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User profile for user: HeyImFilipF
HeyImFilipF Author
User level: Level 1
4 points

Nearly all storage used after factory reset.

Hi,


My girlfriend had a problem with storage on her MacBook Air from 2015, so I recommended her to back up all of her important things and just reset the computer to factory settings, as deleting all the junk she has there would take a lot of time.


We did that, and to my surprise, after the reset, the storage says only 21GB out of 121GB is free, 70GB is taken by "Other".


Does anybody have any clue why is that? I can see that when checking the storage there are 3 "Macintosh HD" storage each with approximately 20-25GB of free space, is it possible her disk was partitioned into 3 separate parts?


Thank you a lot for any help and have a great day to whoever reads this! ;)

MacBook Air

Posted on Nov 7, 2022 1:42 PM

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User profile for user: Todd0213
Todd0213
User level: Community Specialist

Posted on Nov 9, 2022 12:27 PM

Greetings HeyImFilipF,


That's a great question! Other storage is comprised of various types of data such as files created and modified it different users accounts, it includes macOS and macOS built-in apps, along with other information related to System Data. This information can also be found outlined in the following article, along with tips that can help with changing your storage settings.


Change Storage settings on Mac


As for the the three Macintosh HD's you're seeing, this may be due to having partitions. To delete extra partitions, you'll want to complete the steps listed below. These steps can also be found in the following article.


  1. "In the Disk Utility app  on your Mac, select a volume in the sidebar, then click the Partition button in the toolbar. If Disk Utility isn’t open, click the Launchpad icon  in the Dock, type Disk Utility in the Search field, then click the Disk Utility icon .
  2. In the Apple File System Space Sharing dialog, click Partition.
  3. In the pie chart, click the partition you want to delete, then click the Delete button . If the Delete button is dimmed, you can’t delete the selected partition.
  4. Click Apply.
  5. Read the information in the Partition Device dialog, then click Partition.
  6. After the operation finishes, click Done."


Partition a physical disk in Disk Utility on Mac


Have a great day!


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Question marked as Top-ranking reply
User profile for user: Todd0213
Todd0213
User level: Community Specialist

Nov 9, 2022 12:27 PM in response to HeyImFilipF

Greetings HeyImFilipF,


That's a great question! Other storage is comprised of various types of data such as files created and modified it different users accounts, it includes macOS and macOS built-in apps, along with other information related to System Data. This information can also be found outlined in the following article, along with tips that can help with changing your storage settings.


Change Storage settings on Mac


As for the the three Macintosh HD's you're seeing, this may be due to having partitions. To delete extra partitions, you'll want to complete the steps listed below. These steps can also be found in the following article.


  1. "In the Disk Utility app  on your Mac, select a volume in the sidebar, then click the Partition button in the toolbar. If Disk Utility isn’t open, click the Launchpad icon  in the Dock, type Disk Utility in the Search field, then click the Disk Utility icon .
  2. In the Apple File System Space Sharing dialog, click Partition.
  3. In the pie chart, click the partition you want to delete, then click the Delete button . If the Delete button is dimmed, you can’t delete the selected partition.
  4. Click Apply.
  5. Read the information in the Partition Device dialog, then click Partition.
  6. After the operation finishes, click Done."


Partition a physical disk in Disk Utility on Mac


Have a great day!


Reply

Nearly all storage used after factory reset.

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