Long Mac Storage Calculation Time

The categories shown there are based on Spotlight’s index. Rebuilding that index may clear up the never-ending calculation.

Rebuild the Spotlight index on your Mac - Apple Support

However, it won’t clear up your nearly full drive, that’s something you’ll have to address.

That Storage display is unreliable useless eye candy so I never look at it.

Instead, check free disk space via Disk Utility.

You can use the third party app like OmniDiskSweeper to locate the largest files/folders to identify where the largest amount of data is being held.

But do NOT use any "cleaners" like CleanMyMac because they often badly corrupt the system.

Predicated on your Screen Shot

The internal Drive has a Drive Capacity of 256 GB

It is using 222.6 GB of the Entire Drive leaving only 33.4 GB of Free Space

Doing the math

This represents 86.95 % usage

Being a Semi Developer ie Developer using 1.95 GB of usable space

We are of the opinion that either you do some;

1 - Serious cleanups

2 - Purchase a high-capacity external drive and move all Photos, Videos, Music, iPhone and iPad backups, and any other large files the user has created OFF the internal drive and ON TO the External Drive.

3 - A 256 GB Drive Capacity in 2025 is akin to when Apple sold the enormously large 128 GB Drive Capacity Drive back in the days of yore

What do you see as a possible solution ?

Just to add to the chatter

To really see the Used versus the Free space on this drive

Use Disk Utilities is way more reliable and accurate that the Spotlight figures

Haden_Contingency wrote:

I'll try option 1, but would it resolve the long calculation time?

Let us ( you and others ) see and think about this

Documents 49.69 GB moved out of the drive and onto the External Drive

This, in the long term will be a temporary solution

Without harping on this too much

The current configuration ( 256 GB ) Drive Capacity just will not work except for what some have already mentioned

Web Browsing, emails and some word processing

Haden_Contingency wrote:

My MacBook Air M2 Chip takes a very long time to calculate the storage. I tried several methods like cleaning the trash, restarting my Mac, and it still wouldn't do anything to resolve this issue.

Unfortunately, this can't be fixed. Your hard drive is too small. Those 256 GB hard drives are only suitable for special purpose computers. 512 GB is the absolute, bare minimum for an actual computer. Any professional use of any kind requires at least 1 TB.

Just to add, there are users with more than 256GB on their iPhones and iPads. That's very small to do anything more than surf the web, email and simple word processing.