System Storage Taking Up Way Too Much Space in macOS Sierra

There are at least two previous posts regarding the same "issue" (if in fact it is one!), but I'm not sure anyone has got to the bottom of it yet.

Why does the system use 150 GB of storage?

Is it normal that "system" takes up 36 gb of storage? What does is contain? Can it be decreased?

From my own experience I've found out that "iTunes" (yes, I seem to have that showing in the left side) only reports size for Apps and Podcasts - my Music which is nearly 70Gb looks as though it's reported under "System" (as you have found) which is currently at 83Gb - can't confirm because as you state it's greyed out, but all the other items on the left are far less in size so "System" seems the only place the machine has found to report my music content.

Furthermore, if I use Finder and add my actual Music size (70Gb) to Macintosh HD System and Library (8Gb + 5Gb) it gives 83Gb (what the greyed out "System" is reporting).

So I've basically given up trying to understand why it's reporting in the way it is - the concern previously was of a bloated System file section, but that doesn't seem to be the case (and Finder proves that), so may be it will all get sorted in a future update!

Do a Get Info on the System > Library.

Next download OmniDiskSweeper. Run on your Macintosh HD.

http://www.omnigroup.com/products/omnidisksweeper/

I received different results with all three:

About this Mac > Storage 19.37 GB

Get Info on System > Library 8.08 GB

OmnidiskSweeper System > Library 5.3 GB

This suggests to me that Storage results is way off.

You need to report it to Apple Feedback so it can be logged and put in the queue to be fixed.

http://www.apple.com/feedback/macosx.html

Same here! I have a separate iTunes tab and it says 0 KB, but with iTunes open it says I have around 32 MB of music files saved... Reallyyyyy wish I could see the breakdown of the System files, I have no idea what's taking up the 70 GB.

Before using Clean My Mac see this discussion:

Re: how do i run a clean of my macRe: how do i run a clean of my mac

A quote from this discussion:

DO NOT USE ANY SO CALLED APPS CLAIMING TO "CLEAN", "OPTIMIZE" OR "SPEED UP" YOUR MAC!!!! EVER!!!!

Diana of Oregon Thank You so much for this suggestion.

My wife does photography and shoot photos that take up a lot of space. She uses our 500 gb macbook to edit these photos....we were always having trouble with not enough space, I used Omnigroup sweeper and discovered over 300gb of photos that were duplicated. we now have plenty of free space, also 15gb of mail that was stored. Thank you again.

I have this problem as well. At first, when I checked my disk space, the system had taken up about 9 GB, then it progressed to 54.13 GB and now, it's at 85.55 GB. I'm gonna take it to an apple store and see what they can do...

I want to thank you for freeing up 120gigs on my Mac.... This was the easiest and less intrusive way to free up space. I purchased the Mac Used and had two other owners stuff stored on the hard drive...

Mahalo

My System storage is 600+ gig Atm it’s driving me nuts.

Everything I delete goes to system 😡

I just moved the whole photos folder to a external HD, deleted it of the Mac, emptied the trash and reboot. Did sweet f all just increased the system folder.

Been on the phone with Apple support for 3 weeks. No one can suss it out. Any ideas ??? Thanks in advance 😊

I have this problem too, and at the most inopportune time!

I've been trying to write my WIP High Fantasy novel and what's taking up most of my space?

82.74 of System Space!

This is so infuriating, especially for a writer. 😠

I have no idea how I'll be able to purge it, I know nothing of caches, so I'm too afraid to delete any.

Any help would be appreciated!

Thanks!

Hey how are you ?

Sorry I can’t give you any help, just let u know my experience !!

Maybe a little. Download a program Malwarebytes and do a scan. I found a thing called jdi back up and deleted it but I think it was to late.

I have had the best Apple technician on the phone for hours I mean hours probably 6-7 hours in two days. The fine man went through every folder on the Mac and for the life of us we could not find where all this storage was going. I’m up to 990 Gb on system storage and every time I delete something over it goes. To cut a long story short I’m pulling everything of the Mac on to an external HD and wiping the operating system then reinstalling it. I think this is the only way to go. This is the fourth technician and buy far the best. This guy was excited about trying to fix this issue, like it was a challenge for him. Hats of to Apple. Awesome support.

I can’t remember his name but I will post it tomorrow when I speak to him. If anyone can fix it this dude can 😀

I actually watched my system capacity from when I started my computer. For me, it seems to rise as I use my computer, and slowly, it builds up in just 20 minutes, and my computer freezes and I have to force shut it down. It does this cause too much space has been taken up by the system, so I can’t delete anything. I don’t know if this is the same problem for you, but hopefully someone can find the solution to this, because it’s really hard for me to do my homework.

My system storage was also taking up way too much space in Mac OS Sierra (over 100 GB). I tried all the online solutions that I could find, but none worked. Then a Mac repairman suggested reinstalling Mac OS Sierra. With some finagling, I managed to do so, and—voila!—the problem was fixed. Now my system storage only takes up around 12 GB. So much better!

My system storage was also taking up way too much space in Mac OS Sierra (over 100 GB). I tried all the online solutions that I could find, but none worked. Then a Mac repairman suggested reinstalling Mac OS Sierra. With some finagling, I managed to do so, and—voila!—the problem was fixed. Now my system storage only takes up around 12 GB. So much better!

I have the same problem. I spent a long time on the phone today with Apple Support and basically the two different guys couldn't tell me why my system file was so huge - approximately 85-90 GB of a total of 120 GB hard drive. My iTunes and Photos aren't even stored on the computer - they are on a separate external hard drive. They Apple guy basically said "I can't help you." I have been trying to reduce the clutter and have managed to shave a few gigs total (about four) from my machine, but the System folder still has almost 3/4 of my hard drive tied up and I am continuously getting the "you better do something quick" message.

Check this out - ***?!

Upgraded to 1TB MacBook about a month ago - started with about 470GB, and all of a sudden the computer is almost out of storage. Help? Have no idea what to do and don't want to risk losing anything. 750GB system file is nuts.