Suddenly Applications taking up almost 1Tb of extra space on my SSD

[pkzande]

When I logged onto my MacBookPro M1 this morning, I received messages that my SSD is almost full. This is strange as I had almost 1.5Tb available last week and did not install any applications or conduct big data moves.

When looking at the different data categories on my hard drive, the Applications category shows 1.14Tb of used space, whereas I have less than 50Gb of application on my drive. All other data categories look comparable to last week.

I searched the forums for data storage issues and learned that " local snapshots" created by Time Machine are a known case to drives that fill up. So I followed instructions to turn off automatic backups just to make sure. Unfortunately it did not do anything.

I also ran Disk Utility to see if a disk error could be causing it. But a first aid scan turned up with no issues.

What could be causing this problem? I have attached a screen shot of the numbers. You will see the 1.14Tb of space being reported for "applications" on the left side and then the actual list of Applications (only adding up to 47Gb) on the right.

Any hints/tips are most welcome !

 

[ProQuiz]

Just taking a guess, but do you have multiple users on your Mac? If you take a look at "Other Users & Shared" it says it is taking up 1.15 TB.

 

[Mike Boreham]

The best way of making sure TM Local snapshots are not the issue is in Disk Utility > View > Show APFS Snapshots

Then the snapshots appear on the right hand side and can be deleted. Select All > Right click > Delete

 

[Ben J.]

Daisydisk is perfect for getting an overview of what is taking up space on your drives. There is a fully functional demo.

 

[pkzande]

Just taking a guess, but do you have multiple users on your Mac? If you take a look at "Other Users & Shared" it says it is taking up 1.15 TB.

Thanks ProQuiz,

I have inserted all my Audio VST files under Users>Shared folder. These files are roughly 1Tb indeed. Back then when I installed them, the idea was that I did not want to clutter those files with others files on the SSD, and also avoid that I would accidentally include them in external backups. The files have been there for the past 2 years, I haven't touched or moved them since. So I don't think this relates to the disk issue I now have.

 

[pkzande]

The best way of making sure TM Local snapshots are not the issue is in Disk Utility > View > Show APFS Snapshots

Then the snapshots appear on the right hand side and can be deleted. Select All > Right click > Delete

View attachment 2328128

View attachment 2328129

Thanks Mike,

I executed those steps just now and the Disk Utility says that I have zero snapshots.

 

[pkzande]

Daisydisk is perfect for getting an overview of what is taking up space on your drives. There is a fully functional demo.

Thanks Ben,

In installed DaisyDisk and this tool indeed provides extra insights. It looks like there is a folder of 1.1Tb on my drive that could be causing the issue. It is under Library>Application Support>FileProvider. See snapshot. I assume this folder is hidden as I cannot see it in Finder.

How can I find out what this folder contains and whether it is needed?

 

[Ben J.]

How can I find out what this folder contains and whether it is needed?

You can google it. I did and it seems it's some kind of developer tool/extension. Something to do with file sharing, servers, providing files. iCloud Drive is mentioned. Most of it goes over my head. I can't see a Fileprovider folder here, but then I don't use iCloud Drive. Do you?

In Daisydisk, you click on the names in the list or on the colored graphics to move down in directories, and click the little arrows top left to move up in hierachy.

 

[Mike Boreham]

Looks like you have found the issue. But I don't know why yours is so large. This article may start you off:

https://www.nirmaltv.com/2023/01/02...upied-by-file-provider-ingest-folder-in-macos

BTW As you have found the user library is invisible by default. You can make the user library visible in a number of ways. Easiest is probably from the Finder menubar > Go, then click OPT key and Library will appear in the dropdown. Once it has appeared in Finder you can drag it in to Finder sidebar favourites to be always available.

 

[pkzande]

Looks like you have found the issue. But I don't know why yours is so large. This article may start you off:

https://www.nirmaltv.com/2023/01/02...upied-by-file-provider-ingest-folder-in-macos

BTW As you have found the user library is invisible by default. You can make the user library visible in a number of ways. Easiest is probably from the Finder menubar > Go, then click OPT key and Library will appear in the dropdown. Once it has appeared in Finder you can drag it in to Finder sidebar favourites to be always available.

Thanks Mike,

Indeed I am getting closer. I have now narrowed down the problem to the following: in this FileProvider folder, every few hours (even today while I am researching) I see new subfolders being created. They happen to contain a copy of a large Logic Pro X project I was working on recently. This project was stored in a folder that I shared with several friends. Somehow, it seems that my laptop is creating a copy of these files several times a day. Each copy is 25-30Gb in size. So after 30 days this has added up to >1Tb.

I still have no clue why this is happening unfortunately, so also no clue how to fix it. One thought is to remove Logic Pro X and reinstall it. The other is to remove the original project. I will try those two options now.

 

[Ben J.]

Thanks Mike,

Indeed I am getting closer. I have now narrowed down the problem to the following: in this FileProvider folder, every few hours (even today while I am researching) I see new subfolders being created. They happen to contain a copy of a large Logic Pro X project I was working on recently. This project was stored in a folder that I shared with several friends. Somehow, it seems that my laptop is creating a copy of these files several times a day. Each copy is 25-30Gb in size. So after 30 days this has added up to >1Tb.

I still have no clue why this is happening unfortunately, so also no clue how to fix it. One thought is to remove Logic Pro X and reinstall it. The other is to remove the original project. I will try those two options now.

Sharing? How?

 

[Mike Boreham]

Thanks Mike,

Indeed I am getting closer. I have now narrowed down the problem to the following: in this FileProvider folder, every few hours (even today while I am researching) I see new subfolders being created. They happen to contain a copy of a large Logic Pro X project I was working on recently. This project was stored in a folder that I shared with several friends. Somehow, it seems that my laptop is creating a copy of these files several times a day. Each copy is 25-30Gb in size. So after 30 days this has added up to >1Tb.

I still have no clue why this is happening unfortunately, so also no clue how to fix it. One thought is to remove Logic Pro X and reinstall it. The other is to remove the original project. I will try those two options now.

Fileprovider is relatively new and is provided for the use of Dropbox, Google Drive, Onedrive etc. It has caused huge changes in how they work.

Presumably you are using one of these. In your shoes I would approach problem from that direction. I use Dropbox which uses Filerprovider but I don't share anything, since you are this maybe the issue.

 

[pkzande]

Sharing? How?

By right-clicking on a folder in Finder and activating the " share..." option. It then asks for email addresses of the people you'd like to share the folder with.

 

[pkzande]

Fileprovider is relatively new and is provided for the use of Dropbox, Google Drive, Onedrive etc. It has caused huge changes in how they work.

Presumably you are using one of these. In your shoes I would approach problem from that direction. I use Dropbox which uses Filerprovider but I don't share anything, since you are this maybe the issue.

Indeed, may still be teething problems. In my case, I do not use Google Drive, Dropbox nor Onedrive. But maybe the logic is also used for iCloud syncing? I do use iCloud.

Since I removed the shared file this afternoon, the creation of files in the FileProvider folder has stopped. So it seems to have solved the problem.

 

[Mike Boreham]

Indeed, may still be teething problems. In my case, I do not use Google Drive, Dropbox nor Onedrive. But maybe the logic is also used for iCloud syncing? I do use iCloud.

Since I removed the shared file this afternoon, the creation of files in the FileProvider folder has stopped. So it seems to have solved the problem.

This article implies iCloud does use Fileprovider.

 

[gilby101]

Fileprovider is relatively new and is provided for the use of Dropbox, Google Drive, Onedrive etc

This article implies iCloud does use Fileprovider.

The ~/Library/Application Support/FileProvider is not limited to cloud services which directly use the Apple File Provider framework (those you listed above).

That folder is also used by other syncing apps. For example, StrongSync/ExpanDrive https://www.expandrive.com/ (which can connect to a wide range of cloud providers) uses it for its cache.

It is not clear to me what service/app is using that folder on @pkzande Mac.

 

[Fishrrman]

Download DiskWave from here:

DiskWave Homepage

It's small in size and free.

Open DiskWave and go to the preferences.
Put a checkmark in "show invisible files".
Close preferences.

The DiskWave window shows you all your volumes and drives in plain English (no ridiculous graphical formats).
Click on any item "on the left".
Now, you'll see what's ON the volume, listed in order of "largest to smallest".
You can easily locate what's eating up your space.

 

[pkzande]

The ~/Library/Application Support/FileProvider is not limited to cloud services which directly use the Apple File Provider framework (those you listed above).

That folder is also used by other syncing apps. For example, StrongSync/ExpanDrive https://www.expandrive.com/ (which can connect to a wide range of cloud providers) uses it for its cache.

It is not clear to me what service/app is using that folder on @pkzande Mac.

That is indeed the million dollar question … still haven’t figured that out.

But removing the large shared iCloud file has stopped the automatic creation of copies in the File Provider folder. So my problem is solved now.

 

[Mike Boreham]

That is indeed the million dollar question … still haven’t figured that out.

But removing the large shared iCloud file has stopped the automatic creation of copies in the File Provider folder. So my problem is solved now.

The article I posted earlier implied it was basically a cache. So if you are confident your data exists somewhere else and backed up, you could just delete it.