I'm slowly running out of space 300gb left from 1tb so i would like to make more space, when looking at about this Mac it shows that i have 535gb of Documents which are mostly photos and movies which are in Photo, do i need iPhoto library and iMovie library in documents if i delete anything from will it be deleted from Photo and lost or is it just deleted from Documents.Also i have somehow put an icon for "Photos Library" on my desktop which is 123gb can i delete this.
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How can i create more space
- Thread starter thewall
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Well, first of all 300GB is a LOT of space. But if you want to get rid of crap try CleanMyMac3 (it may be up to 4 now). It's been around for years and does an excellent job of getting rid of unneeded files, MANY gigabytes' worth. I use it regularly, starting with my recent upgrade from a 2007 iMac to a 2017, and it got rid of a good 20% of the drive contents, safely, which shocked me.
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I wouldn't do anything. You aren't close to running out of disk space. Nor would I recommend use of any third party "cleaner" apps. They aren't necessary, and if you haven't been paying attention recently a lot of them have been shown to be spying on users by sending browser history, bookmarks, and lists of installed app to Chinese servers.
My sense is that you need to do a couple more things. In a Finder window, use the search capability (in the upper right) to look for "iPhoto" and "iMovie." When you type the word, modifiers will appear below, and click on "name matches." Then it will find all instances of "iPhoto." Compare any duplicates.
As well, it appears from your screenshot that you have multiples of large files, such as MVI_1943 and MVI_1943_1.
As well, it appears from your screenshot that you have multiples of large files, such as MVI_1943 and MVI_1943_1.
"I wouldn't do anything. You aren't close to running out of disk space. Nor would I recommend use of any third party "cleaner" apps. They aren't necessary, and if you haven't been paying attention recently a lot of them have been shown to be spying on users by sending browser history, bookmarks, and lists of installed app to Chinese servers."
There are no such issues with CleanMyMac3. Let's avoid blanket accusations.
There are no such issues with CleanMyMac3. Let's avoid blanket accusations.
I agree that 300GB of 1TB is plenty of free space. However, if you're concerned that your hard drive shouldn't have 700GB of stuff on it...that's a different thing.
If you're using up "too much space", the only way to "increase" the free space is to start moving things to an external drive, or, throw stuff out...
300gb free on a 1Tb drive is quite adequate, at least for now. If this free space is diminishing then you will need to eventually take action. As Fishrrman correctly points out, the only fix is either adding additional storage space, either an external drive or replacing the internal with a larger drive, or curing your "addiction" (reducing your acquisition of new files and/or culling older files). For most of use, adding storage space is the only realistic answer.
The OP needs to research methods of moving the files to an external. How fast and aggressive that research needs to be depends on how fast there drive is filling. I it indeed is filling "slowly" then they have time to work on the solution, but work on finding one should not be ignored.
I don't know iPhotos/Photos or iMovie so I can't say whether they can use libraries on an external drive or not. If not, then the solution would be to either "retire" some older files from the managed libraries and archive them on an external or to move to using different library management apps.
The OP needs to research methods of moving the files to an external. How fast and aggressive that research needs to be depends on how fast there drive is filling. I it indeed is filling "slowly" then they have time to work on the solution, but work on finding one should not be ignored.
I don't know iPhotos/Photos or iMovie so I can't say whether they can use libraries on an external drive or not. If not, then the solution would be to either "retire" some older files from the managed libraries and archive them on an external or to move to using different library management apps.
Thanks for all the replies and info, maybe i didn't get across what i wanted to do, in the documents there is a lot of photos/movies and audio books which are all in iTunes and Photo if i delete a photo from documents will i still have the same photo in Photos also do i need iPhoto and iMovie library in documents what would happen if i deleted them from documents.
"in the documents there is a lot of photos/movies and audio books which are all in iTunes and Photo if i delete a photo from documents will i still have the same photo in Photos also do i need iPhoto and iMovie library in documents what would happen if i deleted them from documents."
You have to decide where you want your libraries "to be".
Most folks keep their music in the iTunes music folder (in the Music folder in your home folder), and if they use Photos, they probably just leave the Photos library inside the Pictures folder in your home folder.
If you think you may have "duplicate files", you can search for them, and then delete the duplicates.
It's difficult for people here to comment on what you have, because we are not there to see for ourselves.
If you have stuff scattered around all over, you're just going to have to "get things in order" yourself.
Perhaps it might help to keep some written notes.
It might be a good idea to do a full backup to an external drive before you begin.
That way, if you make a mistake and delete something that you shouldn't have -- you can recover it from the backup.
You have to decide where you want your libraries "to be".
Most folks keep their music in the iTunes music folder (in the Music folder in your home folder), and if they use Photos, they probably just leave the Photos library inside the Pictures folder in your home folder.
If you think you may have "duplicate files", you can search for them, and then delete the duplicates.
It's difficult for people here to comment on what you have, because we are not there to see for ourselves.
If you have stuff scattered around all over, you're just going to have to "get things in order" yourself.
Perhaps it might help to keep some written notes.
It might be a good idea to do a full backup to an external drive before you begin.
That way, if you make a mistake and delete something that you shouldn't have -- you can recover it from the backup.