My McBook Air is 250GB, so why do I only have 14GB available?

Thanks, but it doesn't really tell me anything. My question is why is my hard drive jam-packed and how can I delete unwanted files to create free space?

If OSX is approximately 20gb, and okay, sure, another 20gb for other things and cache (1gb), so let's say 40gb, why is the System using 182gb? I'm truly baffled.

So, I went into the Library...

The Library 96gb - What?!

Application Support 20gb

Containers 20.8gb

Group Containers 9.5gb

Metadata 1.4gb

Mail 19gb

Caches 1.2gb

...iCloud 139gb OUCH!

That's insane.

...but if iCloud is 139gb and it's sitting inside the Library folder, then how come the Library only says 96gb? Something is obviously wrong.

Something to think about is the fact that I have a 2TB iCloud account and I have used 885gb, so what is the 139gb inside my Library? Why not all 885gb (which I know is physiclly impossible)? Why are any iCloud files "stored" on my hard drive? Isn't that the point of iCloud, to offload storage?

I just took a closer look at Get Info, and iCloud says 139gb, but lower down the Size says 44.46gb. Wait, what? Which is it? Either way, I'm upset / confused why any iCloud files are on my Mac, but besides that, the entire Library folder is 96gb, which I think is excessive. Cache is 1.2gb, so there's no use getting excited about emptying that.

PLEASE NOTE: Get Info says that the iCloud folder was last modified in September 2023. Shouldn't the date be today?

System Settings > iCloud Drive says 26.59gb

System Settings > iCloud+ says 26.14gb

Containers says 139gb

iCloud Capacity 2TB & Used 885gb

That's a lot of duplicate storage space that it's using - it's using local space AND remote space.

I just don't want to buy another laptop, and internal storage isn't cheap either, especially because they are not upgradeable anymore. I miss my old MacBook Pro!

Okay great, I can go into Application Support (20gb) and delete something:

MobileSync 15.8gb

...nope because I'm presuming that is related to my iPhone and iPad

What's next? Containers? (20gb). Well there are several folders that appear more than once:

Books x 2 (71mb & 3kb)

BooksThumbnail x 2

Contacts x 3

Family x 2

FedStatsPlugin x 3

iCloud Drive x 5 (FIVE!) - 50kb or less

IFTelemetrySELFIngestor x 2

Image Playground x 4

Mail x 6 - 15.56gb and the others are 350kb or less

Markup x 2

Messages x 6

Notes x 3

Photos x 3

Podcasts x 2

Reminders x 4

Safari. 2

SampleExtension x 2

Screen Time x 3

Shortcuts x 4

System Service x 2

Tips x 2

Wallpaper x 2

Weather x 2

World Clock x 2

So, why are there duplicates (even though they are small in size) and is this a clue as to why my hard drive is full up? ...something is wrong somewhere. I don't want to reinstall OSX again because I've done that on several occasions, and it's just not fun having to spend time getting my environment back to how I like it... with not much progress regarding creating storage space.

I've put a lot of detail in here to help you understand what I am seeing, but I'm just not happy that the Library is a huge folder and also that iCloud is using my Mac for storage even though my iCloud useage is much larger than what's being stored on my Mac.

Again, any help would be greatly appreciated because the files that I am "storing" only calculates to 67.74 (Get Info on 4 folders). Yes, I can see Mail (Library) is 20gb (blimey!), but again, the system is using so much of the 250gb hard drive.

And while I'm on the subject of Mail:

Get Info (inside Library) says 19.28gb

System Settings > Storage says 18.15gb

System Settings > iCloud+ says 12.9gb

Why so different?

...and, if Mail is being stored on iCloud, then why is it being stored locally, too? Shouldn't it be one of the other, not both? That's twice the storage space that it's using.

I remember my first ever Mac only had a 500mb hard drive, and that was plenty, haha! Thirty years later, and I'm flummoxed about 250GB not being enough!

Cheers : )

Okay, understood, but like I have already stated, I am using 885gb on iCloud, so what is the 139gb on my hard drive? Especially because 90% of the time I don't even access anything from iCloud because it's supposed to be just for storage (and yes, Photos syncing, which is daily).

Is there a way to turn off the "conduit" or should I forget using iCloud and use Dropbox instead? Or does Dropbox work in the same way?

I did know what my needs were when I purchased the laptop 4 years ago, and I still do today because they haven't changed, but even so, not being able to swap-out the hard drive is counter-productive. I saw someone actually replace one, but it's a very long and arduous task. Look it up on YouTube; its fascinating, but not doable and not recommended.

I already use an external SSD, but as they have failed in the past (with all files lost), it's just an expensive way to store files that should be on my Mac. Having backups for a backup is even more enfuriating, and that's why I like to rely on online storge services, but for backup, not to double-up locally, too.

[Edited by Moderator]

Then, Apple shouldn't be selling such a sub-standard machine that is un-upgradeable. I wouldn't mind if I could switch hard drives.