How come when I delete files the amount doesn’t change?

[machenryr]

So I’ve noticed this for sometime. When I delete files to make took in my various SSDs and HD command i doesn’t show volume size. Nor does the disk utility. Any idea why or what the method is for checking current size?

 

[machenryr]

Nobody? Is it just my system that's screwed up again? I've deleted many, many GB and the available and used GB remains virtually unchanged. Is this normal? Why? Does it require a reboot? I've emptied the trash repeatedly.

 

[Allyance]

The question is does the Mac OS delete the entire file or like DOS (you remember that?) only delete the first character of the file name leaving the rest of the file on the disk. The FAT or file allocation table then frees up the space to be used again, slowly writing over the original data. Peter Norton made a fortune on his disk tools and Disk Doctor which could show the file name without the first character and if you knew it could put it back, thus "recover" the file. This question will require expert knowledge the the way Mac OS handles files and reports space, which I do not have.

 

[machenryr]

The question is does the Mac OS delete the entire file or like DOS (you remember that?) only delete the first character of the file name leaving the rest of the file on the disk. The FAT or file allocation table then frees up the space to be used again, slowly writing over the original data. Peter Norton made a fortune on his disk tools and Disk Doctor which could show the file name without the first character and if you knew it could put it back, thus "recover" the file. This question will require expert knowledge the the way Mac OS handles files and reports space, which I do not have.

Thank you. Damn. I'm not exactly sure what you're saying. I USED to do this all the time. I know what DOS is - I'm definitely old enough, but never been a PC guy. Whenever I deleted files I hit command i to see how much space I made. I don't know why Mac OS would have changed this. I'm also wondering whether this is expected behavior or something strange in my system. I delete gobs of GB but I see now change in the size of the disk.

 

[dsemf]

Thank you. Damn. I'm not exactly sure what you're saying. I USED to do this all the time. I know what DOS is - I'm definitely old enough, but never been a PC guy. Whenever I deleted files I hit command i to see how much space I made. I don't know why Mac OS would have changed this. I'm also wondering whether this is expected behavior or something strange in my system. I delete gobs of GB but I see now change in the size of the disk.

The space is probably tied up in snapshots.

$ tmutil listlocalsnapshots /
Snapshots for volume group containing disk /:
com.apple.TimeMachine.2020-11-19-145637.local
com.apple.TimeMachine.2020-12-01-100830.local
com.apple.TimeMachine.2020-12-01-122712.local
com.apple.TimeMachine.2020-12-01-144413.local
com.apple.TimeMachine.2020-12-01-163815.local
com.apple.TimeMachine.2020-12-01-204651.local
com.bombich.ccc.0455632A-D137-4CD3-B3B2-866E24D39694.2020-11-12-081700
com.bombich.ccc.BD5909AC-3152-41CA-9EF9-1FC58D0D499B.2020-11-11-181005

I have 3 TimeMachine disks, one of which was last used on 11/19. When I use that one, the 11/19 snapshot will be deleted.

Intermediate snapshots are generally retained for 24 hours.

DS

 

[machenryr]

The space is probably tied up in snapshots.

$ tmutil listlocalsnapshots /
Snapshots for volume group containing disk /:
com.apple.TimeMachine.2020-11-19-145637.local
com.apple.TimeMachine.2020-12-01-100830.local
com.apple.TimeMachine.2020-12-01-122712.local
com.apple.TimeMachine.2020-12-01-144413.local
com.apple.TimeMachine.2020-12-01-163815.local
com.apple.TimeMachine.2020-12-01-204651.local
com.bombich.ccc.0455632A-D137-4CD3-B3B2-866E24D39694.2020-11-12-081700
com.bombich.ccc.BD5909AC-3152-41CA-9EF9-1FC58D0D499B.2020-11-11-181005

I have 3 TimeMachine disks, one of which was last used on 11/19. When I use that one, the 11/19 snapshot will be deleted.

Intermediate snapshots are generally retained for 24 hours.

DS

Oh wow. Sure. OK. That makes sense. I only started useing TM a couple of years ago and for real less than a year ago. Thank you.

 

[machenryr]

I turned off TM last week when it kept saying there was no more room. I'm not well trained in TM. This is one of the reasons I tried to delete files. I also use CCC and Blaze. Do you think those also will hold on to these snapshots. I'm sure CCC doesn't as it just a straight copy maker on a schedule. . I think Blaze is the same.

I had thought TM makes room by releasing the oldest snapshots first. I'm pretty sure I checked that option. Hm.

Thanks.

 

[mdwsta4]

Do you empty your trash and/or restart your machine after you delete large files?

 

[machenryr]

Do you empty your trash and/or restart your machine after you delete large files?

Yes. Of course. That’s what led me to ask.

 

[dsemf]

I turned off TM last week when it kept saying there was no more room. I'm not well trained in TM. This is one of the reasons I tried to delete files. I also use CCC and Blaze. Do you think those also will hold on to these snapshots. I'm sure CCC doesn't as it just a straight copy maker on a schedule. . I think Blaze is the same.

I had thought TM makes room by releasing the oldest snapshots first. I'm pretty sure I checked that option. Hm.

Thanks.

If the destination is full, it will delete the oldest backups.

I believe recent versions of CCC will use APFS snapshots for SafetyNet. If you look at my terminal list, there are two CCC snapshots.

If you open Carbon Copy Cloner and click on the - Data volume in the volume list, it will show you all of the snapshots, TM and CCC.