"purgeable" - how do i free up storage

My iMac says "Available: 90.15gb (72.46gb purgeable)". 90gb would be fine but since most of this is "purgeable" i now don't have enough disk space to do the simplest tasks! I've tried reading apple documention but it basically says you cant delete purgeable stuff yourself but the OS will delete it when you need more disk space. Well its not doing that! And after deleting gigs and gigs of junk files, the amount of free space has actually gone down!


What do I do? I can't even uninstall hefty adobe apps because - somehow - there's not enough disk space?!

iMac 27″, macOS 13.1

Posted on Jan 25, 2023 04:18 AM

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Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Posted on Jan 25, 2023 07:32 AM

Are you using iCloud and "Optimize Mac Storage"?

Then you can purge storage manually by removing downloads from iCloud Drive.

When you look at your iCloud Drive, some folders may not be showing a cloud with a download arrow. For these folders you can purge the download yourself. Ctrl-click the folder, then use the command "Remove Download".


Items showing a cloud with download arrow have already been purged and are not stored locally, but need downloading, when you want to use them.


In a similar way you can manually remove download for films in TV or books in Books, for songs in Music. But use only the "remove download" command, do not delete items you want to keep.


2 replies
Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Jan 25, 2023 07:32 AM in response to WesleyRiot

Are you using iCloud and "Optimize Mac Storage"?

Then you can purge storage manually by removing downloads from iCloud Drive.

When you look at your iCloud Drive, some folders may not be showing a cloud with a download arrow. For these folders you can purge the download yourself. Ctrl-click the folder, then use the command "Remove Download".


Items showing a cloud with download arrow have already been purged and are not stored locally, but need downloading, when you want to use them.


In a similar way you can manually remove download for films in TV or books in Books, for songs in Music. But use only the "remove download" command, do not delete items you want to keep.


Jan 25, 2023 04:40 AM in response to WesleyRiot

The User is correct 👍 regarding Purgeable Space.


Yes the Operating System will release portions of the purgeable space back to the Operating System when the Operating System deems it is needed.


How long has it been since the computer was restarted ?


Restart in Safe Mode. This will perform a Disk Repair, clear cache files and only load Apple Software, extensions and fonts. The boot up will be slow and can take some time - Normal.


Rebuild the Spotlight index on your Mac


What is “Other” storage on a Mac, and how can I clean it out?


Free up storage space on your Mac


OmniDiskSweeper Safe to use


GrandPerspective 


How to delete Time Machine snapshots on your Mac


See used and available storage space on your Mac


Locate backups of your iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch


Notation - If the user is using a cloning software like Carbon Copy Cloner - suggest tweaking the Safety Net Feature in this software. It may be making additional Snap Shots that are not being Cloned to the Eternal Drive. If this should be the case, these Snap Shot could be using additional space on the drive 


The final word from Apple on Managing the " Other/ System Data “ Category


Other / System Data: 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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"purgeable" - how do i free up storage

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