Other Users taking up a bunch of space, but I cannot find the files.

Question

Other Users taking up a bunch of space, but I cannot find the files.

Hi there!

My Macintosh HD is filled with about 200gb of files that I cannot seem to find and i have no idea what or where they are. If I Get Info on my Macintosh HD, I see that I have used 806gb, but if I do get info on each of the folders within Macintosh HD (Users, Library, Applications, System), it adds up to only 607.69gb.

70.94 + 32.86 + 84.87 + 419.02 = 607.69

Even weirder, my "Storage" tab in System Information shows that there are 231gbs of storage used by "Other Users"

Would love some assistance, so I can use my full drive again! :) Thank you!

[Image Edited by Moderator to Remove Serial Number]

MacBook Pro 16″, macOS 12.3

Posted on Apr 15, 2022 5:11 PM

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Answer 1

HWTech

Level 9

59,846 points

Apr 16, 2022 10:21 PM in response to APerfectParadox

Not to be insulting, but make sure to empty the Trash. Sometimes it is easy to forget.

Also make sure your backups have completely transferred to your external media so that the APFS snapshots can be deleted. These APFS snapshots will contain any data you may have deleted after the snapshot was created. The data will still exist & take up space until the snapshot is removed.

View APFS snapshots in Disk Utility on Mac - Apple Support

You can use OmniDiskSweeper to identify where the largest files/folders are located.

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Answer 2

Apr 18, 2022 11:12 AM in response to HWTech

Thank you so much for your insight about the APFS snapshots, this will definitely be a useful troubleshooting tip in the future, however it is unfortunately unlikely the problem right now. I am only seeing two snapshots totaling only about 20gb.

I love omnidisksweeper, but unfortunately it supports my own calculations of what my computer should be in terms of storage capacity (~600 instead of ~800) 😭

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Answer 3

ku4hx

Level 7

23,586 points

Apr 15, 2022 10:46 PM in response to APerfectParadox

Look in their Home folders. But unless security has been established to allow access to other user's home folders, you'll need to login as each user to view them.

If you are an administrator, you can remove the other users and elect to keep or remove their Home folder. That being a good idea or not can only be decided by the owner of the Mac and what other users "allow" to be done to them.

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Answer 4

Apr 18, 2022 10:42 AM in response to ku4hx

Hi! I included the total space taken up by the Users folder which includes each individual User folder. I also have access to both user accounts (I created both) and they add up to about 420 not 600.

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Answer 5

HWTech

Level 9

59,846 points

Apr 18, 2022 6:27 PM in response to APerfectParadox

I see "iCloud Drive" on your screenshot of your original post. I wonder if the data is due to iCloud Drive. I don't use iCloud so I'm not sure how it figures into the numbers.

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Other Users taking up a bunch of space, but I cannot find the files.

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