Managing Mac storage

[Webcat86]

I'm using around 500GB of a 1TB drive, and have been looking at what's taking up the space. I have DaisyDisk for giving me a file tree but MacOS itself is pretty vague.

"Documents" is over 71gb, but it's including more than just my Documents folder

"System data" is over 52gb, with MacOS taking an additional 25gb - so around 78gb to the system?

 

[satcomer]

It's your Internet cache that's taking up space! Download the free Onyx and run it's 'Maintenance' routines and let it reboot your Mac this should be done about one every 3-4 months! This should free up some space!

 

[Webcat86]

It's your Internet cache that's taking up space! Download the free Onyx and run it's 'Maintenance' routines and let it reboot your Mac this should be done about one every 3-4 months! This should free up some space!

I still have around 700gb available so I'm not hurting for space, I just want to know what's where - is there a benefit to clearing it? Any downside? (I never delete my cookies and cache because it always used to forget your history and logins)

 

[satcomer]

Years as and old tech I've noticed through the years Internet cache exploding with online game, YouTube/videos and Internet cache can go by gigabytes now! Clean Internet ache every 3-4 weeks can keep that in check!

 

[Webcat86]

Years as and old tech I've noticed through the years Internet cache exploding with online game, YouTube/videos and Internet cache can go by gigabytes now! Clean Internet ache every 3-4 weeks can keep that in check!

But is there any benefit to clearing it if the computer isn’t low on space?

 

[KALLT]

But is there any benefit to clearing it if the computer isn’t low on space?

No, not unless you have a corrupt cache that causes problems (which in my experience is rare). The system and applications create caches to avoid having to needlessly reload data from the network, re-process data and so forth. Deleting them only causes the system and apps to recreate them, potentially wasting energy and bandwidth. Not to mention it could cause data loss, depending on what any particular app considers “cache”.

The “system data” category in the storage management window just has all the data that does not fall within any of the categories above it. It has caches, temporary files, supporting app files, logs and swap/VM among others, perhaps even Spotlight indexes and APFS snapshots.

 

[satcomer]

But is there any benefit to clearing it if the computer isn’t low on space?

I say this if you want to keep your Intent cache in check! That what I said first if Maintenance routines are done once every 3 or four months can keep you Mac humming along cleanly!

 

[Webcat86]

No, not unless you have a corrupt cache that causes problems (which in my experience is rare). The system and applications create caches to avoid having to needlessly reload data from the network, re-process data and so forth. Deleting them only causes the system and apps to recreate them, potentially wasting energy and bandwidth. Not to mention it could cause data loss, depending on what any particular app considers “cache”.

The “system data” category in the storage management window just has all the data that does not fall within any of the categories above it. It has caches, temporary files, supporting app files, logs and swap/VM among others, perhaps even Spotlight indexes and APFS snapshots.

Thanks for the explanation, that's really helpful

 

[HDFan]

I have DaisyDisk for giving me a file tree but MacOS itself is pretty vague.

DaisyDisk can be very helpful, but it takes some digging. There are a lot of caches, backups, app files, etc. that can take up space. Places to look:

1. /Users/username/library/Application support

You can drill down as necessary to see where disk is being used. Application support often shows big disk users. For example I have some IOS Imazing backups that take up 112 GB. If you backup your IOS devices locally then those backups can take a lot of space.

2. /Library/Caches

My backup apps take up a lot of space here.

3. Boot drive Hidden Space (in Daisy Disk)

Time Machine temporary backups and caches. Snapshots.

MaKe sure you have good backups before deleting things. Make sure you know the affects when deleting specific files. Be sure to keep at least 20%-30% of you boot drive free. You can experience performance problems otherwise.

 

[Webcat86]

DaisyDisk can be very helpful, but it takes some digging. There are a lot of caches, backups, app files, etc. that can take up space. Places to look:

1. /Users/username/library/Application support

You can drill down as necessary to see where disk is being used. Application support often shows big disk users. For example I have some IOS Imazing backups that take up 112 GB. If you backup your IOS devices locally then those backups can take a lot of space.

2. /Library/Caches

My backup apps take up a lot of space here.

3. Boot drive Hidden Space (in Daisy Disk)

Time Machine temporary backups and caches. Snapshots.

MaKe sure you have good backups before deleting things. Make sure you know the affects when deleting specific files. Be sure to keep at least 20%-30% of you boot drive free. You can experience performance problems otherwise.

Thanks for this. I wouldn’t be comfortable deleting anything in those areas. After clearing up the bin, some media files, removing an old iOS backup and some other things, I freed up a couple hundred Gb. I’m now using around 320gb of a 1tb drive, so I’ve no desire to delete things I’m unsure of.

I’m also taking delivery of a new Mac in a month or so, so any redundant files should also be left behind. I’ll be going from intel to M1 so debating the best way to migrate. Think I’ll just restore iCloud then drag specific folders from Time Machine, rather than restoring a full backup

 

[HDFan]

Think I’ll just restore iCloud then drag specific folders from Time Machine, rather than restoring a full backup

If you don't have any licensed apps installed that might work. I just did the migration using migration assistant, skipped applications (since M1 might need new ones), but did migrate over my user directory. Turns out almost all of my licensed apps saw their licenses and worked with no problem after the install. Probably migrated stuff I don't need but worth it as the apps just work.

Don't rely on a single TM backup to transfer your data as TM is unreliable. Best to have a cloned drive available or the original computer.

 

[TightLines]

…Don't rely on a single TM backup to transfer your data as TM is unreliable. Best to have a cloned drive available or the original computer.

Do you have any recommendation for a reliable backup solution, if TM can’t be trusted to give you an accurate snapshot and copy? I will be setting up a Synology NAS soon that i intended to use for file sharing, storage, localized cloud for security camera management, also utilize for auto backups for the machines I have on my LAN and i was kind of counting on TM as the solution for the backups…

Any tried and proven suggestions would be welcomed.

 

[Webcat86]

If you don't have any licensed apps installed that might work. I just did the migration using migration assistant, skipped applications (since M1 might need new ones), but did migrate over my user directory. Turns out almost all of my licensed apps saw their licenses and worked with no problem after the install. Probably migrated stuff I don't need but worth it as the apps just work.

Don't rely on a single TM backup to transfer your data as TM is unreliable. Best to have a cloned drive available or the original computer.

I always keep the original computer and sell it after the new one is up and running. Coping the user profile is a good idea - that brings over the photo library etc too right?

 

[Webcat86]

Do you have any recommendation for a reliable backup solution, if TM can’t be trusted to give you an accurate snapshot and copy? I will be setting up a Synology NAS soon that i intended to use for file sharing, storage, localized cloud for security camera management, also utilize for auto backups for the machines I have on my LAN and i was kind of counting on TM as the solution for the backups…

Any tried and proven suggestions would be welcomed.

I’ll be interested to hear what @HDFan says on this but in your case that wouldn’t be a single TM backup (I think). I leave my backup drive connected and TM does continual backups and I can select from any given day. That would be different to running one single backup to migrate to a new computer.

 

[HDFan]

Do you have any recommendation for a reliable backup solution, if TM can’t be trusted

A Carbon Copy Cloner or other "cloned" disk is a more reliable solution to use as a 2nd backup if TM fails. As below, though, if you still have the original computer and wait until you have verified that everything is OK then that works as well.

I always keep the original computer and sell it after the new one is up and running.