Storage Space: what is "Other"

[babyblues197669]

used omnisweeper

If you're wondering what "Other" category in the Lion storage tab is about, this may help explain:

What is this "Other" in the storage tab? What is eating my space​

For space issues not explained by the above, there are a few things you can try, some of which may or may not apply:

• Begin by restarting your computer as a first step. This sometimes resolves issues.
  
  
• For Time Machine users on notebooks running Lion, space may being consumed by Time Machine local snapshots, which can be disabled.
  OS X Lion: About Time Machine's "local snapshots" on portable Macs
  
  
• Check to see if some of the space is being used by your sleepimage file.
  
  
• Search with Finder to see if the space is being consumed by a very large file or several large files. Adjust the 50GB in the illustration to whatever size you deem appropriate.
  
• Use OmniDiskSweeper, JDisk Report, Disk Inventory X, DaisyDisk or GrandPerspective to see how space is being used on your drive. Some of these apps may show more detail than others, so try several.
  
  
• Check your drive with Disk Utility: Using Disk Utility to verify or repair disks
  
  
• Try re-indexing your drive: Spotlight: How to re-index folders or volumes

Here are a few resolutions found by others with the same question:

• Encrypted drive
• Time Machine backup files and needed disk repair
• App filling log file
• App or file was 89GB
• Drive needed to be re-indexed
• Time Machine backup file
• Large app cache file
• Garageband files and video podcasts
• Oversized email being duplicated
• Another email issue

so i used the omni disk sweeper thing and the data is different? what does this mean?

 

[GGJstudios]

i tried to delete the sleepmage, but it just reappears?

sleepimage – the Mac OS X sleepimage file explained

when you upgrade to a new operating system does it override the space the previous system used? or do i have to delete it manually?

No, you don't have to manually delete an OS when you upgrade to a newer version. The older version is replaced by the newer version.

also how do i restart? should i back up first? or will it be safe and not delete anything?

Restarting your computer is accomplished by clicking  on your Menu Bar at the top and selecting "Restart". It simply shuts down your computer and starts it up again. It doesn't delete anything and is perfectly safe to do. Naturally, it's always a good idea to have current backups, but it's not necessary just to restart your computer.

so i used the omni disk sweeper thing and the data is different? what does this mean?

It means that some of those utilities shows more detail than others, which is why it's a good idea to run several, in case some miss items that others find.

 

[babyblues197669]

sleepimage – the Mac OS X sleepimage file explained

No, you don't have to manually delete an OS when you upgrade to a newer version. The older version is replaced by the newer version.

Restarting your computer is accomplished by clicking  on your Menu Bar at the top and selecting "Restart". It simply shuts down your computer and starts it up again. It doesn't delete anything and is perfectly safe to do. Naturally, it's always a good idea to have current backups, but it's not necessary just to restart your computer.

It means that some of those utilities shows more detail than others, which is why it's a good idea to run several, in case some miss items that others find.

I am SO glad you helped me with all this! i still haven't figured out why my "other" folder is at 79GB? but i did manage to lower it a bit by erasing things here and there? and i backed up all my photos and movies to an external and erased them so i would have more room to download the Mountain Lion system today. i did a disk repair thing and it did need repair so i did that, but it didn't change my GB count in "other" that dang "other" folder drives me NUTS lol someday i hope to figure out what is in there!

 

[GGJstudios]

I am SO glad you helped me with all this! i still haven't figured out why my "other" folder is at 79GB?

Did you read all of the post I linked?
What is this "Other" in the storage tab? What is eating my space

 

[Juggernault]

Other space on my mac

I have 308gb of other space being taken up by I have no clue. I have ran the aforementioned disk sweepers and i am only taking up like 50gb as a user. (Rough estimate.)

I am now running the disk utility deleting the free space i check my other category and now it says 335 gb used.

I called Applecare. They do not have a clue what is wrong with it. I am running on LION. (Waste of 300$)

My local Mac store in Michigan said it was time machine snapshots. However, I have TM disabled and even disabled them in terminal. They said after a while after you disable them the old ones will disappear. There are NO snapshots on my CPU.

Anyone help me out now?

I have tried everything.

Movies and music are all on my External.

 

[silvershamrock]

I have 308gb of other space being taken up by I have no clue. I have ran the aforementioned disk sweepers and i am only taking up like 50gb as a user. (Rough estimate.)

I am now running the disk utility deleting the free space i check my other category and now it says 335 gb used.

I called Applecare. They do not have a clue what is wrong with it. I am running on LION. (Waste of 300$)

My local Mac store in Michigan said it was time machine snapshots. However, I have TM disabled and even disabled them in terminal. They said after a while after you disable them the old ones will disappear. There are NO snapshots on my CPU.

Anyone help me out now?

I have tried everything.

Movies and music are all on my External.

Some other possibilities:

• If your emails are being stored on your computer rather than on the server, the mail messages (and their attachments) will appear as "Other" ... which can eat up a big chunk of hard drive especially if you get lots of media files as mail attachments
• If you have deleted any apps, there's usually some orphan files left behind, which will also appear as "Other". This will often include the app data which can be quite large.

Hope this helps