Deleted large amount of files (ca. 300GB) from MacBook Pro but the storage that is left remains the same

Deleted large amount of files (ca. 300GB) from MacBook Pro but the storage that is left remains the same. DaisyDisk shows about that much in "hidden space" (even with administrative privileges used to run the app). I wonder if the finder hasn't caught up with the deletion or whether something is cached from earlier. Having deleted that much from my drive I was expecting to free up the equivalent amount in space.

I'm sure this has been asked dozens of times in the past but I haven't seen an explanation. Thanks.

MacBook Pro 14″, macOS 13.3

Posted on Apr 18, 2023 7:15 PM

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4 replies

Barney-15E

Level 10

121,382 points

Apr 18, 2023 7:39 PM in response to jinet

On an SSD, It takes a while for the garbage collection routine to run and make the deleted storage area ready to write again.

etresoft

Level 9

55,394 points

Apr 18, 2023 7:37 PM in response to jinet

You’ll have to wait 24 hours or so. The operating system saves recently deleted files in a local snapshot. Those are automatically purged.

jinet Author

Level 1

65 points

Apr 18, 2023 7:39 PM in response to etresoft

Thanks. I seem to recall this being the case in the past too. I started to run Disk Utility to check the disk in the meantime. It will be good to reclaim my disk space.

jinet Author

Level 1

65 points

Apr 18, 2023 7:47 PM in response to Barney-15E

Thanks very much. Helpful!

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Deleted large amount of files (ca. 300GB) from MacBook Pro but the storage that is left remains the same