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macos big sur storage

does the new macos big sur (which is 12GB) replace the old macos storage (11GB) on my mac ? or is it additional space ? I'm afraid that I'll run out of storage

MacBook Air 13″, macOS 10.15

Posted on Dec 12, 2020 3:53 PM

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Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Posted on Dec 12, 2020 4:39 PM

You will need a whole lot more than that. At a minimum, it requires 35 GB of space for the download and install. If you are on earlier OS versions, it will require 45 GB of space.


Additionally, you should always maintain an absolute minimum of 10 - 15 GB of empty space for the OS to function properly. Aside from storage space, your disk also contains the OS and system files which need room to function properly, especially on an SSD for its garbage collection process. If you allow it to get close to full or completely full, your computer will simply stop responding or functioning. At that point, it will be almost impossible to rescue or move off some files.

3 replies
Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Dec 12, 2020 4:39 PM in response to taif149

You will need a whole lot more than that. At a minimum, it requires 35 GB of space for the download and install. If you are on earlier OS versions, it will require 45 GB of space.


Additionally, you should always maintain an absolute minimum of 10 - 15 GB of empty space for the OS to function properly. Aside from storage space, your disk also contains the OS and system files which need room to function properly, especially on an SSD for its garbage collection process. If you allow it to get close to full or completely full, your computer will simply stop responding or functioning. At that point, it will be almost impossible to rescue or move off some files.

macos big sur storage

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