Mac OS X startup disk full

[mcooke]

I keep getting this error message and its making my computer run so slow. It is frozen at the moment I will try and restart it but I have read that it is probably my mail taking up all this space. I need to do this (however I do this..)

delete OfflineCache" at: "~/Library/Mail/(your email address here)/.OfflineCache
delete "Recovered Files" Mailbox folder at "~/Library/Mail/Mailboxes/Recovered Messages (your email address here).mbox

Am I suppose to type this in the search bar or what?? I may be sounding stupid here but I just want my computer to be normal again.
Thanks

 

[maflynn]

Download and use OmniDiskSweeper. It will provide a sorted list of what's consuming your space.

 

[mcooke]

I just wish I knew why it keeps saying this. I have 39.9 GB Free out of 119.2 GB
just downloaded will come back in a few.
Seems to be a lot of stuff on here that I have no idea what it means. I just want to get rid of the thousands of emails that are being saved in this hidden place.

 

[maflynn]

All I can offer you is two pieces of advice.

First make sure you have a good backup before deleting anything. More often then not, when people start cleaning up, they get a bit zealous and remove too much.

Secondly, if you don't know what it is, then don't delete it. This pertains to any root folder or anything in the ~/Library (or /Library).

 

[mcooke]

All I ever back up is my music and my pictures. Just brought my MBP into the apple store because it was having problems. They wiped out the whole thing and all I put back on it was music and pictures. Which is only 38.1 GB all together. So why is it still full? Really don't wanna drive 4 hours again to the apple store.

 

[raptor402]

Hey,

Download Disk Inventory X. It's a wonderful tool that will graphically display your disk usage. I don't know how it compares to the previously recommended Omni Disk Sweeper, but I find the utility to be ideal for finding those phantom space eating files.

Regards
Raptor