After a failed update my drive no longer has enough free space to run the update installer again.

[Crobran]

I'm trying to update from Catalina (10.15) to Ventura. I barely had enough free space to download and then run the installer. The update failed partway through (I should have paid more attention to the alert notification that popped up but I think there was some kind of validation step that failed) so I rebooted and tried to run the installer again. Now the installer is telling me that there's not enough free space on my drive. Evidently the installation process downloads or creates other files. Where can I find those files so that I can delete them and free up some space?

 

[Bigwaff]

Search the web for how to make a USB bootable Ventura installer. After the USB bootable installer has been created, delete the Ventura installer and empty the Trash. Then install Ventura from the USB bootable installer.

 

[Fishrrman]

I suggest you get an external drive and start "off-loading" some of the stuff that is clogging up your internal drive.

You want 15-20gb "free" at least.
Actually, I think the latest Apple installers want considerably more...

 

[bogdanw]

Apple:
How to download macOS https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT211683
Create a bootable installer for macOS https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201372
"(A bootable installer doesn't download macOS from the internet, but it does require an internet connection to get firmware and other information specific to the Mac model.)"
Free up storage space on your Mac https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT206996