My iMac Disk Utility shows full hard drive even after transferring files and iMac is still slow after reformatting

As suspected by @D.I. Johnson, you reinstalled macOS incorrectly. In your defense, Apple does make it very confusing. You ended up installing macOS onto the old "Data" volume which contained you home user folder(s) containing all your data. The macOS system volume is using almost 800GB.

Usually when macOS is installed onto an existing volume, the installer will move all the existing data to the "/Users/Shared/Relocated Items" folder. Theoretically you should be able to delete that "Relocated Items" folder.

If a Relocated Items folder appears on your Mac after upgrading macOS - Apple Support

If you wanted to erase everything on an Intel Mac, then I find it best to erase the whole physical drive which is normally hidden from view within Disk Utility these days. Within Disk Utility click "View" and select "Show All Devices" before the physical drive and hidden Containers appear on the left pane of Disk Utility. Erase the physical drive as GUID Partition.....you can use either the APFS (top option) file system or the MacOS Extended (Journaled) file system for installing Catalina since it will automatically convert the MacOS Extended (Journaled) file system to APFS during the install (later versions of macOS must be formatted as APFS file since later installers will not automatically convert the file system).

gerryfromparadise wrote:

Have went over information suggested and it seems a bit daunting. Now at 76 I am not inclined to suggest that I am more capable when I last (failed) to improve my Mac.

Many people have made the same mistake with reinstalling macOS...it happens a lot. Apple sometimes makes things more complicated than necessary since Apple has macOS hide certain things from users to make some things simpler, but that also makes other related things more complicated. This is one of those things.

You basically do what you did before, but this time erase the whole physical internal drive which would be the top most item labeled "Apple HDD HTS5140...".

However, I recommend you look at the Apple article I linked regarding "Relocated Items" folder. I think you should be able to delete that whole folder from the "/Users/SharedFolder/Relocated Items" folder which should release about 750GB of data from your old user account. If you can delete that folder, then you should just be able use the iMac as it is now. I believe you mentioned that you had a backup of your data elsewhere from before erasing the drive.

It appears when repairing your disk it is necessary to have a backup computer should something go wrong. When you become immersed in this disc 'fixing', can you still rely on the computer to troubleshoot any problems or questions you have?

It is usually helpful.

I would personally advise you to first create a bootable macOS 10.15 Catalina USB installer using the information in the following Apple article:

Create a bootable installer for macOS - Apple Support

Instead of booting into Recovery Mode (Command + R) or Internet Recovery Mode (Command + Option + R), you can boot from the macOS Catalina USB installer instead. This eliminates issues with recovery modes which rely on Internet access during the install. If you can boot the macOS USB installer once, then you should be able to boot it a second time if necessary to make another attempt. Plus installing macOS by using a bootable macOS USB installer is usually much faster.

By booting from a macOS USB installer, you will be at less of a disadvantage during the clean install of macOS if something goes wrong because you can use any other computer, tablet, or phone to access Apple forums for assistance.

Given that I can no longer upgrade various functions of this computer my plan is to purchase a newer refurb iMac from Apple. It still would be nice to have this older one fully operational and free of old material as that is now on external SSD drive.

That is a good plan if you can still find a use for the older computer.

Once you have a newer computer, you can try another clean install of macOS at that time so it should be less stressful knowing you have another working Mac to use (unfortunately a newer Mac won't help you with creating a bootable macOS USB installer for the 2013 iMac). Plus there is another option for extending the useful life of this older computer by installing a non-Apple OS. While this non-Apple OS option may not be for you, it could be a good option for someone else if you decide to donate the computer to someone in need. I would be happy to provide information if you are interested, or you can create a new thread later. No need to worry about it at this time, just something to keep in mind for the future if you prefer to keep a working iMac from a landfill.

Being new here I am not sure of 'protocol'. I stumbled across a 'message' in my spam folder suggesting that instead of, or in addition to, a thank-you, I 'should' rate info provided by pressing up or down arrows. Is one arrow sufficient or do I keep pushing depending on what I think? Insight would be much appreciated.

If you feel a post has answered your question or is useful, then you can click the Up Arrow one time (it won't let you click it more than once for a single post). I believe the forum currently limits you to upvoting three different posts within a single thread.

I hope I have not overwhelmed you here. I tried to keep it as concise as possible. I think the quickest & easiest option for you would be to try deleting the "Relocated Items" folder located in "/Users/SharedFolder".

gerryfromparadise wrote:

Thank you all for the help. I reread the suggested material a number of times, then printed copies of the pertinent pages for reference while attempting a redo. Did not seem a slam dunk, at least for me. Once following the basics as I understood them, the process seem to carry through by itself. A number different progress process bars to watch. In the end, I saw a picture of possibly Catalina Island and a space to input my password. I logged on and all seem fine.

Good job! There have been some projects where I had to walk away after initially looking at instructions, then going back to re-read them. Really helps a lot of times. Sometimes you just need to let stuff have time to sink in a bit and the second or third reading things start to make sense. I'm glad you decided to try it again.

I logged off and then back on. Upon pressing the on button, I started a timer at the tone. It took 4 minutes and 33 seconds before the login cue was presented. Previously the login time was much faster.

Now, as before, I see the colorful ball moving about for short periods.

macOS is still setting things up & scanning things. Spotlight indexing may go on for a little bit. The Apple internal Hard Drive for the Early-2013 iMac was a slow drive even when new.

However, I suspect your Hard Drive is worn out or even failing. Give it a day to settle down. If you still see the sluggish performance, then run the third party app DriveDx (free trial period...the app can be deleted when you are finished since it doesn't install anything). Post the complete DriveDx text report here using the "Additional Text" icon which looks like a piece of paper on the forum editing toolbar and I will review it for you. Generally with DriveDx any "Warning" or "Failing" notices indicate a worn out or failing Hard Drive respectively.

I was not able to use the screen capture, but was able just before the process of 'fixing' the drive. further insight welcomed. Thanks again.

If you are seeing the spinning wheel, then that could interfere with the screenshot process. Try again later to see if works any better. Here are two Apple articles regarding screenshots:

Take screenshots or screen recordings on Mac - Apple Support

Take a screenshot on Mac - Apple Support

Try this: What to do before you sell, give away, trade in, or recycle your Mac - Apple Support

It will wipe and reinstall a fresh copy of macOS and its included apps.

After that you can reload your software from your external drive.

I suspect you did not actually get the drive device erased - maybe only the start volume.

Can you share a photo of what you see in Disk Utility, please?

After looking at your pics, I also see that something is very amiss here.

The icon for the volume "Macintosh HD" correctly identifies the volume as the startup volume. The icon of the volume "Macintosh HD - Data" is correct for a data volume that contains the home folders. But the amount of data on each appears to be incorrect - reversed.

I'm away from home now and cannot confirm the appropriate numbers with my own Catalina system, but my Sequoia MacBook shows only about 12 GB of storage in use on the startup volume and an additional 400 GB used on my data volume.

This can be addressed and corrected, but it will take patience as you go step-by-step through the process. User @HWTech is sharing great guidance and I don't want to confuse things, so I won't interject anything additional here just now.

gerryfromparadise wrote:

Well it seems I am confusing myself as it looks like I posted out of sequence. HW Tech, it seems your suggestion is describing what I did. Do the photos that D.I. Johnson requested support your response?

Yes, that is what I based my post on.

You can change the default sort order of the thread by changing the "Sort By" option located just below your original post on the right below the long horizontal line separating the rest of the posts (default is "Ranked" which is a jumbled mess, but for most people "Oldest" is the more traditional ordering). Changing the "Sort By" option there will only affect that one thread, but you can change the default "Sort By" ordering for all threads by changing the default under your Apple forum account settings by clicking on your avatar on the upper right of the page.

Also, I forgot to mention before that you can take screenshots using macOS instead of relying on a camera to photograph the screen. Screenshots are much easier & cleaner unless. You can access the macOS screenshot feature by using Command + Shift + 5 which will present a bar with various screenshot options, or you can use Command + Shift + 4 to select the region of the screenshot. I know there are a couple of keys combinations that can screenshot just the active window or whole screen, but I usually use just these two myself.

gerryfromparadise wrote:

Have went over information suggested and it seems a bit daunting. [...] It appears when repairing your disk it is necessary to have a backup computer should something go wrong.

Having a backup computer is not necessary, but having a backup copy of your own personal files really is imperative. Too many people lose their stuff when something goes wrong simply because they did not have a data backup. Apple has provided the Time Machine software to create a data backup on a sufficiently sized external drive that you provide. Back up your Mac with Time Machine - Apple Support

When you become immersed in this disc 'fixing', can you still rely on the computer to troubleshoot any problems or questions you have?

No, the computer really is not self-guiding nor self-healing with regard to this sort of problem solving. It takes a personal touch and good guidance. You can find that good guidance here in the ASC by asking for help, just as you have.

Given that I can no longer upgrade various functions of this computer my plan is to purchase a newer refurb iMac from Apple. It still would be nice to have this older one fully operational and free of old material as that is now on external SSD drive.

I think buying a newer Mac is a great idea, if only for the simple fact that your 2013 iMac is now very obsolete and cannot be upgraded. Twelve years (!) is a great run for any computer. Any newer refurbished Mac from Apple will be a great replacement for the old Mac. The newer Mac mini is a great option for many users. The newest macOS is different than Catalina, but it won't be unrecognizable to you. If you need help deciding which Mac to buy, this may help: Mac - Which Mac is best for me? - Apple

Being new here I am not sure of 'protocol'. I stumbled across a 'message' in my spam folder suggesting that instead of, or in addition to, a thank-you, I 'should' rate info provided by pressing up or down arrows. Is one arrow sufficient or do I keep pushing depending on what I think? Insight would be much appreciated.

Whenever you feel inspired to show appreciation for a response that you find helpful - or not - a single click on an up-vote or a down-vote arrow is all that's needed to register a sufficient response.