MacOS using a lot of space?

[patseguin]

I have a new Mac mini and was just looking at my available space on my 1TB drive and it appears to have used up a lot and only has 399GB left. I see in system information "Other" and 219.49GB which is greyed out so I can't see what it is. Is that MacOS? Doesn't sound right to me that it uses that much space. If I had opted for the base configuration with 256GB, I'd be almost full just with the OS alone. Something sound wrong?

I did erase my drive to clean install Big Sur beta 3 and when I went to migrate from my Time Machine backup, it told me there wasn't enough storage available. I noticed that there had been another partition somehow created, so I deleted it and now have the full 1TB.

 

[Conutz]

I noticed the same thing today and a restart cured it.

 

[richmlow]

Hello patseguin,


That "Other" which is taking up 219.49GB should not be there. It may be the original OS (residual) when you installed the macOS Big Sur beta. There were some threads about APFS, containers, partitions, macOS Catalina, macOS Big Sur (beta),.....blah, blah, blah discussion within the forums.

This is what I would do.....your mileage may vary:

1. Backup all of your important data on an external drive.

2. Do a complete reinitialization of SSD / HD for your computer.

3. Install "factory-fresh" version of macOS Catalina.

4. Update to the most recent version of macOS Catalina (10.15.6).

5. Do NOT install the macOS Big Sur (beta). It is not ready to be used on mission-critical systems.

6. Put back all of your important data on your computer system.

7. If you cannot resist the temptation, install the macOS Big Sur (beta) on an external self-contained SSD / HD.

I used to install macOS betas (as soon as they came out). After awhile, I got sick and tired of the instabilities that such actions cause. I no longer install beta versions of macOS on my systems.

Good luck!


richmlow

I have a new Mac mini and was just looking at my available space on my 1TB drive and it appears to have used up a lot and only has 399GB left. I see in system information "Other" and 219.49GB which is greyed out so I can't see what it is. Is that MacOS? Doesn't sound right to me that it uses that much space. If I had opted for the base configuration with 256GB, I'd be almost full just with the OS alone. Something sound wrong?

I did erase my drive to clean install Big Sur beta 3 and when I went to migrate from my Time Machine backup, it told me there wasn't enough storage available. I noticed that there had been another partition somehow created, so I deleted it and now have the full 1TB.

 

[patseguin]

Hello patseguin,


That "Other" which is taking up 219.49GB should not be there. It may be the original OS (residual) when you installed the macOS Big Sur beta. There were some threads about APFS, containers, partitions, macOS Catalina, macOS Big Sur (beta),.....blah, blah, blah discussion within the forums.

This is what I would do.....your mileage may vary:

1. Backup all of your important data on an external drive.

2. Do a complete reinitialization of SSD / HD for your computer.

3. Install "factory-fresh" version of macOS Catalina.

4. Update to the most recent version of macOS Catalina (10.15.6).

5. Do NOT install the macOS Big Sur (beta). It is not ready to be used on mission-critical systems.

6. Put back all of your important data on your computer system.

7. If you cannot resist the temptation, install the macOS Big Sur (beta) on an external self-contained SSD / HD.

I used to install macOS betas (as soon as they came out). After awhile, I got sick and tired of the instabilities that such actions cause. I no longer install beta versions of macOS on my systems.

Good luck!


richmlow

Thanks for the advice. I was having the documented error when trying to upgrade from beta 2 to beta 3. So, I booted off a USB stick and I erased the drive and installed clean. That's why I'm confused as to why storage seems so messed up.

 

[patseguin]

Hello patseguin,


That "Other" which is taking up 219.49GB should not be there. It may be the original OS (residual) when you installed the macOS Big Sur beta. There were some threads about APFS, containers, partitions, macOS Catalina, macOS Big Sur (beta),.....blah, blah, blah discussion within the forums.

This is what I would do.....your mileage may vary:

1. Backup all of your important data on an external drive.

2. Do a complete reinitialization of SSD / HD for your computer.

3. Install "factory-fresh" version of macOS Catalina.

4. Update to the most recent version of macOS Catalina (10.15.6).

5. Do NOT install the macOS Big Sur (beta). It is not ready to be used on mission-critical systems.

6. Put back all of your important data on your computer system.

7. If you cannot resist the temptation, install the macOS Big Sur (beta) on an external self-contained SSD / HD.

I used to install macOS betas (as soon as they came out). After awhile, I got sick and tired of the instabilities that such actions cause. I no longer install beta versions of macOS on my systems.

Good luck!


richmlow

When I booted off the USB install media I created, I went into disk doctor and erased the whole drive. I'm not sure why any space would still be used up. It was odd, because right after installing the OS, I went to migration to restore my time machine backup and it told me there wasn't enough space.

I just created a Catalina install drive and think I might just revert to that. or do you think I ought to just wait and clean install when Big Sure is released?

 

[richmlow]

Hello patseguin,



Either install Catalina now or wait for Big Sur. Personally, I wouldn't install Catalina and Big Sur beta.



richmlow

When I booted off the USB install media I created, I went into disk doctor and erased the whole drive. I'm not sure why any space would still be used up. It was odd, because right after installing the OS, I went to migration to restore my time machine backup and it told me there wasn't enough space.

I just created a Catalina install drive and think I might just revert to that. or do you think I ought to just wait and clean install when Big Sure is released?