How to reduce 'System Data' usage on Mac mini M1 for more internal SSD space?

[Adam1988]

WHAT ARE THE WAYS TO REMOVE THAT DATA?

AT LEAST I KNOW THAT MAC OS IS ABOUT 33.54GB AND MY SHARED INFORMATION IS ABOUT 1.22GB BECAUSE I DON'T SHARE ANYTHING WITH ANYONE I ONLY USE THIS OPERATING SYSTEM FOR MYSELF.

ANYWAYS, I HAVE TRIED EVERYTHING AND EVERY SINGLE LITTLE DETAIL ONTO THE SYSTEM BUT YET NOTHING SEEMS TO REMOVE THAT LARGE FILE SYSTEM DATA CONTAINER OR WHATEVER IT IS. 310.21 GB

SO MY QUESTION IS... DOES THIS DISAPPEAR WHEN YOU UPDATE TO THE NEW MAC OS? OR IT CARRIES OVER?

I AM TRYING TO HAVE MORE SPACE ON MY INTERNAL SSD.

MAC MINI M1 2TB INTERNAL STORAGE (MANUFACTURE SSD CAPACITY)

USED 1.21TB / FREE SPACE 784.51GB + 310.21 GB OF USELESS USE OF STORAGE CAN GIVE ME 905.28GB OF USE. WHICH WILL REST 1094.72 GB OF FREE SPACE...

PLEASE CAN ANYONE HELP ME?! 😭

THANK YOU SO MUCH!

 

[baconcat_8964]

That's how macOS file system works. If applications put files outside their assigned location/folders, macOS will categorise all those files under "System Data".

I would recommened to use application like GrandPerspective to scan the entire disk, find large, unused and safe-to-delete files.

 

[Adam1988]

Thank you very much for your explanation! I will look into that about that application!

I will find a way to dix the issue thank you once again! 👏

 

[bogdanw]

GrandPerspective https://grandperspectiv.sourceforge.net/
similar apps
SquirrelDisk https://www.squirreldisk.com/
DaisyDisk https://daisydiskapp.com/

 

[auxbuss]

I'm not reading a screed of upper case, so don't know the specifics of your problem, but to add to @bogdanw's answer: if you are comfortable with the command line, then ncdu – available via homebrew, etc. – is a great tool for discovering file-space usage.

It might also be worth checking Time Machine local snapshots:
> tmutil listlocalsnapshots /Volumes/Your SSD Name
They're supposed to delete automatically after some time, but I found they just hung around forever, so I delete them after creation – which does raise questions about their usefulness.

 

[Adam1988]

GrandPerspective https://grandperspectiv.sourceforge.net/
similar apps
SquirrelDisk https://www.squirreldisk.com/
DaisyDisk https://daisydiskapp.com/

I will look into those apps i hope they can fix the issue i really need to empty out those gigs thank you! 🙏

 

[Adam1988]

I'm not reading a screed of upper case, so don't know the specifics of your problem, but to add to @bogdanw's answer: if you are comfortable with the command line, then ncdu – available via homebrew, etc. – is a great tool for discovering file-space usage.

It might also be worth checking Time Machine local snapshots:
> tmutil listlocalsnapshots /Volumes/Your SSD Name
They're supposed to delete automatically after some time, but I found they just hung around forever, so I delete them after creation – which does raise questions about their usefulness.

Oh i am sorry about the thread is cause caps seems to be more bigger font i completely forgot about the tools in the body of the paragraph but definitely will look into the command line i am exhausted right now but tomorrow for sure i will investigate your links. Its cause i had some issues with streamlabs 😭

 

[Fishrrman]

Do you use time machine?
Could some of that "used up space" be "snapshots" ?