Moving User folder to free up space for OS update on 2012 Mac Pro

My Macintosh HD drive (500 GB) is almost full (487 GB), mostly due to the size of he Macintosh HD Library and System Library files. Can I move my User folder off the Macintosh HD drive and onto either my DATA (1TB) or MEDIA (2TB) drive inside my 2012 Mac Pro?


I need to update my Mac Pro (running OS 10.13.6, High Sierra) but there is not enough room on my Startup Disk. Several apps (especially Kindle, with over 1,000 Ebooks inside) and Safari are not working or working well without an OS update.


[Re-Titled by Moderator]

Original Title: 'My Macintosh HD drive is almost full and I need to make room for an update on my 2012 Max Pro

Mac Pro

Posted on Aug 25, 2025 4:58 PM

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Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Posted on Aug 25, 2025 5:33 PM

Moving you entire User folder can create all sorts of problems.


If you need to free up internal drive space, move your Photos, Music or Movie Libraries to an external drive.

Move your Photos library to save space on your Mac - Apple Support

Change where your music files are stored on Mac - Apple Support

Move your iMovie for Mac library - Apple Support


To keep your off loaded Libraries safe, back them up to a second external drive.

4 replies
Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Aug 25, 2025 5:33 PM in response to mgraffeo

Moving you entire User folder can create all sorts of problems.


If you need to free up internal drive space, move your Photos, Music or Movie Libraries to an external drive.

Move your Photos library to save space on your Mac - Apple Support

Change where your music files are stored on Mac - Apple Support

Move your iMovie for Mac library - Apple Support


To keep your off loaded Libraries safe, back them up to a second external drive.

Aug 25, 2025 6:46 PM in response to mgraffeo

After you move the Photos, Music, Movies, Documents and back up those to a second drive (internal or external) then and only then is it safe to remove them from your startup drive to free up space.


Free up storage space on Mac - Apple Support


Sadly you've fallen behind upgrading macOS and you should probably inch your way up from High Sierra to Mojave and then maybe to Catalina if you can replace your old 32bit apps with 64bit apps.


How to download and install macOS - Apple Support

Aug 27, 2025 1:52 PM in response to den.thed

It turns out that, last year, I did transfer my PHOTOS and MUSIC files to my DATA and MEDIA files, respectively, and they, along with my DOCUMENTS file, are also in iCloud. Thus, the file that is hogging all my storage on the Mac HD disk is my USER LIBRARY file, at 458 GBs, on the 512 GB (actually, about 490 GB useable) Mac HD disk. There isn't much else on the Mac HD, but the Applications file (5.2 GB), and the 2 Library files.


I have been reading all my files for my 2012 Mac Pro, including the Technical Repair pages, to find an answer to this conundrum . If I change out the disk (the easy part!), then I have to find a way to transfer all the current Macintosh HD information - including the User files - to the new disk - the HARD part! The Repair pages say that, in order to do that, I must use the Installation Disks (not Migration Assistant?), which I no longer have !?! From my reading of what seems like the entire Internet, it seems that moving the User files would be a VERY BIG MISTAKE that could lock me out of my Mac Pro!


Also, I have searched for replacement disks, and OWC has a 1 TB SSD for less than $100. HOWEVER...I have a 2009 Mac Pro, from which I have canabalized the Power Supply last year, for this same 2012 Mac Pro. The 2009 Mac Pro has two 640 GB and 1 TB drives in it. Could I use one in my 2012 MP?


AND...all this presupposes that I can find a way to move all the info from my current Mac HD to a new disk! I may never see again!

Aug 25, 2025 6:17 PM in response to den.thed

Wow! That was a fast response. - thanks, den.thed! I'm glad that I asked -I don't need more problems with my beloved, old Mac Pro. I have already moved my Photos to my MEDIA drive and my Music to my DATA drive, but that hasn't lessened the GBs in my Macintosh HD AT ALL! I keep my monies on SD cards, The two Libraries on the Mac HD add up to 458 GB alone! I can't move my Applications folder, ands I don't know what else to do. They WOULD put Mac HD on the SMALLEST drive! If my Mac Pro were younger, I would just get a new drive!


I also can't use Rosetta, with my OS, to help the apps that are not working, and I can't update Safari without updating the whole OS!

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Moving User folder to free up space for OS update on 2012 Mac Pro

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