Clever way to free up storage?

[cheeryble]

Here is my storage readout

 

As you can see it's nearly full.

So full i can't really upgrade from El Cap to Mohave (12.5gb needed)

 

I've emptied stuff out of things that are easy, but the elephant in the room is the yellow OTHER section.

Rather than go searching around piecemeal for stuff i can delete in yellow, what would a clever Apple type guy to start clearing this up, and freeing as much space as poss as soon as poss. 

 

[moose7117]

THERE IS A FREE APP CALLED " Daisy Disk" if you load it and run it it will breakdown all your folders and you will be able to see what other is actually made of.

this will allow you to delete selective items individually , if you want.

 

[KittenKong]

https://macpaw.com/how-to/clean-up-other-storage-on-mac

 

But the obvious things to do would be either to fit a larger hard drive (if possible: Apple often deliberately prevent you from doing that as it loses them money) or to move the movies to an external USB drive. These are very cheap.

[cheeryble]

THERE IS A FREE APP CALLED " Daisy Disk" if you load it and run it it will breakdown all your folders and you will be able to see what other is actually made of.
this will allow you to delete selective items individually , if you want.
 

This is what I was hoping for thanks, I’ll load tomorrow


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[cheeryble]

https://macpaw.com/how-to/clean-up-other-storage-on-mac
 
But the obvious things to do would be either to fit a larger hard drive (if possible: Apple often deliberately prevent you from doing that as it loses them money) or to move the movies to an external USB drive. These are very cheap.

Thanks KKong will check link.
I’m guessing ext HDs are solid state nowadays.
Small would be good if I’m on the move.
What would a modest size HD cost nowadays?


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[moose7117]

or buy a 512 gig SD card and plug in into the slot , if you have one.

I have a 256 sd card in my MacAir and i store photos and movies on it.

[cheeryble]

or buy a 512 gig SD card and plug in into the slot , if you have one.
I have a 256 sd card in my MacAir and i store photos and movies on it.

Mines an Air also, but I thought they have no slot for an SD?


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[moose7117]

depends on if it is latest model, older air's have two usb ports and 1 sd port.

can still buy them from apple store.

 

[Bill3173]

When I require more space, the fist thing I do is delete “~/Library/Caches” folder.” If you do it regularity it will be 1 or 2 GB, If you have never done it, it can quite large (many GB’s).

 

The delete process is in KittenKong’s link, follow the steps in section 3. I differ a bit, as I delete the whole caches folder (it will be moved to the trash can). Then restart your computer, a new caches folder will appear and repopulated with folders as required. If no problems after a day or two, you can empty the trash can. (In the years I have been doing this, I have never had a problem. If you do have a problem you can move the old caches folder back).

 

Both the caches folder and the trash can are in the yellow “other” section.

 

Regards Bill.

[cheeryble]

5 hours ago, moose7117 said:

depends on if it is latest model, older air's have two usb ports and 1 sd port.

can still buy them from apple store.

 

Hey is this it on the left?

 

Had no idea

 

 

[Racaoy]

On 5/19/2019 at 8:15 AM, moose7117 said:

THERE IS A FREE APP CALLED " Daisy Disk" if you load it and run it it will breakdown all your folders and you will be able to see what other is actually made of.

this will allow you to delete selective items individually , if you want.

 

Daisy Disk is a free app?

[cheeryble]

2 hours ago, Racaoy said:

Daisy Disk is a free app?

Its not free but has a trial period.

I'm not starting the trial until I have a free day.

[moose7117]

ok, maybe it was free.

i got it years ago and i don't remember paying for it.

that is the sd card slot.

simply put in a big card, 256 or 512 and a new disk image will appear on your desktop.

use it as storage.

 

easy peasy.

[cheeryble]

I haven't had time to sort this out yet, but have learned something worthwhile.

It is possible to cut off most of the SD card which protrudes from the slot. Just a little left protruding.

Half the card is just an empty little case.

there's even a company that sells specially made to fit SDs for Mac which fit flush and look well.

Expensive though.

 

 

ps:

 

I notice a huge difference in the cost of the Tardiscs i just mentioned that fit flush.

They are about $350, ten times more than a regular SD.

Does this mean the normal SD has less ability for living in a Mac?

[cheeryble]

Cannot cut the adaptor so short with this one, but it looks like a good deal.
Would it fulfill my needs?



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[sometimewoodworker]

On 5/26/2019 at 2:30 PM, cheeryble said:

Cannot cut the adaptor so short with this one, but it looks like a good deal.
Would it fulfill my needs?



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It should be perfect.

[sometimewoodworker]

On 5/18/2019 at 1:08 PM, cheeryble said:

I've emptied stuff out of things that are easy, but the elephant in the room is the yellow OTHER section.

Rather than go searching around piecemeal for stuff i can delete in yellow, what would a clever Apple type guy to start clearing this up, and freeing as much space as poss as soon as poss. 

          

                         Disk drill basic will locate files by size, it's free though it does try to sell you the paid for version 

[sometimewoodworker]

Of course depending on the memory you have and programs you usually open then take a look in ".private/var/vm" and see how many swapfiles you have and the size of the  hibernation file.

 

restarting will delete the swapfiles and depending on your needs you can also stop the Mac from ever going into hibernation and that will delete the file. 

 

If you use Disk Drill don't allow protection as it will rate space.

[cheeryble]

On May 19, 2019 at 9:55 PM, Bill3173 said:

When I require more space, the fist thing I do is delete “~/Library/Caches” folder.” If you do it regularity it will be 1 or 2 GB, If you have never done it, it can quite large (many GB’s).

 

The delete process is in KittenKong’s link, follow the steps in section 3. I differ a bit, as I delete the whole caches folder (it will be moved to the trash can). Then restart your computer, a new caches folder will appear and repopulated with folders as required. If no problems after a day or two, you can empty the trash can. (In the years I have been doing this, I have never had a problem. If you do have a problem you can move the old caches folder back).

 

Both the caches folder and the trash can are in the yellow “other” section.

 

Regards Bill.

I've been just two busy to get on with this, but Sometime wood worker has woken me up.

 

I just went through the delete cache method linked by KK and mentioned by Bill.

All went smoothly, i have a back up on the desktop, but when I went to empty trash of the cache items I'd dragged there i repeatedly got the little panel bottom left saying "item in use" or similar I pressed continue a couple of time but they kept coming and I've stopped, getting nervous. Also i noted there were only a total of 1.64gB transferred.

 

I previously downloaded DaisyDisc but as it has a limited free life I held off on initiating it until I was a bit better informed by this thread.....and indeed more possibilities have been suggested.

 

I found the Sandisc 256gb and am willing to buy that.

It's only disadvantage is if it clips into an adaptor to fit the Air will the adaptor come with it. OK no answer needed I just checked the adaptor comes with. BUT valid question as it cant be trimmed very short it will stick out and if i transported the Air with the adaptor/mini card sticking out it could get broken. Presumably I can "eject" it like any thumb drive and reinsert as required? And presumably the Air won't use it as an extension of the main SSD but i would need to drag tuff like photos/movies in and out?

 

If anyone knows of a well priced suitable card which CAN be trimmed short please do say, thanks.

 

Coming back to Sometimewoodworker's new posts i will look through your new suggestion

 

 

 

Thanks guys

[cheeryble]

1 hour ago, sometimewoodworker said:

Of course depending on the memory you have and programs you usually open then take a look in ".private/var/vm" and see how many swapfiles you have and the size of the  hibernation file.

 

restarting will delete the swapfiles and depending on your needs you can also stop the Mac from ever going into hibernation and that will delete the file. 

 

If you use Disk Drill don't allow protection as it will rate space.

STWW where will i find private/var/vm......have looked in Finder All files and Spotlight 

[sometimewoodworker]

25 minutes ago, cheeryble said:

STWW where will i find private/var/vm......have looked in Finder All files and Spotlight 

it is /private/var/vm by default neither the finder nor Spotlight shows hidden files. Which OS are you using?

 

What you see

 

What is really there.

[cheeryble]

29 minutes ago, sometimewoodworker said:

it is /private/var/vm by default neither the finder nor Spotlight shows hidden files. Which OS are you using?

 

 

Sorry don't understand but using 10.11.6

 

Downloaded and ran Disk Drill 3 but not sure where to go from here, which is what I got

 

 

Better get outside and see if the world still exists........

 

 

[sometimewoodworker]

41 minutes ago, cheeryble said:

Sorry don't understand but using 10.11.6

 

Downloaded and ran Disk Drill 3 but not sure where to go from here, which is what I got

 

 

Better get outside and see if the world still exists........

 

 

First uncheck the green shield.

Then select clean up

then select the untitled drive and click scan

 

 

[sometimewoodworker]

If you want the view I showed showing all the files on the Mac then https://ianlunn.co.uk/articles/quickly-showhide-hidden-files-mac-os-x-mavericks/ gives exact details 

 

however this is the bit you want is 

Quote

The long way to show hidden Mac OS X files is as follows:

1. Open Terminal found in Finder > Applications > Utilities
2. In Terminal, paste the following: defaults write com.apple.finder AppleShowAllFiles YES
3. Press return
4. Hold the ‘Option/alt’ key, then right click on the Finder icon in the dock and click Relaunch.

Relaunch Finder by right clicking the Finder Icon whilst holding the ‘Option/alt’ key

This will show all hidden files. To hide them again, follow the same steps but replace the Terminal command with:

defaults write com.apple.finder AppleShowAllFiles NO

 

[sometimewoodworker]

51 minutes ago, cheeryble said:

1 hour ago, sometimewoodworker said:

it is /private/var/vm by default neither the finder nor Spotlight shows hidden files. Which OS are you using?

 

 

Sorry don't understand but using 10.11.6

 

/

is the root of the disk

private is a hidden folder

var is a folder 

vm is a folder

 

so the files you want to see are in the "vm" folder in the "var" folder in the "private" folder at the root level of your disk

[cheeryble]

Thank u stww.

Did the scan while cycling and got this

 

 

Will have a proper look at yr instructions later/tomorrow

 

 

 

 

 

 

[cheeryble]

On June 8, 2019 at 4:40 PM, cheeryble said:

Thank u stww.

Did the scan while cycling and got this

 

 

Will have a proper look at yr instructions later/tomorrow

 

 

 

 

 

 

Damn I was just writing quite a long mail tying up the subject so far with having yesterday learned my gmail 15gig limit is full and trying to free up gmail space. Last night i could send but not receive.

My fingers are very stiff......probably my Parky's.....but essentially I got gmail up on the web browser as instructed by someone on youtube, typed a command into the search box to get the files over 10MB up,a nd clicked the dustbin on a few to try it out.

I looked in gmail trash and there is nothing!

I looked in the Macbook trash bin and there look to be no discarded emails but a lot of files which i'll show some and guessing they're from the work you guys have been helping me with to free up space on the SSD.

 

I might add the little box that ells me i cant trash this file or that because its in use .....bottom left corner........I got rid of  by force re-booting.

 

So questions are:

The files in the trash bin.......do they look like they can be emptied without losing important stuff. (I think there all from one batch, presumably the cleanup, and will add that they include a lot of dmp. files)

Next, where did the dustbinned gmails go? I must reduce my gmails or i have no mail inwards. Important.

 

Typing impossible......all for now.

thanks

[cheeryble]

The MacBook trash bin.......some of it

 

 

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[cheeryble]

Would still love to know if i can clear my Air's main trash shown in the last post 

 

BUT UPDATE FYI (and tips)

 

the immediate problem is the gmail being overfull ......102% of the free 15gb and refusing to receive......whcih looks like it happened to coincide with me trying to reduce stuff in the SSD.

Fairly good progress.

I learned how to check how many gb or % stored in gmail

(bottom left on web based gmail page)

I learned how to bring larger emails ready to delete e.g. more than 10MB

("has:attachment larger:10M" into search box and SEARCH)

I've now seen there is gmail trash and just trash on my MAIL  (Yesterday i could only find gmail trash on the web based, which is empty, but it's the other one needed and that's in MAIL.

When i emptied some of the large Trash mails individually it's reduced my gmail storage to 97% and about 20 fresh emails have gradually come in to gmail.

Spent some more minutes and cleared gmail down to 94% full.

Emergency over i hope.

 

Back to whether i can clear the main trash in the last post without losing anything important, then if i can remove as much sa is reasonably easy I can get an SD card and should be ready for the world.

[cheeryble]

It's been way to long but tomorrow i'd like to order a 200GB card and stick it in the air ASAP.

 

IT's from Lazada and here's what comes in the box

 

• SanDisk 200GB Ultra Micro SDXC Card
• SanDisk SD to Micro SD Adapter

My only question is will the adaptor fit the slot in my Macbook Air shown in post #10?