I noticed my Mac was low on storage, with only about 80 GB left out of 250. I needed to free up space, so I deleted an app I had downloaded that I wasn't using at all that was supposedly taking up 9 GB according to my computer. I put it in the trash, and then emptied the trash. Was there a better way to do that? Because as soon as I had done that, I checked my storage, and virtually none had freed up at all. It may have even gone down a little, I think. I'm not sure what to do now really, if deleting the big items in my computer will just take up more storage or do nothing.
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Is something wrong with my storage?
- Thread starter jamiesmile321
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If you are running Sierra, chances are system will not immediately reclaim the 9GB from your hard drive as supposed to be. Instead, it will mark that area as “deleted files” or something so that when system is low on storage (say less than 10GB) and need more spaces, this 9GB will be used.
High sierra does not have such design afaik but I may be wrong. And I do admit that Sierra design is more confusing.
High sierra does not have such design afaik but I may be wrong. And I do admit that Sierra design is more confusing.
@Shirasaki thank you. Also, am I deleting files the right way, and can I delete apps that came with my computer?
Delete apps that is coming with your computer may need a bit more work. And I have no idea how to delete them without impacting system functionality.
Regarding deleting files, yes, that is the right way. It’s just how Sierra treat free space that is confusing.
http://support.apple.com/en-us/HT202301
It you have Time Machines backups turned in, this is likely the local snapshots function causing this. You can read about it at the link.
It you have Time Machines backups turned in, this is likely the local snapshots function causing this. You can read about it at the link.
Deleting an app by dropping it in the trash, doesn't delete the myriad of files associated with that app. There are a number of apps that will delete those files along with the app. The one I use is AppCleaner. But, there are a few others.
Some apps come with an uninstaller app that deletes all files.
Lou
Some apps come with an uninstaller app that deletes all files.
Lou
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If you Open your Applications folder, and double click on an app, the app launches just like it does on a windows machine, but if you Right click on the app you can select "Show Package Contents", This will let you see all the files that are needed to launch the App. With the App being a Package like this you can typically move it, copy it or trash it without worrying about a Corrupted Registry or a bunch of other files all over you Mac. You may find a small file in the Library/Preferences directory that the app used to store “Preferences” in and these are typically very small 4 kb files.
Most of the Apps that put files elsewhere on your Mac will come with it's own uninstaller to do the chasing down for you.
Most of the Apps that put files elsewhere on your Mac will come with it's own uninstaller to do the chasing down for you.