBook Pro (Retina, 15-inch, Mid 2015), OS X Yosemite (10.10.5)

Posted on Aug 22, 2015 4:18 AM

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Answer 1

applewarm

Level 2

344 points

Aug 22, 2015 7:38 AM in response to CecilioMG

Just a suggestion, I don't know if it's the reason to your problem, but try running the native Disk Utility app, or OnyX if you have it installed. Check the permissions & the disk, it'll tell you if anything needs to be repaired. I often find that discrepancies in the storage are due to something that needs to be fixed in the Disk Utility app (or OnyX, third party).

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Answer 2

Jeff Shenk

Level 4

2,993 points

Aug 22, 2015 7:51 AM in response to CecilioMG

Actually, the Finder is showing the Available space, not the Free space. The System Information indicates about 40 GB of "Copias," which I suspect would be "Backups" in English, and refers to Time Machine local snapshots. Since that space is recovered when reconnected to the Time Machine drive, and since the system can use that space if it runs out of free space, the Finder considers it "available" even though it is not "free."

More information here.

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Answer 3

Linc Davis

Level 10

209,547 points

Aug 22, 2015 8:05 AM in response to CecilioMG

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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