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Storage under "Other users" category

I have a Macbook Air. Since I am the only user, I'm not sure what this other users' storage means. I looked through a few other topics, removed some cache, unneeded apps, and files, but the other users' storage stayed the same.

MacBook Air

Posted on Nov 29, 2022 9:02 AM

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Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Posted on Nov 29, 2022 9:29 AM

The following information should be helpful.

The Other Category should not be altered, modified, move or deleted since it is part of the Mac’s operating system. Doing so would corrupt the OS and render the OS inoperative requiring a Wipe and Re-Installation.

The Other category is a potpourri of files which include:

• System temporary files

• macOS system folders

• Archives and disk images (.zip, .iso, etc. - often found in the Downloads folder)

• Personal user data

• Files from the user’s library (Application Support, iCloud files, screensavers, etc.)

• Cache files

• Fonts, plugins, extensions

• Other files that are not recognized by a Spotlight search

• Media files that cannot be classified by Spotlight as a media file because they are located inside of a package

They can be located anywhere on your hard drive. The files that you have control over are located in the Documents, Downloads, Pictures, Music and Movies folders.


2 replies
Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Nov 29, 2022 9:29 AM in response to Shri_99

The following information should be helpful.

The Other Category should not be altered, modified, move or deleted since it is part of the Mac’s operating system. Doing so would corrupt the OS and render the OS inoperative requiring a Wipe and Re-Installation.

The Other category is a potpourri of files which include:

• System temporary files

• macOS system folders

• Archives and disk images (.zip, .iso, etc. - often found in the Downloads folder)

• Personal user data

• Files from the user’s library (Application Support, iCloud files, screensavers, etc.)

• Cache files

• Fonts, plugins, extensions

• Other files that are not recognized by a Spotlight search

• Media files that cannot be classified by Spotlight as a media file because they are located inside of a package

They can be located anywhere on your hard drive. The files that you have control over are located in the Documents, Downloads, Pictures, Music and Movies folders.


Nov 29, 2022 9:44 AM in response to Shri_99

As Ronasara says, don’t mess with system data directly. What you can do is a frequent normal shutdown and restart along with a periodic restart in safe mode followed by a normal restart. Time Machine keeps local snapshots and you can force TM to delete these by turning off TM and after it has finished deletion turning TM back on again.

Storage under "Other users" category

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