"Other" Storage Removal

Yep. There’s that same 5.37 GB partition.

Everything looks quite normal.

By the way, that VM (Virtual Memory) Volume will change its size, as your machine uses Virtual Memory. It will change size in integer multiples of 2^30 Bytes (shown as 1.07 GB).

So far, I have not seen a Storage Category that explicitly accounts for this Volume, so I would expect this Volume, along with Preboot and Recovery (shown as “1 Not Mounted”) Volumes, to be lumped under “Other” storage.

(The System storage category seems to always match what your earlier images showed as “macOS Big Sur” [now showing as “Untitled”].)

The Other category is a potpourri of files which include:

• System temporary files

• macOS system folders

• Archives and disk images (.zip, .iso, etc. - often found in the Downloads folder)

• Personal user data

• Files from the user’s library (Application Support, iCloud files, screensavers, etc.)

• Cache files

• Fonts, plugins, extensions

• Other files that are not recognized by a Spotlight search

• Media files that cannot be classified by Spotlight as a media file because they are located inside of a package

They can be located anywhere on your hard drive. The files that you have control over are located in the Documents, Downloads, Pictures, Music and Movies folders.  You can use either of these two free apps, GrandPerspective  or OmniDiscSweeper, to find the largest files on your drive so you can determine if they can be deleted or moved to an external HD for storage.  

Note:  you can empty the Downloads folder after the apps and/or updates that were downloaded have been installed or applied.  Many users have found a couple of Gigabytes of files in their Downloads folder which are no longer needed. 

It's not a location of unneeded files. It's a descriptive category given to files that don't easily match the main categories. If you were able to delete those files, you would be left with a non-working Mac.

Welcome, garrettfromtiffin, to Apple Support Communities!

Did you happen to notice whether the new Available space is about the same as before the reinstall? Or do you now have less space Available?

One thing you can do to check whether there’s some issue is to use Disk Utility, setting it to show All Devices, to see if there are any extra Volumes.

Well, garrettfromtiffin, there is something wrong with your first Disk Utility image: It is not showing the various Volumes, but only a subset.

Did you set Disk Utility to show All Devices?

However. From your other two Disk Utility images, there is only, on the order of, a single Giga Byte of Volumes not shown. That is about right.

So. It appears that everything is probably as it should be, and you simply have some additional space being used on your “macOS Big Sur - Data” Volume.

Oh. One more thing!

I do notice that there is about a 5 GB discrepancy between the total Drive size that Disk Utility is showing (245.11 GB) vs. what is showing in Storage (251 GB).

Do you have, or have you had, a partition set up for Windows, or some other Operating System (OS)?

Well, garrettfromtiffin, looking at my M1 Mac mini, with a 2 TB SSD, I do see a 5.37 GB partition at the top level of the SSD (along with a small, 524.3 MB partition) that takes away from the Container upon which we find “Macintosh HD” and “Data” Volumes (the names differ from yours, but they have the corresponding uses), among three others.

Actually, garrettfromtiffin, the “Other” storage category has been “Normal” for several macOS versions, now.

However, what it (and the System storage category) has meant has changed with macOS version. (However, the meanings in Big Sur seem to match those of Catalina.)

In pretty much all cases, it has been the “catch all” category, for anything that is not recognized as belonging to any of the other categories.

In addition, if you watch that “Storage” view (from “About this Mac”), you will, likely, catch the Operating System (OS) recategorizing storage! The total will remain the same, but some “Other” will be recategorized under various other, more specific storage categories.

(I’ve seen this in Bug Sur, Catalina, and iPadOS versions.)

The "Other" category is a portion of the disk that doesn't fit into the other categories (such as Apps, Documents, etc.) Don't delete it.

So, garrettfromtiffin, are you saying that after the reinstall, you now have less Storage Available?

Please use Disk Utility as I’ve outlines, to check on the Drive Volumes.