Originally posted Nov 10, 2019
FINAL UPDATE: Issue located and eliminated!
I've used Disk Drill¹︎ by CleverFiles since accidentally re-formatting an important hard drive earlier this year. It recovered my files splendidly. Afterwards, I allowed it to run S.M.A.R.T. monitoring in the background and (apparently) it was also running some data protection processes.
The Issue
Disk Drill data protection includes creating hidden archives of deleted files—in case they need to be restored. When this is working properly, archives are limited to a percentage of free disk space. In my case, something went wrong with management of the archive; it was allowed to swell until it completely filled available space on my SSD. When I would delete a file, Disk Drill would then begin reclaiming it to store as an archive.
Research
Even with the highest level of administrator and disk access, DaisyDisk was only able to label the archives as "Hidden Space". It could not tell me where the space was in my file system, what it was, or what created it. So I started my MacBook Pro from an external hard drive containing a bootable copy of Mojave. I then ran DaisyDisk²︎ on the internal SSD of my MacBook Pro (the Mac HD - Data partition).
DaisyDisk found a hidden folder called .cleverfiles using over 230 GB in my SSD root directory. The Mojave Finder labeled the .cleverfiles folder size as 2.8 GB. Somehow .cleverfiles isn't listed at all when booted from my internal SSD (even with hidden files shown).
A web search for CleverFiles led me straight to Disk Drill. I also found many other forum posts with users who experienced the same issue spanning many years and multiple versions of macOS X. Most of the solutions involved deleting Disk Drill via the preferences window, as this should also delete the archives. That didn't work for me, neither did CleanMyMac.
Solution
My final solution was to again startup from my external Mojave drive and manually delete the .cleverfiles folder. While Finder still listed it as only 2.8 GB, the trash emptied for almost ten minutes and tens of thousands of files were deleted.
Conclusion
Not only did Disk Drill run amok with its archiving process, it stored the archives in a super-hidden folder that circumvents normal directory services. CleverFiles will be hearing from me very soon. In the meantime, I now have 240 GB of free space, which has remained for the past hour with no signs of dropping. So... back to work!
¹︎Downloaded via SetApp, a monthly app store service I highly recommend.
²︎DaisyDisk requires Full Disk Access via macOS Security preferences AND needs to 'Scan as Administrator'. The second part requires downloading the full version of DaisyDisk from their website, which is free to use if you purchased the Mac AppStore version.
FINAL UPDATE: Issue located and eliminated!
I've used Disk Drill¹︎ by CleverFiles since accidentally re-formatting an important hard drive earlier this year. It recovered my files splendidly. Afterwards, I allowed it to run S.M.A.R.T. monitoring in the background and (apparently) it was also running some data protection processes.
The Issue
Disk Drill data protection includes creating hidden archives of deleted files—in case they need to be restored. When this is working properly, archives are limited to a percentage of free disk space. In my case, something went wrong with management of the archive; it was allowed to swell until it completely filled available space on my SSD. When I would delete a file, Disk Drill would then begin reclaiming it to store as an archive.
Research
Even with the highest level of administrator and disk access, DaisyDisk was only able to label the archives as "Hidden Space". It could not tell me where the space was in my file system, what it was, or what created it. So I started my MacBook Pro from an external hard drive containing a bootable copy of Mojave. I then ran DaisyDisk²︎ on the internal SSD of my MacBook Pro (the Mac HD - Data partition).
DaisyDisk found a hidden folder called .cleverfiles using over 230 GB in my SSD root directory. The Mojave Finder labeled the .cleverfiles folder size as 2.8 GB. Somehow .cleverfiles isn't listed at all when booted from my internal SSD (even with hidden files shown).
A web search for CleverFiles led me straight to Disk Drill. I also found many other forum posts with users who experienced the same issue spanning many years and multiple versions of macOS X. Most of the solutions involved deleting Disk Drill via the preferences window, as this should also delete the archives. That didn't work for me, neither did CleanMyMac.
Solution
My final solution was to again startup from my external Mojave drive and manually delete the .cleverfiles folder. While Finder still listed it as only 2.8 GB, the trash emptied for almost ten minutes and tens of thousands of files were deleted.
Conclusion
Not only did Disk Drill run amok with its archiving process, it stored the archives in a super-hidden folder that circumvents normal directory services. CleverFiles will be hearing from me very soon. In the meantime, I now have 240 GB of free space, which has remained for the past hour with no signs of dropping. So... back to work!
¹︎Downloaded via SetApp, a monthly app store service I highly recommend.
²︎DaisyDisk requires Full Disk Access via macOS Security preferences AND needs to 'Scan as Administrator'. The second part requires downloading the full version of DaisyDisk from their website, which is free to use if you purchased the Mac AppStore version.
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