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My Mac is running out of space. Of the 250 GB, 105GB are listed in grey as 'other'. What can be using up all this storage space?? I don't know how to find out, or if it uncludes things ai don't need and can delete or move out of the internal HD. ??

My Mac is running out of space. Of the 250 GB, 105GB are listed in grey as 'other'. What can be using up all this storage space?? I don't know how to find out, or if it includes things I don't need and can delete or move out of the internal HD. ??

MacBook Pro 13″, OS X 10.11

Posted on Oct 19, 2021 10:24 AM

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Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Posted on Oct 19, 2021 4:28 PM

What is “Other” storage on a Mac, and how can I clean it out?


Free up storage space on your Mac


OmniDiskSweeper safe to use


See used and available storage space on your Mac

And the Final Word from Apple on managing the " Other " category


  • Other: Contains files that don’t fall into the categories listed here. This category primarily includes files and data used by the system, such as log files, caches, VM files, and other runtime system resources. Also included are temporary files, fonts, app support files, and plug-ins. You can't manage the contents of this category. The contents are managed by macOS, and the category varies in size depending on the current state of your Mac.



2 replies
Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Oct 19, 2021 4:28 PM in response to Kundalini21

What is “Other” storage on a Mac, and how can I clean it out?


Free up storage space on your Mac


OmniDiskSweeper safe to use


See used and available storage space on your Mac

And the Final Word from Apple on managing the " Other " category


  • Other: Contains files that don’t fall into the categories listed here. This category primarily includes files and data used by the system, such as log files, caches, VM files, and other runtime system resources. Also included are temporary files, fonts, app support files, and plug-ins. You can't manage the contents of this category. The contents are managed by macOS, and the category varies in size depending on the current state of your Mac.



Oct 19, 2021 11:33 AM in response to Kundalini21

The Other category is a potpourri of files which can 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: browser, Mail

• Mail messages & attachments

• Fonts, plugins, extensions

• Safari reading list

• iTunes backups

• Crud resulting from jailbreaking your iDevice

• Game data

• Saved data files

• Call history

• Notes

• Media

• Voice memos

• 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

• Files created and modified by other user accounts on your Mac.


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. 


My Mac is running out of space. Of the 250 GB, 105GB are listed in grey as 'other'. What can be using up all this storage space?? I don't know how to find out, or if it uncludes things ai don't need and can delete or move out of the internal HD. ??

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