hprem

Q: Cleaning Other Folder

Hi Guys,

 

   This might be a pretty common question as I found plenty of post for this but none explains how to do it... Only super genius says what and what not **** ****.

 

   So, jokes aside, I want to clean up this block of unnecessary hidden files, which I wanna get rid of at any cost. Just to give an idea before one of those genius pops out again, why I wanna get rid of is, I have 500 GB HD and "others" files has taken 300GB. Now thats **** ****, even for those one of those genius, it shouldn't take 300 GB hogging memory.

 

   What I have done so far is

 

1> cleared /Library/Cache/... empty

2> Empty trash.

 

     Still it is surprisingly resilient and eating my system precious memory and the system has become unusably slow.

 

Any help is highly appreciated.

 

<Edited by Host>

MacBook Pro, OS X Yosemite (10.10.3), Blackout

Posted on Sep 8, 2016 7:20 PM

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Q: Cleaning Other Folder

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  • Helpful answers

  • by Rysz,

    Rysz Rysz Sep 8, 2016 7:06 PM in response to hprem
    Level 7 (20,242 points)
    iTunes
    Sep 8, 2016 7:06 PM in response to hprem
  • by babowa,

    babowa babowa Sep 8, 2016 7:18 PM in response to hprem
    Level 7 (31,893 points)
    iPad
    Sep 8, 2016 7:18 PM in response to hprem

    The folder is not "hogging memory"; all your files are taking up space on your hard drive (memory is usually referred to as RAM and has nothing to do with your hard drive space). Usually, it helps to move your space hogging files such as videos, music, photos, etc. to an external hard drive.

  • by Barney-15E,

    Barney-15E Barney-15E Sep 9, 2016 4:51 AM in response to hprem
    Level 8 (49,742 points)
    Mac OS X
    Sep 9, 2016 4:51 AM in response to hprem

    There isn't an "Other" folder.

    The storage display uses Spotlight to find and categorize files into the sections shown on the storage display.

    There is no one folder holding the files that comprise each category.

    When you have a large "Other" section it is either because Spotlight index is corrupt or incomplete, or you have a lot of files that do not fit into the named categories on the storage display (very rare).

    You should just attempt to re-index Spotlight and see what happens to the storage display when it completes:

    Rebuild the Spotlight index on your Mac - Apple Support

  • by hprem,

    hprem hprem Sep 9, 2016 8:39 AM in response to babowa
    Level 1 (9 points)
    Mac OS X
    Sep 9, 2016 8:39 AM in response to babowa

    This is the kind of unwanted and unnecessary comment of super genius I was referencing to. Sir, I know what is memory and I can certainly tell you in a prolong discussion why it is a memory as I am a techie myself.

     

       What I refer and you refer is relative terms so rather then going deep into habit hole of no use, I would have appreciated if you had put a single line of a comment which could give some hope to poors.

  • by babowa,

    babowa babowa Sep 9, 2016 8:52 AM in response to hprem
    Level 7 (31,893 points)
    iPad
    Sep 9, 2016 8:52 AM in response to hprem

    I did:

     

    Usually, it helps to move your space hogging files such as videos, music, photos, etc. to an external hard drive.

     

    I have no clue what you are referring to here:

     

    deep into habit hole of no use

     

    I'm glad to hear you're a techie.

  • by Drew Reece,

    Drew Reece Drew Reece Sep 9, 2016 9:12 AM in response to hprem
    Level 5 (7,485 points)
    Notebooks
    Sep 9, 2016 9:12 AM in response to hprem

    I'm afraid you are getting good advice here & you are the one who is not understanding what is going on.

    Being wrong is fine but only if you are willing to step back & consider that you might be looking at the problem incorrectly so you can learn to address it in the correct manner.

     

    Instead of getting aggressive/ defensive consider that we are not the ones with the problem, also consider that it is possible someone else here knows more than you, otherwise why are you here asking for help?

     

    Some things to note:

    Spotlight needs rebuilding to get a better idea what files may be listed inside 'other'. Do as Barney-15E suggested.

    Deleting cache files can make you Mac run slower (you already deleted /Library/Caches) - caches actually make the Mac run faster, so when it has to rebuild them it will be slow until it has regenerated them. You will have to wait & hope they are rebuilt, some are rebuilt when you do certain tasks like use Quicklook to view files. So it can be normal for your Mac to be slow for days after clearing caches.

     

    OmniDiskSweeper can show large files & folders, as can many other apps…

    https://www.omnigroup.com/more

    http://grandperspectiv.sourceforge.net/

    http://whatsizemac.com/

     

    Use them with caution - deleting the wrong thing will break the OS. I would give you more warnings, but you appear incapable of listening, so I'll just hope you can understand what restraint is. Ask here before you delete anything that you do not understand or is outside your home folder. Also make a full backup before you begin, otherwise you may lose data & ruin your system.

  • by hprem,

    hprem hprem Sep 9, 2016 11:47 AM in response to Drew Reece
    Level 1 (9 points)
    Mac OS X
    Sep 9, 2016 11:47 AM in response to Drew Reece

         Apologies for all who find it bit aggressive. As, all post related to this particular queries are being addressed in a rather non useful terms and all I wanted is the basic steps what an individual can do in order to clean up this junk.

     

      I addressed 2 basic steps and hoped that others can add few more on the top of it. However, this post again has become more of the who is what and what not rather then helpful.

     

      I appreciated those who contributed on the post. Just a caution, kindly do not share what is already addressed on other post. We all know what makes "others" section and what is memory stuffs.

     

      Anyone other following this post and find the line of help can like those specific reply to highlight, so that people can use it for future references.

     

       Drew thanks for your response, I am sure someone will find it useful.

  • by Drew Reece,

    Drew Reece Drew Reece Sep 9, 2016 12:17 PM in response to hprem
    Level 5 (7,485 points)
    Notebooks
    Sep 9, 2016 12:17 PM in response to hprem

    My post was intended to help you not anyone else. You could try explaining why it fails to address your needs.

     

    'Other' data is so vague & generic it is practically impossible for us to give you a 'step by step' guide. Have you reviewed the guide that has already been mentioned…

    What is "Other" and What Can I Do About It?

    Post back stating how far you got with the steps or the parts that confuse you etc.

     

    We are here to try to help but you are giving us so little to go on that all we know is you are dissatisfied with what appears to be valid advice.

     

    Tell me to stop if you want my input to cease.

     

    Alternately I'd recommend you visit an Apple store if one is nearby, they can walk you through finding data & removing it. The system disk is complex, cleaning out data is not simple by any means.