macOS High Sierra – Huge System Storage

I found the solution to this issue for my computer. My system storage was around 150gigs, I tried a few ideas like looking for timemachine snapshot but I didn't have any. I cleared out all the large files and still it was 150gigs.

I started doing a "get info" on every folder on my HD. And narrowed it down to /Library/Application Support/Symantec/AntiVirus there was 150 gigs of old scanning data for everyday that the software scanned.

I also found out that some parts of the Symantec app had been moved to my Incompatible Software folder and was no longer opening on startup, must have happened when I upgraded to Sierra. I'm guessing without the software fully running, its scanning and storing the info, but never deleting the old files like it should.

I'll have to have my IT department reinstall and see if it keeps storing all that info or if it starts deleting it again.

I had the same problem too; after a short investigation with specific software (eg: Dr. Cleaner) in my case the space was occupied by bitcoin blockchain, which I used to test it.

After its deletion, I had about 180GB free back again.

I had the same problem and after trying endless solutions (including the ones posted in this thread) that didn't work for me, and ultimately the only thing that fixed it was doing a clean install of the new OS from a boot drive.

In case you're still searching for an answer, or in case someone else with this problem comes upon this thread, I posted a more detailed update regarding what ultimately worked over in my thread regarding this hidden space / system storage problem; Re: Cannot find or remove 100+GB of "Hidden Space

Hopefully that helps people who haven't been able to fix this yet with any of the other available solutions out there.

I had the same problem. googled about it tried different things, nothing work.

eventually, I decided to reset my MacBook Pro, reinstall the OS, and restore it from Time Machine.

in the restore option, you will see the file and document restore option the did categorized the those miscellaneous files into one check box item, and make sure you don't check that one.

happily using my MacBook Pro now with the received ~100GB

I had the same problem and wasted many ours trying to find the problem. My problem was not related to time machine as I was still using of 250 GB for system storage after I used terminal to remove the backups. Eventually , feeling untrusting of downloading and paying for software for something that apple should handle themselves, I paid for and downloaded "Clean my Mac". 10 minutes later I had reclaimed over 200GB of storage. Well done to clean my Mac for creating a program that actually works. I am very frustrated with apple that this should have been necessary. We pay a premium for our MacBook pro's and problems like this should not occur.

I was having the same problem and just found a solution.

In my case, I had a 250gb hidden folder used by the Mail app filled with what was likely just runaway draft messages. If you use IMAP for a Google or Gmail account, this could be your issue as well.

First, in Mail, delete all the Drafts for that email account. Then, to prevent this in the future, go to the preferences for that account in Mail and change the Mailbox Behavior for Drafts to "On My Mac".

Quit Mail.

Then, use OmniDiskSweeper, free download from the highly reputable OmniGroup, https://www.omnigroup.com/more

After you open from the Finder though. Quit and open it again using Terminal so that it will have permission to look inside hidden folders. In Terminal and type:

sudo /Applications/OmniDiskSweeper.app/Contents/MacOS/OmniDiskSweeper

Then in OmniDiskSweeper, select the drive and click "Sweep"

After the sweep, I was able to drill down through the biggest folders along this path:

[user]/Library/Mail/V5/B83...(long code)/[Gmail].mbox/Drafts.mbox/4D3......(long code)/Data/

Inside that "Data" folder is a set of folders named with a single numeral (e.g., "0"). I think there were nine or ten. And within them, there was 250gb worth of coded files ending in ".emlx" scattered deeply through uncountable more single numeral folders.

To be safe, what I did was open that Data folder in the finder (there's a button in OmniDiskSweeper. Then in the Finder, open each one of the numeral folders which it contained. So I had nine or ten open single numeral folder windows (actually I did it in Finder tabs).

I then selected and trashed the contents of each one of those single numeral folders under Data. Literally millions of .emlx files and their folders.

Once I was done. I re-indexed spotlight via terminal: "sudo mdutil -i on /" waited an hour then restarted. After another hour or two, the Storage graph under About this Mac confirmed it. I had cleared 250gb of space with nothing lost (except maybe some old email drafts).

Hope this helps.

I had the exactly same problems and deleted the Antivirus folder completely. Now the system storage has reduced from 239GB to 22.74GB!! Just hope this action will not invite virus to the computer or affect the use of the computer in anyway. I am wondering whether the entire symantec should be removed or not. What have you found out with your IT department?

Thanks!

The problem in my case was apple mail logs. The logs were taking up 220 Gigabytes, almost half my hard drive!!!

I deleted them and recovered the space

To Turn this off, go to Mail, Window, Connection Doctor and turn off logging

I have spoken to Apple support about this before. DO NOT TO ATTEMPT TO DELETE SYSTEM FILES. You run a risk of breaking something important.

From what I understand, the most likely reason for this is local time machine backup snapshots. You are best to ignore it, and from what I have heard if your storage gets full, your Mac should begin to delete unnecessary files.

I know it seems worrying, but try to ignore it until it becomes a problem. I have a 128gb MacBook, and it concerned me when system took up 40GB!!

try to ignore it for now, sorry for lack of a more definitive answer but I personally believe this is a better idea than trying to input lines of code from random websites on the internet in the hope of doing something!

hope this helps!

@Yairkauf

Try rebooting your computer and pressing and holding all the following at the same time CMD + OPT + ”P” + “R” before the Apple logo release after you hear the Apple chime twice, then let it boot up.

This clears the random memory (RAM) which could potentially be throwing your reading to an older result.

Else try this step again but refresh the SMC. (Shift + CMD + OPT)

JamBeats tip worked perfectly for me. 4 TimeMachine files found. After their deletion, System went from 211GB down to 142GB, a much more believable size. Thanks for the tip! 🙂

Hi, no, in the 686GB /, / means the top level of the partition or drive, all of it in other words, or how much space is used on the whole drive.

have this problem too. after discussion with support reinstalled system, folder were about 30Gb smaller (from 150 GBs to 120), but it is even too big and with every hour it is about 1Gb bigger, free space - smaller.

@lisalee55 have you seen @sageonthehill's answer on page 3?

He/she had the same problem I had - a log file was building up, consuming System space.

Check it out. HTH