System takes up almost all storage

[mj960]

Hi all,

My Macbook Pro (13” Early 2015, running High Sierra 10.13.6)’s storage is currently taken up by system for almost all storage. I can’t seem to free space by deleting files as the system part only grows then. At the moment system takes up over 110gb of data. I’ve attached a picture of that. I only have 12mb’s left of storage so nothing works great.

Can anyone help me please? Really in need!!

Thanks!!

 

[BrianBaughn]

Do you backup with Time Machine? Have you backed up lately? TM saves "snapshots" to your boot drive when your TM disk isn't available.

If this is the case there are a few threads here on the subject already. Search for "snapshots" and "Time Machine".

 

[mj960]

Do you backup with Time Machine? Have you backed up lately? TM saves "snapshots" to your boot drive when your TM disk isn't available.

If this is the case there are a few threads here on the subject already. Search for "snapshots" and "Time Machine".

I did use Time Machine. I tried listing all localsnapshots, without success. So instead I used this code in Terminal which I found in one of the threads here:

sudo tmutil thinlocalsnapshots / 99999999999 4

It finished in and ‘thinned’ the snapshots, without result in extra storage space. Any other suggestions?

I’m currently running OmniDiskSweeper to get some more info, but it takes a while with this limited space.

 

[Fishrrman]

Download DiskWave, it's free:
https://diskwave.barthe.ph

Then, open it.
Go to prefs and set normally-invisible files to be VISIBLE.

Then, just look around.
It will tell you IN PLAIN ENGLISH what is eating up your drive space.

Come back here and let us know what you find.

 

[hobowankenobi]

Download DiskWave, it's free:
https://diskwave.barthe.ph

Then, open it.
Go to prefs and set normally-invisible files to be VISIBLE.

Then, just look around.
It will tell you IN PLAIN ENGLISH what is eating up your drive space.

Come back here and let us know what you find.

Last time I checked, Disk Wave did not work on the lastest OSes...has it been updated?

Another alternative that is kept current would be Omni Disk Sweeper...there are others.

OP: Any tool like this will get you sorted out quickly. Helped a user yesterday with the same issue, and we found nearly 70GB of cache and temp files, along with an OS installer, an old iMovie master. etc.

 

[Fishrrman]

hobo wrote:
"Last time I checked, Disk Wave did not work on the lastest OSes...has it been updated?"

Hmmm.... ok.
I use only HFS+ on ALL my OS installs (even Mojave), so you could be right.

EDIT:
I just switched from my regular boot drive (Low Sierra) to my external Mojave "test drive".
DiskWave launches and runs fine.
Again, this is under HFS+.
(I intend to stick with HFS+ until around 2026-2027)

 

[CoastalOR]

Last time I checked, Disk Wave did not work on the lastest OSes...has it been updated?

Out of curiosity, I downloaded DiskWave from @Fishrrman 's link and it worked fine on my Mojave 10.14.3 APFS system.

 

[Weaselboy]

Can anyone help me please? Really in need!!

Run this command in Terminal and give it a few minutes to complete, then tell us the results. It will show the size of all the base folders in GB, including system and hidden files some of those file browsing apps don't show.

sudo du -d 1 -x -c -g /

 

[hobowankenobi]

Out of curiosity, I downloaded DiskWave from @Fishrrman 's link and it worked fine on my Mojave 10.14.3 APFS system.

Good to know.

Last few times I ran it on 10.13.6, it never ran fully, or did not report accurately. Perhaps a different issue. I wondered if it broke/did not support the latest OSes, as the only obvious change was it had previously run and behaved well on 10.12 and older machines.

Must be a problem unrelated to OS versions.

 

[Dave_Hubs]

Hi there

I'm having a similar problem with my Mac system storage. I'm currently on Mojave OS and system storage is taking up 230GB...

I've looked at all the forum advice I can find and have tried to follow it, but I can't see any files that would be taking up that amount of space. I don't use Time Machine, and I don't seem to have any snapshots from TM stored on the system.

I use Mail a lot for work but I don't have 'Log Connection Activity' turned on.

Using 'Get Info' seems to give the same information regarding storage (Ie; 3GB left):

But when I run OmniDisk it seems to only be able to find 30GB of storage used...

DiskWave also doesn't show any large files that are out of place as far as I can see.

I'm hoping someone can help me out as I'm not sure if I'm missing something?

The only thing I can think that may be out the ordinary is that about a month back I plugged in an old SSD and deleted a whole load of movies and backups from a previous Mac off the drive through my Trash. Maybe I've done something stupid there - but I can't work out what it might be?

Appreciate any help anyone can give me, thanks.

Here's the Terminal readout if that helps too...


Last login: Wed Nov 6 11:37:27 on ttys000

DavidsMacBook2:~ DavidHubbleday$ sudo du -d 1 -x -c -g /

Password:

0 /.HFS+ Private Directory Data

1 /home

1 /usr

du: /.Spotlight-V100: Operation not permitted

1 /net

0 /.PKInstallSandboxManager

0 /.PKInstallSandboxManager-SystemSoftware

1 /bin

0 /Network

1 /sbin

du: /Library/Application Support/com.apple.TCC: Operation not permitted

3 /Library

0 /.Trashes

7 /System

1 /.fseventsd

du: /private/var/db/fpsd/dvp: Operation not permitted

du: /private/var/db/dslocal/nodes: Operation not permitted

du: /private/var/db/ConfigurationProfiles/Store: Operation not permitted

du: /private/var/folders/xs/gp1ytsy127gdp_8vm24_ylbr0000gn/0/SafariFamily: Operation not permitted

du: /private/var/folders/xs/gp1ytsy127gdp_8vm24_ylbr0000gn/0/com.apple.progressd/ClassKit: Operation not permitted

du: /private/var/folders/xs/gp1ytsy127gdp_8vm24_ylbr0000gn/0/com.apple.Safari/SafariFamily: Operation not permitted

du: /private/var/folders/xs/gp1ytsy127gdp_8vm24_ylbr0000gn/0/com.apple.LaunchServices.dv: Operation not permitted

du: /private/var/folders/xs/gp1ytsy127gdp_8vm24_ylbr0000gn/0/com.apple.nsurlsessiond: Operation not permitted

du: /private/var/folders/xs/gp1ytsy127gdp_8vm24_ylbr0000gn/0/com.apple.routined: Operation not permitted

du: /private/var/folders/xs/gp1ytsy127gdp_8vm24_ylbr0000gn/C/com.apple.WebKit.WebContent.Sandbox: Operation not permitted

du: /private/var/folders/xs/gp1ytsy127gdp_8vm24_ylbr0000gn/C/com.apple.QuickLook.thumbnailcache: Operation not permitted

du: /private/var/folders/xs/gp1ytsy127gdp_8vm24_ylbr0000gn/C/com.apple.WebKit.Networking.Sandbox: Operation not permitted

du: /private/var/folders/zz/zyxvpxvq6csfxvn_n00000sm00006d/0: Operation not permitted

du: /private/var/folders/zz/zyxvpxvq6csfxvn_n00000sm00006d/C: Operation not permitted

du: /private/var/folders/zz/zyxvpxvq6csfxvn_n00000y800007k/0/com.apple.nsurlsessiond: Operation not permitted

5 /private

1 /.DocumentRevisions-V100

0 /.vol

du: /Users/DavidHubbleday/Library/Application Support/MobileSync: Operation not permitted

du: /Users/DavidHubbleday/Library/Application Support/CallHistoryTransactions: Operation not permitted

du: /Users/DavidHubbleday/Library/Application Support/com.apple.TCC: Operation not permitted

du: /Users/DavidHubbleday/Library/Application Support/CallHistoryDB: Operation not permitted

du: /Users/DavidHubbleday/Library/IdentityServices: Operation not permitted

du: /Users/DavidHubbleday/Library/Messages: Operation not permitted

du: /Users/DavidHubbleday/Library/HomeKit: Operation not permitted

du: /Users/DavidHubbleday/Library/Mail: Operation not permitted

du: /Users/DavidHubbleday/Library/Safari: Operation not permitted

du: /Users/DavidHubbleday/Library/Suggestions: Operation not permitted

du: /Users/DavidHubbleday/Library/Containers/com.apple.VoiceMemos: Operation not permitted

du: /Users/DavidHubbleday/Library/Containers/com.apple.Home: Operation not permitted

du: /Users/DavidHubbleday/Library/Containers/com.apple.Safari: Operation not permitted

du: /Users/DavidHubbleday/Library/Containers/com.apple.iChat: Operation not permitted

du: /Users/DavidHubbleday/Library/Containers/com.apple.mail: Operation not permitted

du: /Users/DavidHubbleday/Library/Containers/com.apple.news: Operation not permitted

du: /Users/DavidHubbleday/Library/Containers/com.apple.stocks: Operation not permitted

du: /Users/DavidHubbleday/Library/PersonalizationPortrait: Operation not permitted

du: /Users/DavidHubbleday/Library/Metadata/CoreSpotlight: Operation not permitted

du: /Users/DavidHubbleday/Library/Metadata/com.apple.IntelligentSuggestions: Operation not permitted

du: /Users/DavidHubbleday/Library/Cookies: Operation not permitted

du: /Users/DavidHubbleday/Library/Caches/com.apple.safaridavclient: Operation not permitted

du: /Users/DavidHubbleday/Library/Caches/CloudKit/com.apple.Safari: Operation not permitted

du: /Users/DavidHubbleday/Library/Caches/com.apple.Safari: Operation not permitted

du: /Users/DavidHubbleday/Library/Caches/com.apple.Safari.SafeBrowsing: Operation not permitted

5 /Users

11 /Applications

1 /dev

1 /Volumes

0 /cores

30 /

30 total

DavidsMacBook2:~ DavidHubbleday$

 

[Weaselboy]

Try running Omni with this command from Terminal so it can see hidden and system files.

sudo /Applications/OmniDiskSweeper.app/Contents/MacOS/OmniDiskSweeper

 

[Dave_Hubs]

Thanks for your help. I think I've done that right?

But Omni is still showing 32GB on the sweep - but 244GB on the drive list - so I'm really confused? I don't know if the terminal error messages mean anything?

 

[Weaselboy]

So Omni was not running... then when you ran that command it launched and ran okay? I just want to make sure it is running as sudo.

 

[Dave_Hubs]

Hi. I've redone it this morning just to make sure...Omni wasn't running, entered the command into Terminal and ran the scan on Omni (once it had opened up from that terminal command). Is that the right thing to do? Apologies, I'm not overly technical.

Weirdly, my mac now shows 33GB of free space, Omni Drive list shows 14GB free, and OmniSweep is registering 33GB of space used (if I'm reading it correctly). I haven't done anything other than what we've discussed here - so I'm not sure if that means anything to you or not?

Thanks

Here are the Terminal readouts too if that helps? Should it be having so many 'Operation not permitted' ?


Last login: Wed Nov 6 20:27:09 on ttys000

DavidsMacBook2:~ DavidHubbleday$ sudo /Applications/OmniDiskSweeper.app/Contents/MacOS/OmniDiskSweeper

Password:

OCCCrashCatcher: Not enabling crash catching since we're connected to a tty (and thus presumably in lldb)

2019-11-07 09:34:03.050 OmniDiskSweeper[20348:453294] Failed to connect (destroyMenuItem) outlet from (ODSController) to (NSMenuItem): missing setter or instance variable

2019-11-07 09:34:03.418 OmniDiskSweeper[20348:453294] Automatic software update check failed due to XPC service failure: {

code = 2;

domain = "com.omnigroup.framework.OmniSoftwareUpdate.ErrorDomain";

userInfo = {

NSLocalizedDescription = "Unable to fetch software update information.";

NSLocalizedFailureReason = "Check operation failed.";

NSUnderlyingError = {

code = 12;

domain = "com.omnigroup.framework.OmniSoftwareUpdate.ErrorDomain";

userInfo = {

NSLocalizedDescription = "Error fetching software update information.";

NSLocalizedFailureReason = "The background software update service failed.";

NSLocalizedRecoverySuggestion = "Please try again later or contact us to let us know this is broken.";

};

};

};

}

/private/var/folders/zz/zyxvpxvq6csfxvn_n00000y800007k/0/com.apple.nsurlsessiond: Operation not permitted

/private/var/folders/xs/gp1ytsy127gdp_8vm24_ylbr0000gn/C/com.apple.WebKit.Networking.Sandbox: Operation not permitted

/private/var/folders/xs/gp1ytsy127gdp_8vm24_ylbr0000gn/C/com.apple.QuickLook.thumbnailcache: Operation not permitted

/private/var/folders/xs/gp1ytsy127gdp_8vm24_ylbr0000gn/C/com.apple.WebKit.WebContent.Sandbox: Operation not permitted

/private/var/folders/xs/gp1ytsy127gdp_8vm24_ylbr0000gn/0/com.apple.routined: Operation not permitted

/private/var/folders/xs/gp1ytsy127gdp_8vm24_ylbr0000gn/0/com.apple.nsurlsessiond: Operation not permitted

/private/var/folders/xs/gp1ytsy127gdp_8vm24_ylbr0000gn/0/com.apple.LaunchServices.dv: Operation not permitted

/private/var/folders/xs/gp1ytsy127gdp_8vm24_ylbr0000gn/0/com.apple.Safari/SafariFamily: Operation not permitted

/private/var/folders/xs/gp1ytsy127gdp_8vm24_ylbr0000gn/0/com.apple.progressd/ClassKit: Operation not permitted

/private/var/folders/xs/gp1ytsy127gdp_8vm24_ylbr0000gn/0/SafariFamily: Operation not permitted

/private/var/db/ConfigurationProfiles/Store: Operation not permitted

/private/var/db/fpsd/dvp: Operation not permitted

 

[Weaselboy]

Are you on Catalina?

 

[Dave_Hubs]

Hi. I have just updated to Catalina. I guess at the start of this I didn't have the necessary space to update automatically...

Pretty much the same result though. I mean, having 30GB free is okay I guess - but I'm sure there is something going on because I don't use much storage at all.

 

[chown33]

I suggest doing a full backup to an erased external drive, using an app like Carbon Copy Cloner or Super Duper. Then see how much space is used on the external drive. Finally, boot from the external drive, and see what happens to the space over time.

CCC will tell you if it's unable to copy a file due to problems. You should make sure to check its log, and confirm everything gets copied. If it shows something that doesn't get copied, then that may identify a problem file that's related to the missing space.

There's a possibility that the disk with the missing space has some file-system damage. That damage would be a large number of blocks that are marked as allocated, but aren't actually in use by any file. The technical term when this happens in memory management is a "memory leak". For disks, I think it's called "lost blocks".

If the cloned drive shows the same amount of space being used, then you might be able to identify where the space is used. Above, there's a large number of "not permitted" error messages. Those could be masking problems where the space is being consumed. On an external drive that isn't booted, you can disable permissions on the entire drive, which should then let any scan proceed without receiving "not permitted" errors. The procedure to disable permissions is described at the end of this post:

Logging into Mac new user

First get some kind of external drive large enough to "hold all her stuff". It could be a hard drive or a USB flash drive. Then, make copies of all "her stuff" onto that drive. Then create a NEW account with the username and password she wants. Now, LOG INTO her new account. Next, connect...

forums.macrumors.com

It's the section that describes using the Get Info window.

 

[Dave_Hubs]

Okay, that sounds pretty serious but I will check with a more competent friend and give it a go. Thanks for your help...

 

[Weaselboy]

Are you on Catalina?

The reason I asked is SIP in Catalina blocks that Terminal command from seeing some areas. Try disabling SIP, then run the command again.

How to turn off System Integrity Protection on your Mac

System Integrity Protection exists to keep your Mac safe. If you absolutely need to turn it off, however, here's how you do it.

www.imore.com

 

[RegalDJ]

Really need help with my Mac.. I am on high sierra and i have 130gb on system files and cant delete them. I have gone through most of the commands as stated on these feeds but when i run
sudo du -d 1 -x -c -g /Users/admin/library
it comes up with the following but then wont let me enter into Application support
56 /Users/admin/library/Application Support
0 /Users/admin/library/Maps
1 /Users/admin/library/Assistant
1 /Users/admin/library/Saved Searches
1 /Users/admin/library/Saved Application State
1 /Users/admin/library/IdentityServices
1 /Users/admin/library/WebKit
1 /Users/admin/library/Calendars
1 /Users/admin/library/Preferences
1 /Users/admin/library/Messages
1 /Users/admin/library/Keychains
1 /Users/admin/library/Sharing
0 /Users/admin/library/ColorPickers
0 /Users/admin/library/ColorSync
0 /Users/admin/library/Application Scripts
0 /Users/admin/library/Assistants
1 /Users/admin/library/Mail
0 /Users/admin/library/Compositions
0 /Users/admin/library/GameKit
1 /Users/admin/library/Google
1 /Users/admin/library/LanguageModeling
0 /Users/admin/library/Favorites
1 /Users/admin/library/Passes
0 /Users/admin/library/Family
1 /Users/admin/library/iTunes
0 /Users/admin/library/iMovie
0 /Users/admin/library/CoreData
0 /Users/admin/library/FontCollections
0 /Users/admin/library/Sounds
1 /Users/admin/library/Personas
1 /Users/admin/library/com.apple.internal.ck
1 /Users/admin/library/Printers
1 /Users/admin/library/SyncedPreferences
1 /Users/admin/library/Audio
0 /Users/admin/library/Keyboard Layouts
1 /Users/admin/library/Logs
0 /Users/admin/library/PhotoshopCrashes
0 /Users/admin/library/Internet Plug-Ins
0 /Users/admin/library/Voices
1 /Users/admin/library/Accounts
1 /Users/admin/library/Safari
0 /Users/admin/library/Colors
0 /Users/admin/library/PreferencePanes
1 /Users/admin/library/FileProvider
0 /Users/admin/library/Mobile Documents
1 /Users/admin/library/PubSub
1 /Users/admin/library/Suggestions
1 /Users/admin/library/LaunchAgents
1 /Users/admin/library/Pioneer
1 /Users/admin/library/Group Containers
1 /Users/admin/library/Dictionaries
1 /Users/admin/library/Containers
1 /Users/admin/library/Frameworks
1 /Users/admin/library/Fonts
1 /Users/admin/library/KeyboardServices
1 /Users/admin/library/Metadata
0 /Users/admin/library/Screen Savers
0 /Users/admin/library/CallServices
1 /Users/admin/library/Spelling
0 /Users/admin/library/SafariSafeBrowsing
0 /Users/admin/library/Input Methods
1 /Users/admin/library/Cookies
0 /Users/admin/library/Services
1 /Users/admin/library/Keyboard
1 /Users/admin/library/CoreFollowUp
1 /Users/admin/library/Caches
59 /Users/admin/library
59 total

also wont let me delete snapshots
Please please help

 

[Weaselboy]

it comes up with the following but then wont let me enter into Application support

Try this.

sudo du -d 1 -x -c -g ~/Library/Application\ Support

 

[Fishrrman]

Regal wrote:
"Really need help with my Mac.. I am on high sierra and i have 130gb on system files and cant delete them."

Your answer is in my post #4 earlier in this thread.