Unable to Update MacOS to Monterey

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Unable to Update MacOS to Monterey

Hi,

I'm having issues updating my 2017 MacBook Air from the current version of Mojave to the version of Monterey. I have a 126 GB Macintosh HD/Flash Storage and 116 GB used which is plenty of storage for me because I don't keep photos on this computer. Anyway, a couple of weeks ago, I cleaned up my Mac and got rid of 40 GB of storage. Than Mac had me download this huge chunk of application file called "Install MacOS Monterey" which took about 13 GB of storage of then 20 GB I freed up, so I only had 27 GB of free storage left. Than I tried going ahead and updating, it tooked like it was going fine for the first 30 minutes, than it stopped telling me "You do not have enough space to update" I just freed 40 GB of storage and had 27 GB of storage, why are you telling me I don't have enough storage? This was a couple of weeks ago and my storage of 27 GB is dieterating because I only have 10 GB. Another major problem is the disk is being used by "systems" which is taking up 70 GB of storage, how does systems need that much storage? I tried using many different cleaning softwares most of them didn't even work so I undownloaded and deleted them, anyone have any solutions? Thank you.

MacBook Air 13″, macOS 10.14

Posted on Feb 2, 2023 5:29 AM

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Answer 1

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Owl-53

Level 10

102,103 points

Feb 2, 2023 8:19 AM in response to itsjoelm

Having the tiny 128 GB Internal Drive is going to Challenge.

The Monterey Installer Application takes about 12 GB of Space, then it has to Expand and if it finds there is not enough Empty Space on the drive - presto No Go.

Be thankful it Alerts the User.

In some earlier version of Monterey - the installer would go shaded and attempt to install even though there was Not Enough Empty Space.

That would leave the computer is Not Functioning State even attempt to reverse to older version could not work

The best I can offer is below.

It is generally a good computer practice to alway keep at least 15% to 20% of the Total Drive Capacity’s as Empty Space. Allowing the computer to drop below these guidelines may eventually, cause unintended consequences.

The links below will assist in identifying what is taking up space on the Internal Drive and provide possible ways to remove data that is under the direct control of the User ( Home Folder ) .

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.

OR

If the user whats the latest and greatest versions of macOS, all is not lost.

The Apple Trade-In Process where the Value of the exiting device could be used against the cost of a new Apple Computer.

Or Shop Refurbished Apple computers at an Apple Reduced Cost

Have used both previously and have been satisfied each time.

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Unable to Update MacOS to Monterey

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