How much memory does a user take up?

I have 3 users, and I only have 1.26 GB left of space. I don't really use one account. I was wondering if that account took up a lot of space, I think so because it has to duplicate all of the apps again and all that other stuff. If it does, how much does it take up? If its a couple MB i'm ok with it, but if its GB then I will erase it immediatly. I have a mid - 2014 Macbook Pro with Retina Display 13', I'm using OS X Yosemite (10.10.5)

MacBook Pro with Retina display, OS X Yosemite (10.10.5)

Posted on Feb 18, 2016 8:57 PM

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14 replies

Feb 19, 2016 8:52 AM in response to Soccerastyle

Yes, if you have only 1.26 GB of storage space available, that's WAY too little. No matter what size your storage drive is, your computer's performance is being hampered, if not crippled, by the lack of space to write files to. Delete at least 10GB of files, either by trashing them outright or by moving them to another drive and then deleting them from the main drive. Don't forget to empty the Trash.

Feb 19, 2016 8:58 AM in response to Soccerastyle

Soccerastyle wrote:


I have 3 users, and I only have 1.26 GB left of space. I don't really use one account. I was wondering if that account took up a lot of space, I think so because it has to duplicate all of the apps again and all that other stuff. ...

It does not duplicate apps. Creating a new user requires very little space. The space is taken up when the user downloads files into their space.

Feb 19, 2016 4:19 PM in response to Soccerastyle

Hi Soccerastyle:


If you only have 1.26 GB of hard drive space left that is way to little. Try downloading and running OmniDiskSweeper. https://www.omnigroup.com/more

It will sort your files by size and it will give you a good idea what is taking up the space.


See this video it will show you how to use OmniDiskSweeper. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZT2Bz1VIfRw


Also see this link. http://macs.about.com/od/faq1/f/How-Much-Free-Drive-Space-Do-I-Need.htm


Kim

Feb 19, 2016 5:19 PM in response to Soccerastyle

I think you fell victim to a known bug that seems common in some Yosemite (10.10) installations. Instead of using "About this Mac" to check your storage, try one of these more accurate methods to check free space:


1) Highlight your hard drive's icon and press SP to get this:

User uploaded file


2) Right-click your hard drive icon and, in the resulting contextual menu, chose "Get Info..." to get this:


User uploaded file


If the results these methods for "free" or "available" differ from what "About this Mac" shows, you need to rebuild your Spotlight database:


Spotlight: How to re-index folders or volumes - Apple Support

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How much memory does a user take up?

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