Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

Is a Sleepimage File of 17.18GB Normal?

M

MrManwelo

macrumors member
Original poster
Oct 13, 2010
92
0
Trying to declutter my Macbook Pro Retina's SSD. Found that 22.78GB are being taken up in the 'Private' hidden folder.

In private>var>vm the total size of that folder is 21.47GB. The sleepimage file makes up 17.18GBs of this and 'swapfile's ranging from 0-7 make up the remainder.

My macbook has 16GB of RAM. Is it normal for this much space to be used up or can I clear it?
 
MrManwelo said:
Trying to declutter my Macbook Pro Retina's SSD. Found that 22.78GB are being taken up in the 'Private' hidden folder.

In private>var>vm the total size of that folder is 21.47GB. The sleepimage file makes up 17.18GBs of this and 'swapfile's ranging from 0-7 make up the remainder.

My macbook has 16GB of RAM. Is it normal for this much space to be used up or can I clear it?
Click to expand...

I came upon this:

http://osxdaily.com/2010/10/11/sleepimage-mac/

Seems normal, as big as physical memory, that's what that link says.
 
so if the sleep image should be around 16GBs, what are the remaining 4.29GBs used for?
 
You can erase this file and disable sleep image, saving you 22GB.

However, remember that when the battery goes to 0%, the MBP will "crash" from the sleep mode and you will lose anything you had open at the time.

To compensate for this, make sure you are never below 1% for the battery if you are using sleep a lot, like me.

When you see your battery is at 1%, run to the nearest charger and charge it, if you are going to delete the sleep image.
 
MrManwelo said:
so if the sleep image should be around 16GBs, what are the remaining 4.29GBs used for?
Click to expand...

MrManwelo said:
Trying to declutter my Macbook Pro Retina's SSD. Found that 22.78GB are being taken up in the 'Private' hidden folder.

In private>var>vm the total size of that folder is 21.47GB. The sleepimage file makes up 17.18GBs of this and 'swapfile's ranging from 0-7 make up the remainder.

My macbook has 16GB of RAM. Is it normal for this much space to be used up or can I clear it?
Click to expand...

Somehow you already answered your own question.:p
 
MrManwelo said:
sounds risky, think i'll just leave it.
Click to expand...

Not risky at all. You asked for advice, then you ignore it when it's given to you from a person who's had it disabled for over a year with no issues. What more do you want?
 
SDAVE said:
Not risky at all. You asked for advice, then you ignore it when it's given to you from a person who's had it disabled for over a year with no issues. What more do you want?
Click to expand...

i don't want to my mac to 'crash' from the sleep mode. I'm always playing chicken with the battery just as it's about to die as the charger is normally miles away and I can't be bothered to get it! So for me, it would be risky, as I would hate for work and other open applications to be lost.
 
MrManwelo said:
i don't want to my mac to 'crash' from the sleep mode. I'm always playing chicken with the battery just as it's about to die as the charger is normally miles away and I can't be bothered to get it! So for me, it would be risky, as I would hate for work and other open applications to be lost.
Click to expand...

Well, it has happened to me a few times and I can report back that nothing major was lost.

I personally can't justify using 22GB on a measily 256GB drive, I'd rather use that space for something else :)

Now if this was a 512GB SSD, I wouldn't mind the 22GB.

Also when you remove the sleep image, it wake's up instantly (much faster than it would have if you didn't erase the image).
 
I had the sleepimage off (followed instructions from osxdaily) on my air for the entire time I owned it. Only had a 128GB disk, so every GB counted (it was 4 in this case). I had no real problems at all.

I've left it on so far with my pro. I have 8GB ram now, so the sleep image is a bit bigger.

The reason to leave it on is not because you think your computer will "crash" at 0% (who cares, just don't let it go to 0%) but that you want to let your computer to go into "deep sleep". It is all rather confusing, but there is a mode that lets your computer clear out your ram (put memory to sleep too). You need the disk image for that.

You can safely turn off the sleep image if you need the space. It doesn't 'hurt'. Leave the other swap files alone.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back