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xLaine

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Jun 19, 2013
4
0
Im cleaning out files in my harddrive because its almost full (duh).
Im checking each file in my harddrive to see which files I can erase and I came across something that is confusing.

I opened my Hard Drive and revealed its files and these are the components and their respective sizes:

APPLICATIONS - 12.12GB
LIBRARY - 5.77GB
SYSTEM- 5.91GB
USERS - 55.42GB

That totals up to 79.22GB.

But when I right click on my Hard Drive and click "Get Info",
it says here that I already used up 112.98GB and that I only have 7.49GB left available. (My total capacity is 120.47GB)

So where is the 33.76GB??

Can anyone please tell me?
Are there hidden files in my Hard Drive that I wasn't able to count?

And what files can I delete in my HD?
Are files in the Library folder all important? What can I delete from there?

I'd really rather do this manually so please refrain from suggesting me disc clean up programs.
But if you know a really good app, then okay, tell me.
 

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Jedi Master

macrumors regular
IPhoto,iTunes, maybe time machine

Im cleaning out files in my harddrive because its almost full (duh).
Im checking each file in my harddrive to see which files I can erase and I came across something that is confusing.

I opened my Hard Drive and revealed its files and these are the components and their respective sizes:

APPLICATIONS - 12.12GB
LIBRARY - 5.77GB
SYSTEM- 5.91GB
USERS - 55.42GB

That totals up to 79.22GB.

But when I right click on my Hard Drive and click "Get Info",
it says here that I already used up 112.98GB and that I only have 7.49GB left available. (My total capacity is 120.47GB)

So where is the 33.76GB??

Can anyone please tell me?
Are there hidden files in my Hard Drive that I wasn't able to count?

And what files can I delete in my HD?
Are files in the Library folder all important? What can I delete from there?

I'd really rather do this manually so please refrain from suggesting me disc clean up programs.
But if you know a really good app, then okay, tell me.

What machine do you have, is Time Machine on? Do you attach a drive for the backups. If on a portable can store the file and cause this problem
 

davidg4781

macrumors 68030
Oct 28, 2006
2,798
398
Alice, TX
Interesting, I just checked mine and it's about 10GB off. Maybe in your trash can? Maybe rounding errors?

Mine are pretty close to yours except for Users. I'd leave Library alone as messing around in there can goof up your Mac pretty quick.

Check iPhoto, iTunes, and your Movies folder. That's where your larger files are going to be stored. I had recorded some movies from VHS tapes and they were a lot larger than I thought they'd be.

Also check your desktop and download folders. I had a friend who was running out of space on her MacBook. Turns out she had about 80GB of files on her desktop.
 

benwiggy

macrumors 68020
Jun 15, 2012
2,371
179
There are hidden files on your Mac, but 33 GBs-worth is perhaps excessive.
When did you last reboot? That might be useful.

As said, local backups may be the cause, in which case, it's not a problem, as they will be eaten if the space is needed.
 

xLaine

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Jun 19, 2013
4
0
Interesting, I just checked mine and it's about 10GB off. Maybe in your trash can? Maybe rounding errors?

Mine are pretty close to yours except for Users. I'd leave Library alone as messing around in there can goof up your Mac pretty quick.

Check iPhoto, iTunes, and your Movies folder. That's where your larger files are going to be stored. I had recorded some movies from VHS tapes and they were a lot larger than I thought they'd be.

Also check your desktop and download folders. I had a friend who was running out of space on her MacBook. Turns out she had about 80GB of files on her desktop.

No. My trash can is empty.. :/
And my iPhoto, iTunes, Movies and Download folders are all under the USERS folder so they were all counted. The desktop as well. (not that it matters. It doesn't even reach 1GB)

Thanks though.

----------

What machine do you have, is Time Machine on? Do you attach a drive for the backups. If on a portable can store the file and cause this problem

I don't have the Time Machine, and no, I don't attach a drive for backups.
 

richard.mac

macrumors 603
Feb 2, 2007
6,292
4
51.50024, -0.12662
There are hidden system folders you can't see, there could be easily a few GB accounted for.

Screen Shot 2013-07-07 at 3.14.03 PM.png

The private folder houses more caches in 'folders', swap file and sleep image for laptops in 'vm' (size of RAM), databases in 'db' etc.
My private folder is 1.76GB and I have a desktop with no sleep image, if you have a laptop with 4GB of RAM then your private folder could be 5GB.

Screen Shot 2013-07-07 at 3.15.38 PM.png

I wouldn't touch anything in System, private and the Library too. There is also another Library in your home folder (Users > YourName) and this is less dangerous to delete things from, but still I would leave it if you don't know whats in there.

You can use a tool like Onyx to clear unneeded cache files to clear up to 1 GB, or a lot more as you could have a 'runaway' log file. - http://www.titanium.free.fr/downloadonyx.php - Install and run Automation with defaults and reboot when it asks.

If you see this links, there are lots of iLife jingles/templates to delete to save space, if you would never use them.
http://hints.macworld.com/article.php?story=20061222012729432
 
Last edited:

Apple fanboy

macrumors Ivy Bridge
Feb 21, 2012
55,097
52,715
Behind the Lens, UK
I don't have the Time Machine, and no, I don't attach a drive for backups.

If you don't have an external back up using Time Machine (or other app like Carbon Copy Clone etc.), I would be extremely careful deleting files. If you delete something you need, you are going to be stuck.

Why don't you have a back up? Storage is pretty cheap these days.
 

xLaine

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Jun 19, 2013
4
0
If you don't have an external back up using Time Machine (or other app like Carbon Copy Clone etc.), I would be extremely careful deleting files. If you delete something you need, you are going to be stuck.

Why don't you have a back up? Storage is pretty cheap these days.

I actually don't have problems with back-ups. I have 3 external harddrives so no probs about that.. haha. I just need to know what happened to that missing space cause it annoys me. I don't know whether that space is just filled with useless files or not so I just wanna know :/
 

jackbelg

macrumors newbie
Oct 10, 2013
1
0
Belgium
"hidden space"

I have been using a macbook pro for a little over six months now. I have been finding out the hard way that the best resource for answers is online forums, but I want to caution you also. My computer was showing 60 GB in "other" when viewing it through disk utility. I panicked and started scanning the internet looking for answers. I called applecare and they could only recommend that I download a app such as daisy disk to find out what the files were that was taking up so much space. Other people in the forums were advising me to go into admin, use a command (forgot exactly, but something like this; disablelocal). all this information gave me no comfort, but my more cautious reaction was to spring for daisydisk which only cost me €9. After doing this, it still didnt tell me what the hidden space was or how to get rid of it. Then I just thought, restart my computer, (cmd R), click disk utility, run repair and then, lo and behold. It showed problems and fixed them on the spot. When I restarted, the "other" category was down by one third. Something so simple, and I find it after three weeks of calling and searching. Moral of the story is: "don't do anything, until you thoroughly read the OS manual".
 
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