More than 80GB out of my total storage which is 245GB is consumed by Mac OS and system data it self. please help me to reduce it. And I haven't used Time Machine to have issues related to it. I am not interested in upgrading iCloud from basic 5GB and don't want to use external hard disk as back up using Time Machine.
[Re-Titled by Moderator]
MacBook Air 13″, macOS 15.4
The correct path to System Data is /System/Volume/Data
As such, this becomes part of the Operating System once you have Setup your User Account on the computer
We can offer what might be in this Volume but to clear it out - forget about this
The category is a collection 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
•Time Machine Backup Snapshots that have not been transferred to the TM Backup Drive
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 free app, GrandPerspective , 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.
The correct path to System Data is /System/Volume/Data
As such, this becomes part of the Operating System once you have Setup your User Account on the computer
We can offer what might be in this Volume but to clear it out - forget about this
The category is a collection 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
•Time Machine Backup Snapshots that have not been transferred to the TM Backup Drive
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 free app, GrandPerspective , 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.
How long has it been since you shut down and restarted your Mac?
Are you updating and/or backing up any iDevices to that computer? On one of my Macs, system data was over 80GB; removing downloaded iOS installers alone cleared half of that.
Example from another Mac of System Settings > General > Storage > iOS files:
Probably not by much. Check your snap shots in disk utility and delete if too many listed.
Add On
As per your illustration image above - the computer has less than 10% of the entire drive capacity Useable
Doing a quick Thumbnail estimate - about 50% of what is occupying space are Photos
The get a real and accurate view of Free versus Used space
Use Disk Utilities as all other methods are less accurate
I didnt understand much but to my understanding I see that you havent explained much about system data and Mac OS. And could you please say step wise clearly how to check and delete unnecessary files. Because once I have deleted all the temp files, cache files along with some other files which were taking space in GB's then my laptop didnt work properly. It took few day to work like widgets and all.
I dont want to mess up my laptop when it doesn't have warranty.😅
I can't delete pics and documents doesnt take much storage. so want to increase storage by reducing system data and mac os only.
I would suggest you step away from this for maybe 10 minutes
Also, stop trying to compose all the replies
Spend so time re-read all the Detailed Information already supplied
Many of your more recent questions have already been answered
how to check Disk Utilities?
can you explain step by step?
Actually your system data is low as compared to most users.
I’m glad to know, but can’t it be reduced even further?
How can I reduce 'System Data' and 'macOS' to clear storage space on my MacBook Air?
