sparkey-markey
Level 1 (14 points)
Apple Music

Q: App Storage on my MacBook Pro

On the 'About This Mac' section from the Apple logo, when I click on my storage tab, it shows me that I have over 50GB storage taken up by apps but when I go to Go|Computer|Macintosh and then right click on Applications folder it only shows a storage of just over 8GB.

 

What could this extra store be?

MacBook Pro with Retina display, OS X Yosemite (10.10.5), 13inch

Posted on Apr 5, 2016 7:31 AM

by FoxFifth,Solvedanswer
FoxFifth FoxFifth
Level 7 (27,534 points)
iPhone
A:

It could be an error in the About This Mac data. Try reindexing: Spotlight: How to re-index folders or volumes - Apple Support

Posted on Apr 5, 2016 8:50 AM

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sparkey-markey

Q: App Storage on my MacBook Pro

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  • Helpful answers

  • by FoxFifth,Solvedanswer

    FoxFifth FoxFifth Apr 5, 2016 8:50 AM in response to sparkey-markey
    Level 7 (27,534 points)
    iPhone
    Apr 5, 2016 8:50 AM in response to sparkey-markey

    It could be an error in the About This Mac data. Try reindexing: Spotlight: How to re-index folders or volumes - Apple Support

  • by sparkey-markey,

    sparkey-markey sparkey-markey Apr 5, 2016 10:09 AM in response to FoxFifth
    Level 1 (14 points)
    Apple Music
    Apr 5, 2016 10:09 AM in response to FoxFifth

    Thanks for your reply.

     

    I've looked through the link with the instructions on how to re-index, where it says drag a folder or entire volume, what does this mean, what should I drag over?

  • by dwb,

    dwb dwb Apr 5, 2016 10:24 AM in response to sparkey-markey
    Level 7 (24,460 points)
    Notebooks
    Apr 5, 2016 10:24 AM in response to sparkey-markey

    After you’ve opened the Spotlight system preference and clicked on the Privacy tab drag your entire hard drive icon onto the dialog's window. You should now see your hard drive appear in the list. I always close the System Preferences window and reopen it. After doing that you can select your hard drive in the Private list and click on the minus symbol to remove it. Close the System Preference again. This should force Spotlight to re-index.

  • by my ginger,

    my ginger my ginger Apr 5, 2016 10:52 AM in response to sparkey-markey
    Level 4 (2,472 points)
    Apr 5, 2016 10:52 AM in response to sparkey-markey

    While spotlight could be indexed wrong. It is also possible that the difference you are seeing is because while your application folder only shows 8 GB. it is not taking into account what you have in your home folder under some other files that work off application apps. The music and photos should show up as separate in your storage report.

  • by sparkey-markey,

    sparkey-markey sparkey-markey Apr 7, 2016 4:12 AM in response to my ginger
    Level 1 (14 points)
    Apple Music
    Apr 7, 2016 4:12 AM in response to my ginger

    Indexing my Spotlight looks to have sorted my issue in that what it now shows me in the Storage section of About This Mac now looks to be a more normal reading in terms of what is stored on my MacBook Pro.

     

    I'm aware that some apps may also use this to store date etc but was just a little confused why it was so high. 

     

    Thank-you all who offered advice.