Calatina

[LoopyLoo]

Hi there,

I have a MacBook Air (2015). I am trying to download Catalina 10.15.6 but don't have enough space on the hard drive. I have done all the normal things to free up space - still not enough.

I do have an external drive (WD Elements 4 TB). If I download Catalina onto the external drive will I need to manually connect it up each time I need to use my laptop? If I need to use an external drive to download the iOS would a wireless (external) hard drive not be more useful and if so any recommendations?

Thank you

L

 

[KeesMacPro]

The most common way to manage storage is to have the OS on the internal disk .
Data like photos, videos ,music etc. can be stored on an external disk if the internal disk is getting full.
This way you can keep the internal disk under max storage.
~ 20% of the space should be kept free for optimum performance e.g: if the disk is 128GB then max storage ~ 100GB

You could install an OS on an external disk, but you will have to connect it to power your MacBook on and leave it connected also at sleep.
Another caveat is that it will be (much) slower than the internal disk.

Unfortunately it's not possible to run a Mac OS from a wireless connected disk.

This may be helpful too:

How to clear System Data on Mac - iGeeksBlog

To clear System Data on Mac, 1. Delete DMG files and old downloads, 2. Uninstall browser extensions and plug-ins, 3. Remove cache files, 4. Delete Application Support files...

www.igeeksblog.com

 

[LoopyLoo]

Thanks so much. That really helps.

I already keep all photos and music on the external drive. I have no apps that I don't need and I've removed almost everything to the external drive. I basically have almost nothing on the laptop except Zotero which is full ('000++ pdfs). I'm guessing this is the source of most of my storage issues. I'm not sure if anyone uses this App or has experience with it - can you move this to the external drive? I'd have thought no. It's an app that I use all the time and so I don't want to mess with it as if I delete it or loose it...that would be bad.

Mail seems to be eating up 15GB of storage - I've adjusted all of my parameters expect the attachments - is there anything else I can do? I don't want to change to delete/remove the attachments as I read they were then gone permanently. Does that mean the attachments are gone from your gmail account i.e. if you log in to your gmail via a browser will they be there or not? I can't imagine that making an adjustment to your laptop settings could then affect your gmail account at source.

L

 

[KeesMacPro]

You're welcome.

About Zotero:
As with lots of apps you can move the folder where all the data is stored .
This can be done under advanced options:
https://www.zotero.org/support/preferences

I dont use the Mail app so i cant answer your questions about it.

Generally speaking , as explained in the link post#2 ,especially old iOS installers and obsolete iPhone backups consume a lot of GB...

 

[LoopyLoo]

Amazing. Thank you.