How do I locate and delete 434GB of missing files on my iMac?

Question

Level 1

6 points

How do I locate and delete 434GB of missing files on my iMac?

I have an iMac. My 1Tb HD shows as almost full - 974Gb used of 994Gb available.

In Finder the main culprit folder is User Jim (i.e. me) which shows 1.01Tb of usage using Get Info. There are 8 folders beneath User Jim. Adding up the size from each of the 8 folders under User Jim (using Get Info) gives 556Gb.

How can I find out what is using the remaining 434Gb so I can free it up? I have purged Trash. I do have a Cloud drive which shows 222Gb (111.08 GB on disk), I cant see why that should be part of the problem. I have tried Disk Uitility First Aid but that runs through OK but doesn't tell me anything. Hope you can help.

[Re-Titled by Moderator]

iMac 24″, macOS 15.3

Posted on May 5, 2025 4:00 AM

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Answer 1

pinevale44 Author

Level 1

6 points

May 6, 2025 9:12 AM in response to Richard.Taylor

I appreciate what you are saying Richard and thank you for responding. The problem is that my disc doesn't seem to be full even though finder says it is. However, I have removed the the main library for photos - which is over 400Gb. (I have a backup) to ensure that disc is not full to see what happens and unfortunately the basic problem is still there. The user directory says it contains 514Gb but the folders in the User directory only have a total of 50Gb. There is still 464Gb unaccounted for as there was before I moved the main photos library off.

Here is a screen shot that shows the problem. I cant work out where the 464Gb is. Could I have a hidden folder? Also I have copied everything from the User directory to a separate drive and there it shows the correct size - so the problem is only on the Hard Drive. I am beginning to wonder if I will need to reformat the Hard Drive and then copy everything back. How difficult would that be?

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Answer 2

May 5, 2025 8:42 AM in response to pinevale44

Apple recommends that you keep at least 10% of your storage free so that apps and the system can manipulate files and data. You have so little free right now that many operations can run into trouble-- even deleting files takes up storage space. I have seen crazy things develop when I've had 15% free. You can't even believe the numbers you see until you get another 100GB free. I would get an external drive and gradually add files to it and then delete them. You should not try to move large batches at first, since that will take more space.

Don't mess with the numbers-- get files off the drive.

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Answer 3

pinevale44 Author

Level 1

6 points

May 7, 2025 12:21 AM in response to Richard.Taylor

There is only 219Gb in Documents and 10Mb in Desktop which doesn't add up to the 464Gb missing and are you sure they are on the Hard Drive as well as they are showing as having to be downloaded before being used? The bigger files take some time to become available.

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Answer 4

pinevale44 Author

Level 1

6 points

May 13, 2025 3:11 AM in response to Richard.Taylor

Hi Richard. Thank you for all your help. When I started using: system settings - general - storage I started to get an accurate view on the memory usage. This combined with what you said about iCloud drive gave me a much clearer picture of what was going on.

As far as I can tell using Finder to understand memory usage is very misleading giving me answers that just didn't make sense. And I found that I would delete large chunks of files on the HD drive but that wouldn't be reflected in the storage usage. Eventually I rebooted my iMac and left it over night whereupon I found that I had at last freed up a considerable amount of storage.

It was all very confusing and not straightforward. And I consider myself a fairly switched on user - but maybe that isn't true anymore. :(

Anyway, enough said. I am sorted out enough now to carry on. I am reorganising my storage and back up approach.

Once again. Thank you for your help.

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Answer 5

May 13, 2025 7:18 AM in response to pinevale44

It is true that those numbers aren't always trustworthy, and I have found that some things don't get tallied until the computer is left alone for a while. I had thought of this as partially to reducer battery usage on my MacBook, but it's interesting that it is equally true on your iMac. The numbers just aren't precise. As Captain Barbosa would say, "They're more like guidelines, anyway."

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Answer 6

May 7, 2025 7:23 AM in response to pinevale44

pinevale44 wrote: … they are showing as having to be downloaded before being used?

How?

See this:

Understanding iCloud Drive - Apple Community

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Answer 7

May 6, 2025 9:55 AM in response to pinevale44

It's good you got more free storage.

Desktop and Documents are in iCloud Drive, but those are in really in Jim-- are you counting those?

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How do I locate and delete 434GB of missing files on my iMac?