User profile for user: Ian Thompson4
Ian Thompson4 Author
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"Other" Storage 39GB, how to know what can/cannot be deleted

Hi,

I've noticed that nearly 39GB of storage is being taken up with "Other" and I briefly read this could be Cached files, and mainly bits that you no longer need, but it did mention there are some items in here you may not want to delete. Not being 100% technical on files that are required to keep the Macbook running as it should, does anyone know what files that may be found in here "should NOT be deleted" so I can delete all the others?

Please let me know if this can be explained further, many thanks

MacBook Pro

Posted on May 24, 2021 5:44 AM

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User profile for user: Limnos
Limnos
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Posted on May 24, 2021 6:16 AM

See used and available storage space on your Mac [was: What is 'Other' and 'Purgeable' in About This Mac?] - https://support.apple.com/HT202867

"Other: Contains files that don’t fall into the categories listed here. This category primarily includes files and data used by the system, such as log files, caches, VM files, and other runtime system resources. Also included are temporary files, fonts, app support files, and plug-ins. You can't manage the contents of this category. The contents are managed by macOS, and the category varies in size depending on the current state of your Mac."

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User profile for user: Limnos
Limnos
User level: Level 10
421,879 points

May 24, 2021 6:16 AM in response to Ian Thompson4

See used and available storage space on your Mac [was: What is 'Other' and 'Purgeable' in About This Mac?] - https://support.apple.com/HT202867

"Other: Contains files that don’t fall into the categories listed here. This category primarily includes files and data used by the system, such as log files, caches, VM files, and other runtime system resources. Also included are temporary files, fonts, app support files, and plug-ins. You can't manage the contents of this category. The contents are managed by macOS, and the category varies in size depending on the current state of your Mac."

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User profile for user: Limnos
Limnos
User level: Level 10
421,879 points

May 24, 2021 10:57 AM in response to Ian Thompson4

Some of that might be snapshots which deliberately take up unused space on your computer.


About Time Machine local snapshots - https://support.apple.com/HT204015 - "When you use Time Machine on a Mac notebook computer, Time Machine saves some of its backups to your startup drive."

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"Other" Storage 39GB, how to know what can/cannot be deleted

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