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Exactly what is purgeable space and more importantly what is in it?
I only have 101 GB free of a 1TB SSD drive, however, 373 GB is purgeable. So what exactly am I deleting here if I purge the drive? I am a bit nervous...
Thanks
iMac 27″ 5K, macOS 12.5
Optimizing the storage only deletes temporary and cache files which are going to be deleted at some point anyway...it won't touch your documents. The "purgeable" space may also include hidden APFS snapshots usually associated with Time Machine backups (or from other third party backup software)....these backup snapshots are deleted some time after transferring the backup to external backup media.
Here is an Apple article which mentions "Purgeable" space which I quote here:
Get detailed information about a disk in Disk Utility on Mac - Apple Support
* Amount of space available, which can include both free space and “purgeable space”—or space that macOS can free up when needed by removing files from your computer (you can’t manually remove the files that are designated purgeable, but macOS removes them as space is required)
Optimizing the storage only deletes temporary and cache files which are going to be deleted at some point anyway...it won't touch your documents. The "purgeable" space may also include hidden APFS snapshots usually associated with Time Machine backups (or from other third party backup software)....these backup snapshots are deleted some time after transferring the backup to external backup media.
Here is an Apple article which mentions "Purgeable" space which I quote here:
Get detailed information about a disk in Disk Utility on Mac - Apple Support
* Amount of space available, which can include both free space and “purgeable space”—or space that macOS can free up when needed by removing files from your computer (you can’t manually remove the files that are designated purgeable, but macOS removes them as space is required)
Purgebale is essentially temporary files and caches created by the OS in its normal operation. The OS will manage this material on its own, deleting it if it needs space, but you can do so also.
Thanks for the reply. But how to be sure if I ask to optimize the drive that it will not be deleted photos or documents, for example?
purgeable ok?
