Hi everyone,
I have a MacBook Air M1 with 256 GB of storage.
I have been using it for 2 years and my system data takes 212 GB now.
My storage is almost full, I have only 3 GB left and I have about 8 GB of apps on less then a GB of docs.
Is my situation normal? How can I get rid of the system data?
PS: I reset my Mac 1 hour ago and the system data got even larger 😭
MacBook Air 13″, macOS 12.6
Q -" Is my situation normal? How can I get rid of the system data? "
A - it would be Normal of the User has installed so many applications, media files, photos, videos, music etc and not been aware the the Drive does have a Finite Drive Capacity
A - In which case, refer to below suggestions to clean up the drive
Q - PS: I reset my Mac 1 hour ago and the system data got even larger 😭
A - Generally, on these Forums, a Reset would be understood to be possible Reset to Factory Setting
A- Is that was the case, was this method used ?
A - If not and really meant Restated the computer - disregard the link below
link below
What to do before you sell, give away, or trade in your Mac - Apple Support (CA)
Manage Storage
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
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.
Q -" Is my situation normal? How can I get rid of the system data? "
A - it would be Normal of the User has installed so many applications, media files, photos, videos, music etc and not been aware the the Drive does have a Finite Drive Capacity
A - In which case, refer to below suggestions to clean up the drive
Q - PS: I reset my Mac 1 hour ago and the system data got even larger 😭
A - Generally, on these Forums, a Reset would be understood to be possible Reset to Factory Setting
A- Is that was the case, was this method used ?
A - If not and really meant Restated the computer - disregard the link below
link below
What to do before you sell, give away, or trade in your Mac - Apple Support (CA)
Manage Storage
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
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.
Many leftover folders from installing and uninstalling programs or accumulated cache data can take up a significant amount of system data.
I have developed an app that searches and finds the size of all folders, which will be very helpful in managing storage space.
I was able to reduce my system data from 120GB to 30GB.
The app is called cancerFinder.
https://apps.apple.com/us/app/cancerfinder/id6446483815?mt=12
system data
