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LauraWallTX Author

Level 1

4 points

Upgrade to MacOS Big Sur

When I try to upgrade fo MacOS Big Sur, I get an error message that I need need more disk space. 16.7GB is a whole lot of disk space - which seems unreasonable for just an update.

I just got this brand new MacBook Air in September and out of a 250GB hard drive, there is less than 10GB free. That seems weird too.

I would love to hear some suggestions and insights. Thank you in advance!

MacBook Air 13″, macOS 10.15

Posted on Nov 25, 2020 9:14 AM

Top-ranking reply

SandsOfArrakis

Level 4

1,258 points

Posted on Nov 25, 2020 9:22 AM

You'll need 16.7 gb more space to be able to install Big Sur. 35 gb is recommended for relatively later versions of MacOS while you'll need about 45 gb for older MacOS versions to upgrade from.

Have you put a lot of data on your Mac? My MacBook Air has a 256 gb SSD as well. But I have placed a lot of stuff on an external drive. Otherwise it would not fit.

Ended up with this last night after doing a fresh reinstall of Big Sur after upgrading from Catalina. Went from 80 gb free to just over 181 gb free. Left a few programs out and a lot of "other stuff" that had piled up from over 2 years worth apparently went away as well.

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Upgrade to MacOS Big Sur

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