After Erase All Content and Settings, Bloated Macintosh HD - Data

[- rob -]

In the latest Monterey, I used System Preferences -> Erase All Content and Settings.

The fresh system came back fast, however, the Other Volumes portion of the drive still takes up 250GB of the 500GB disk.

The system OS has only been upgraded since 2018, this is the first attempt at a "from scratch" reinstall.

I had expected the vast majority of the 500GB drive to be available, apart from the 30-50GB the OS uses and for its snapshot. See attached screenshots.

Do I need to do a boot to recovery and manually clean up the drive using disk utility?

My instinct was to do this from the get go, it is "how we've always done it."

But Apple's support pages are very clear that the Erase All Content and Settings is the right way to "prepare" the Mac for a new owner.

I presume the intent here is get the machine to a factory-like state but with the newest version of the OS as quickly as possible. That's great, but the problem is there's this massive chunk of the disk seemingly unavailable.

The machine is a 2018 Mac Mini which has the T2 chip.

I don't get why the OS is hanging on to this massive volume. Could the OS just be taking its time marking old disk space free for use?

 

[sheck]

I just had a Mac mini trade in denied due to "not wiping data" -- I used the Erase All Contents and Settings to prepare it. I will need to take a look when I receive the device back to see if the same bug affected me.

 

[Artiste212]

I just had a Mac mini trade in denied due to "not wiping data" -- I used the Erase All Contents and Settings to prepare it. I will need to take a look when I receive the device back to see if the same bug affected me.

I believe this quick way of erasing a Mac only applies to M1 Macs, but all other require actually erasing the hard drive and reinstalling from Recovery.

 

[BuffyzDead]

From Apple Support: https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT212749

At the very Bottom is states:

System Preferences includes Erase All Content and Settings only when using macOS Monterey on a Mac with Apple silicon or a Mac with the Apple T2 Security Chip. If this feature isn't available or doesn't work on your Mac, follow these steps instead:

• To restore factory settings, learn what to do before you sell, give away, or trade in your Mac.
• To erase, follow the steps to erase a Mac with Apple silicon or the steps to erase an Intel-based Mac using Disk Utility.

 

[- rob -]

I believe this quick way of erasing a Mac only applies to M1 Macs, but all other require actually erasing the hard drive and reinstalling from Recovery.

As the poster above mentioned, this applies to Intel-based macs as well, so long as they have the T2 chip.

Here’s a screenshot of that page.

I just had a Mac mini trade in denied due to "not wiping data" -- I used the Erase All Contents and Settings to prepare it. I will need to take a look when I receive the device back to see if the same bug affected me.

Which Mac mini was it? When you get the machine back, please open disk utility and take screenshots of the container and volume details.

I had a recent Intel MacBook Pro turned over to me for a work machine and it has a similar problem where an old volume is taking up ~180gb of space.

It is in a different hierarchy than what I ended up with though. I’m much more hesitant to delete it since it’s a production box.

 

[Artiste212]

As the poster above mentioned, this applies to Intel-based macs as well, so long as they have the T2 chip.

Here’s a screenshot of that page.


Which Mac mini was it? When you get the machine back, please open disk utility and take screenshots of the container and volume details.

I had a recent Intel MacBook Pro turned over to me for a work machine and it has a similar problem where an old volume is taking up ~180gb of space.

It is in a different hierarchy than what I ended up with though. I’m much more hesitant to delete it since it’s a production box.

You're correct that T2 Macs also support Erase all contents and settings before trading or selling your Mac. However, I was thinking of the fact that the OP has a Mac Mini, and they never had the T2 chip. The M1 Mini was the first Mini to support this feature. Intel Mini's didn't.

 

[CoastalOR]

You're correct that T2 Macs also support Erase all contents and settings before trading or selling your Mac. However, I was thinking of the fact that the OP has a Mac Mini, and they never had the T2 chip. The M1 Mini was the first Mini to support this feature. Intel Mini's didn't.

The 2018 Mac Mini has the T2 chip.

See the link for Macs that have the T2:

Mac computers with the Apple T2 Security Chip - Apple Support

Learn which Mac computers have the Apple T2 Security Chip.

support.apple.com

 

[Artiste212]

The 2018 Mac Mini has the T2 chip.

See the link for Macs that have the T2:

Mac computers with the Apple T2 Security Chip - Apple Support

Learn which Mac computers have the Apple T2 Security Chip.

support.apple.com

Thanks for the info - I wasn't aware that the 2018 Mini had this chip.