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Q: Disk Full

My MBA 250 startup disk is full.  I'm seeking suggestions how to find, review, and remove meaningfully large files so I can make a real dent in the problem.  Thanks.

MacBook Air, OS X El Capitan (10.11.6), MBA 11"

Posted on Sep 17, 2016 9:37 AM

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Q: Disk Full

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  • by BobHarris,

    BobHarris BobHarris Sep 17, 2016 9:56 AM in response to pglages
    Level 6 (19,536 points)
    Mac OS X
    Sep 17, 2016 9:56 AM in response to pglages

    OmniDiskSweeper (free download)

    <http://www.omnigroup.com/more>

     

    When using OmniDiskSweeper, or any utility that shows all your files...  See the following article if you want to run it as root

    <http://www.macobserver.com/tmo/article/how_to_recover_missing_hard_drive_space>

     

    Boiler Plate Warnings:

     

    If you have a recurring, running out of disk space, problem, then OmniDiskSweeper may help identify where the space is going.  Posting the suspected locations and files will help the forum help you to figure it out.  Remember, we cannot see into your disk, you have to give us information to work with.

     

    DO NOT delete files in your Home Folder -> Library tree as there are things like your iPhone backups, your email messages, your application preferences, etc…  If you think you have found something in your Home Folder -> Library that can be deleted, you should ask first.

     

    DO NOT delete files outside your home folder, as you may end up deleting something essential to Mac OS X, and turn your Mac into an expensive “Door Stop”.

     

    I will point out that you will find some very large files in private -> var -> vm (these are the Mac OS X virtual memory paging files (swapfiles) and where Mac OS X stores the copy of RAM when your Mac is put to sleep).  The swapfile(s) get deleted on reboot, and the sleep image is just going to be created again when you put your Mac to sleep.

     

    If you think you have found something to delete outside your home folder, it would be best to ask first before deleting.  There are many examples of people deleting files outside their home folder, or renaming files, or changing the ownership or file permissions, and then their Mac stops running.  Do not be one of those people.  Ask first.

  • by tygb ,Apple recommended

    tygb Sep 17, 2016 10:00 AM in response to pglages
    Level 2 (398 points)
    Mac OS X
    Sep 17, 2016 10:00 AM in response to pglages

    Hello !

              To delete large files , please follow suggested article : OS X El Capitan: Increase disk space

    I hope so it might give some useful tips to sort out the issue .

    Thanks !

  • by Vishal2014,

    Vishal2014 Vishal2014 Sep 17, 2016 8:06 PM in response to pglages
    Level 2 (202 points)
    Mac OS X
    Sep 17, 2016 8:06 PM in response to pglages

    I had this issue too on my Mac Mini when my Macintosh HD storage volume ran out of spaces. However, you can solve this issue by cleaning up some old or unused and junk files from startup volume. Since the process requires deletion of certain files based upon their usage, its better you backup before clean up.

     

    ** Right Click on Time Machine icon from top-right menu and click "BackupNow". Let it take the complete backup of your startup disk

     

    1. Empty the Trash
    2. From Download folder, remove old and installed DMGs or PKGs files.
    3. If cluttered, minimize Desktop and/or Dock
    4. For removing duplicate files, unused large files and unwanted apps I ******
    5. These days external hard drives are cheap so get one and move your data to an EXT HDD.
    6. Clean up Caches. Note- Cache cleaning isn't recommended since it slows down several processes but if you Mac have large pool of caches then you may proceed to remove the ones which might not harm any process. Soon, new caches will built up which will bring back the original process performance.
    <Link Edited by Host>

  • by tygb ,

    tygb Sep 17, 2016 10:55 PM in response to Vishal2014
    Level 2 (398 points)
    Mac OS X
    Sep 17, 2016 10:55 PM in response to Vishal2014

    Hello !

              Vishal

    As , you wrote :

    Screen Shot 2016-09-18 at 11.21.04 AM.png

    It's not like that in user library ( ~/Library )  caches are to removed if they are highly accumulated and of course they do not slow down the processes , inspite it is recommended to clean them .

    Thanks !