I need all the space I can get on this older MacBook Air (2019), and wondered where to find those "Purgeable Items" listed in the Get Info app. Do they exist in a folder that I can review or are they scattered among multiple file folders?
MacBook Air 13″, macOS 14.7
Thanks, DJ. Just wanted to confirm what I suspected. I periodically do all the things you noted, but the 2019 Air isn't the best release in the Apple barn. At this point, it's serviceable.
Thanks again for responding.
No. Purgeable items are managed by the OS and/or SSD firmware. There's nothing for a user to manage.
If you are running low on drive space the best thing to do is connect and use an external drive to offload large and unused files and folders.
What you can do to create more free space:
• Empty the Trash in the Dock.
• Empty the trash in the Photos app.
• Delete unused and unneeded application installers from your downloads folder and desktop. No need to store on your Mac what you can freely download any time. Once an app is installed, delete the installer.
• Reboot your Mac at least weekly. Let the OS do its housekeeping.
• Transfer files that you don’t use daily to an external drive and then delete them from the startup drive and empty the trash. Files that take up the most room are movies, images and music.
This from Apple on the subject of freeing up space:
Free up storage space on Mac - Apple Support
Also, please see the following guidance from Apple:
torchlite wrote:
I need all the space I can get on this older MacBook Air (2019), and wondered where to find those "Purgeable Items" listed in the Get Info app. Do they exist in a folder that I can review or are they scattered among multiple file folders?
Try the purge command using the Terminal. copy and paste:
sudo purge
(sudo note: your psswd will not echo on screen type it in anyway, then to proceed use the enter\return key.)
report back your success or failure.
Hmm, isn't this command only intended primarily for clearing inactive memory pages? AFAIK, it forces the system to free up RAM that macOS had marked as "inactive" but hadn't yet released. I don't believe it has anything to do with disk storage or managing purgeable space. However, I could be wrong about my understanding of this command.
Apple does not provide controls for Purgeable Items. It is handled by the operating system when it needs the space for something else.
NOTE: There are situations where macOS does not remove purgeable items, when the user thinks it should, so I understand the frustration.
Look at Old Toad's post for freeing up snapshots.
And feel free to send Apple your feedback
https://www.apple.com/feedback/macos.html
You're welcome. 🙂
If you're a regular Time Machine user you can see if using Disk Utility like in the screenshot will help:
Can you review and purge "Purgeable Items"?
