Resolved Deleting Files, But Not Recovering Space

Hildron101010 · Jul 14, 2013

Maybe someone can help me out.
I recently deleted over 50 GB of QuickTime files off of my Mac. However, I have not received any of that drive space back, even after restarting a few times over the last week. Is there any way I can get this space back that wouldn't require me to format my drive and migrate my data back onto it? Any suggestions???

McGiord · Jul 14, 2013

Maybe it has to do with TimeMachine, if you have it enabled, as I understand it creates local backups that are "hidden" and occupy some significant space.
There are ways to disable that, but I am not the right Time Machine user to tell you more about it, as I don't use it.

Hildron101010 · Jul 14, 2013

McGiord said:
Maybe it has to do with TimeMachine, if you have it enabled, as I understand it creates local backups that are "hidden" and occupy some significant space.
There are ways to disable that, but I am not the right Time Machine user to tell you more about it, as I don't use it.

That was a good idea, I didn't even think of that. However, the local snapshots are off. Thanks for that recommendation!

Screen%20Shot%202013-07-14%20at%205.25.21%20PM.png

McGiord · Jul 14, 2013

You are welcome!
Now I recall something like this had happened to me before.
If I recall correctly OS X does some maintenance tasks in the background and and it might had not done them yet.
There are some terminal commands that help to run the maintenance tasks, the thing is I don't remember those...

Some other commands that can help you compare with the Finder info:
http://www.maclife.com/article/columns/terminal_101_managing_disk_space

Also, have you done a Disk Utility check and permissions repair?

old-wiz · Jul 14, 2013

and we presume you emptied the trash?

Hildron101010 · Jul 14, 2013

old-wiz said:
and we presume you emptied the trash?

Yes I did. I even made sure no invisible files were there.

McGiord · Jul 14, 2013

Try some of these:
http://www.thexlab.com/faqs/maintscripts.html

WOW...mine had not done the monthly maintenance since March...now it's done.

Anyone knows a what exactly is accomplished with these routine of maintenance, besides the disk free space?

Hildron101010 · Jul 14, 2013

This is another way to look at it. Note how there is a 50 GB difference in this screenshot.

Screen%20Shot%202013-07-14%20at%206.42.50%20PM.png

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McGiord said:
Try some of these:
http://www.thexlab.com/faqs/maintscripts.html

WOW...mine had not done the monthly maintenance since March...now it's done.

Anyone knows a what exactly is accomplished with these routine of maintenance, besides the disk free space?

Alright, I'll give those a shot!

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McGiord said:
Try some of these:
http://www.thexlab.com/faqs/maintscripts.html

WOW...mine had not done the monthly maintenance since March...now it's done.

Anyone knows a what exactly is accomplished with these routine of maintenance, besides the disk free space?

Shoot! I was hoping it would work. It said they ran recently, but I ran them again, just in case. No luck. Thanks anyway!

Badagri · Jul 14, 2013

Why are you using your SSD as storage?

opinio · Jul 14, 2013

Hildron101010 said:
Maybe someone can help me out.
I recently deleted over 50 GB of QuickTime files off of my Mac. However, I have not received any of that drive space back, even after restarting a few times over the last week. Is there any way I can get this space back that wouldn't require me to format my drive and migrate my data back onto it? Any suggestions???

Try running disk repair in the disk util in recovery drive.

throAU · Jul 14, 2013

You are checking "free space" wrong.

Stop looking in about this mac - look at get info on your drive instead.

About this mac includes time machien local backups, which will be REMOVED if needed when you are running out of space.

The difference between the sum of file sizes and the amount of disk used is because some files will consume parts of a disk block, but a block can only be used by one file at a time.

e.g., if you have 4k blocks and a 2k file, 2k is wasted.

its the way filesystems work - and is the same on Linux, OS X, Windows, etc.

MacReloaded · Jul 14, 2013

Had the same problem on my iMac. Turns out it was Time Machine local snapshots even though Time Machine was off and it's not supposed to create local snapshots on desktops. They also appeared under 'Other' and not 'Backups' like in your screenshot.

Weaselboy · Jul 15, 2013

Hildron101010 said:
This is another way to look at it. Note how there is a 50 GB difference in this screenshot.

It appears the local backups are still there, even though not listed in the purple Backups section you posted above. Other forums members have had this happen also.

Run the Terminal command below to see if there are still files in the local backups section. You will need to enter your admin PW.

Turn off TM first.

Code:

sudo du -hs /.MobileBackups

Hildron101010 · Jul 15, 2013

I just bit the bullet and had Time Machine restore the system. It worked! I gained over 65 GB of space back! I wonder what was really causing it in the first place...

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Weaselboy said:
It appears the local backups are still there, even though not listed in the purple Backups section you posted above. Other forums members have had this happen also.

Run the Terminal command below to see if there are still files in the local backups section. You will need to enter your admin PW.

Turn off TM first.

Code:

sudo du -hs /.MobileBackups

Thanks, I'll keep that in mind for future reference.

old-wiz · Jul 15, 2013

Hildron101010 said:
I just bit the bullet and had Time Machine restore the system. It worked! I gained over 65 GB of space back! I wonder what was really causing it in the first place...

----------

Thanks, I'll keep that in mind for future reference.

glad the restore fixed things!

Hildron101010 · Jul 15, 2013

MacReloaded said:
Had the same problem on my iMac. Turns out it was Time Machine local snapshots even though Time Machine was off and it's not supposed to create local snapshots on desktops. They also appeared under 'Other' and not 'Backups' like in your screenshot.

That is weird...
I'm not sure if mine was the same situation, but I'll keep that in mind. Typically, when Automatic Backups is off, the system shouldn't store local snapshots. I believe there is a Terminal command to override it, just in case. Thanks for your post!

coldjeanzzz · Jul 17, 2013

MacReloaded said:
Had the same problem on my iMac. Turns out it was Time Machine local snapshots even though Time Machine was off and it's not supposed to create local snapshots on desktops. They also appeared under 'Other' and not 'Backups' like in your screenshot.

How did you fix it? I have this same problem, I turned off Time Machine and used that terminal command months ago when I first got my Mac because I had no intention of ever using it. But when I check my space like 60 GB are filled by "Other".

MacReloaded · Jul 19, 2013

coldjeanzzz said:
How did you fix it? I have this same problem, I turned off Time Machine and used that terminal command months ago when I first got my Mac because I had no intention of ever using it. But when I check my space like 60 GB are filled by "Other".

I enabled Time Machine, selected a backup disk, disabled it and deleted the backup disk. Do you see MobileBackups in /Volumes?

larry918 · Jul 19, 2013

It may be news to many people that emptying the trash doesn't actually clear up much space. Go to Finder > Preferences > Advanced > Empty Trash Securely. This will delete files more thoroughly and bring back the harddrive space.

Resolved Deleting Files, But Not Recovering Space

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