File doesn't seem to delete

Question

File doesn't seem to delete

My Hard drive is almost full because on the last upgrade to Yosmite I left the photos in photo library and they were transferred to photos. I copied the files onto a back up drive (just in case) and then I moved it to the trash. I emptied the trash but my storage did not change. Im actually deleting the secured trash but still the storage is not changing too much. I also rebooted the computer a couple of times. Im not sure how to find large files [I tried]. What am I missing?

MacBook Pro (15-inch 2.4/2.2 GHz), OS X Yosemite (10.10.5)

Posted on Jan 2, 2016 2:42 PM

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Answer 1

BDAqua

Level 10

239,375 points

Jan 2, 2016 3:20 PM in response to frederickfrommahopac

To find large files...

OmniDiskSweeper is likely the easiest/best...

https://www.omnigroup.com/more/

Or Find Any File...

http://apps.tempel.org/FindAnyFile/

You can search for all files over a certain size.

Hold Option or alt key when selecting Find to Find All.

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Answer 2

BobHarris

Level 9

53,267 points

Jan 2, 2016 5:00 PM in response to frederickfrommahopac

Photos makes file system hardlinks to the iPhotos library. A hardlink is just a 2nd directory entry point to the exact same file. The file keeps a count of the number of directories that point to it (st_nlink). When a directory entry that points to a file is removed, the st_nlink count is decremented. When the st_nlink count goes to zero, meaning all directory entries that point to the file have been removed, then the actual file data is deleted.

As you modify files in iPhotos or Photos, the hardlink is removed and then there is a unique file in iPhotos vs Photos for the image you edited.

So if you still have the iPhotos library, then you still have at least 1 st_nlink count for the files and no storage is going to be released.

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