Help! I need more space on my Mac :))

[sassybiz]

When I tried to download Maverick today I got a message (along the lines of) not enough space).

My Mac is chockers!

How do I quickly get rid of stuff safely?

I have Clean Up My Mac installed and have already used it a couple of weeks ago when I got this message for another reason. It def helped but not enough for me to now install Maverick.

I have an early 2008 iMac with max memory loaded (2 slots both used)
4GB total

Also, I'm not sure what this means but when I opened Disk Utility I saw this when I clicked on my HD:

Capacity : 319.21 GB (319,213,174,784 Bytes)
Format : Mac OS Extended (Journaled)
Available : 5.65 GB (5,647,941,632 Bytes)
Owners Enabled : Yes
Used : 313.57 GB (313,565,233,152 Bytes)
Number of Folders :246,092
Number of Files : 940,753

Can anyone help??

Many thanks
Sassy Biz

 

[gsander]

If you have cleaned up the caches, temp files, etc. with other tools, its time to review what you have on your system and what is taking the most space.
Typically these would be video, large graphics/pictures and large email attachments locally stored. I use a free tool "Disk Inventory X" (I wish there was a Treesize for OSX). Assuming video is using a lot of space, I would backup/copy the large videos to an external HDD then delete them from your system to free up enough space. Once you have upgraded, load back the ones you want.

 

[GGJstudios]

How do I quickly get rid of stuff safely?

Your best bet is to move some user files (movies, music, photos, etc.) to an external drive.

I have Clean Up My Mac installed

I strongly recommend that you uninstall that app. I would not recommend using CleanMyMac or any of its variants, based on the number of complaints that have been posted in this forum and elsewhere. As an example: CleanMyMac cleaned too much. Here's a recent example. While you may not have experienced problems yet, enough people have that it's wise to avoid it, especially since there are free alternatives that have better reputations, such as Onyx.

​

You don't need "cleaner" or "maintenance" apps to keep your Mac running well, and some of these apps can do more harm than good. Most only remove files/folders or unused languages or architectures, which does nothing more than free up some drive space, with the risk of deleting something important in the process. These apps will not make your Mac run faster or more efficiently, since having stuff stored on a drive does not impact performance, unless you're running out of drive space. In fact, deleting some caches can hurt performance, rather than help it, since more system resources are used and performance suffers while each cache is being rebuilt. Many of these tasks should only be done selectively to troubleshoot specific problems, not en masse as routine maintenance.

​

Mac OS X does a good job of taking care of itself, without the need for 3rd party software. Among other things, it has its own maintenance scripts that run silently in the background on a daily, weekly and monthly basis, without user intervention.

Five Mac maintenance myths​

 

[gobsmacked]

Your best bet is to move some user files (movies, music, photos, etc.) to an external drive.
...
I strongly recommend that you uninstall that app.

I'd certainly second those recommendations.
I like Grand Perspective for quickly finding the largest files to move. It gives a graphical representation of your disk or folders. It helped me find some duplicated files that I had squirreled away. It's free and open source from here

 

[Apple fanboy]

Also, I'm not sure what this means but when I opened Disk Utility I saw this when I clicked on my HD:

Capacity : 319.21 GB (319,213,174,784 Bytes) Size of your Hard drive
Format : Mac OS Extended (Journaled) Format of your Hard drive
Available : 5.65 GB (5,647,941,632 Bytes) What amount of space is left on your hard drive
Owners Enabled : Yes Permissions
Used : 313.57 GB (313,565,233,152 Bytes) How much of your Hard drive is in use
Number of Folders :246,092 Self explanatory
Number of Files : 940,753 Self explanatory

Can anyone help??

Many thanks
Sassy Biz

Basically your hard drive is almost full. Trying to install a new program that is larger than the space you have left is going to cause you issues. Do you have any of this stuff backed up on an external disk? You really should have another copy at least as Hard drives do fail. I would recommend buying a third HD moving your videos or pictures across to that. You can either drag and drop or use a programme like Carbon Copy Clone (which is what I do in addition to my Time machine back up)

 

[northernmunky]

Hey Sassy Biz..
wow a lot of blah blah blah advice so far! Heres what you need to do:

Generally most of the space is going to be taken up in folders such as:
Documents
Movies
Music
Pictures
Downloads > especially this one!

1. Double click on your Macintosh HD on your desktop and sometime files get stuck in here as well. Any file you don't recognise, is probably useless.
2. Check your iTunes library, you may have music/mp3s that have copied themselves into your library that you don't really care about.
Check the Movies/Music/Video/Podcasts - delete what you don't want
3. Pictures folder & iPhoto library - delete the crap unless you have an impeccably tidy photo library
4. Movies folder > again - delete anything you dont find useful
5. Downloads > this is very likley the source of most of the bulk as I find not many people ever clear this out.
Go though every file >trash it
6. Empty the Trash bin in the dock.
7. Applications > trash any apps you don't use. I'd recommend AppZapper to delete all associated files as well and simply trashing the apps doesnt get rib of anything they may have installed in your system libraries
8. Speaking of Libraries > Check Macintosh HD > Library > Application Support
You may find apps you have long since deleted still have lost of system files in this folder that can be got rid of. (Be careful on this one as you might break an app.)

After this you should have a fair bit of space left, if not I would probably recommend upgrading the hard drive on your Mac - 320Gb isn't very much by todays standards. I have a 750Gb on my MBP and I find its still not enough!

Also you might consider an external hard drive to archive off old files / videos / documents you don't immediately need access to.

James the northern munky

 

[Apple fanboy]

Hey Sassy Biz..
wow a lot of blah blah blah advice so far!

James the northern munky

How rude.

 

[Gregg2]

Move stuff to an external drive if you can't bear to part with enough to make a difference.

 

[GGJstudios]

7. Applications > trash any apps you don't use. I'd recommend AppZapper to delete all associated files as well and simply trashing the apps doesnt get rib of anything they may have installed in your system libraries
8. Speaking of Libraries > Check Macintosh HD > Library > Application Support
You may find apps you have long since deleted still have lost of system files in this folder that can be got rid of. (Be careful on this one as you might break an app.)

If you elect to use such apps, be aware that in most cases, app removal software doesn't do a thorough job of finding and removing files/folders related to deleted apps. In fact, many times they delete small files like .plist files, but leave much larger files behind. For more information, read this and this. If you just want to delete the app, drag the .app file to the trash. No other software needed. If you want to completely remove all associated files/folders, no removal apps will do the job.

​

The most effective method for complete app removal is manual deletion. This method also removes files in the Application Support folder that apps like AppZapper may leave behind.

Best way to FULLY DELETE a program​

 

[blueroom]

PS and have a working backup before you upgrade an OS.
PPS have a working backup.

 

[bobr1952]

As others have said, you need to move some of your files to an external hard drive. Using clean up apps, even when they work, is not going to make much of a dent to free up space on your drive. Get yourself a nice 1TB (or larger) drive and start moving.

 

[spork183]

Download daisydisk from the app store. It will give you a great graphical representation of where your disk space is used and you can delete unneeded stuff straight from the app.