Mass Delete Files?

[shuffles]

Hi,

I've just been given a 2012 15" Retina. The laptop is pretty much full. From HD space, files, photos, mail etc its full to the brim.

How do I delete everything?

I dont want to reset the mac as I'll lose installed apps like Photoshop etc.

How do I delete everything else?

 

[bartvk]

I would create a new user, reboot, log into the new user and delete the old one.

Personally though, personally I wouldn't like someone else his macOS installation. You have no idea what software has been installed in the past. Why not make sure you have official versions of the stuff that's installed at the moment, then do a clean install?

By the way, since it appears you bought a new laptop, have you thought about an external harddrive to make Time Machine backups?

 

[DeltaMac]

One method:
Create a new user account, from the System Preferences/Users & Groups pref pane.
Log out, then log back in to your new user account.
Delete the other user account, by again opening the Users & Groups pref pane.
Unlock that pane by clicking the Padlock.
Select the other user account from the list, then click the (-) at the bottom of that window.
Finally, be sure to empty the trash.

There's other things involved, but that should get you a LOT of space back after that.

 

[shuffles]

One method:
Create a new user account, from the System Preferences/Users & Groups pref pane.
Log out, then log back in to your new user account.
Delete the other user account, by again opening the Users & Groups pref pane.
Unlock that pane by clicking the Padlock.
Select the other user account from the list, then click the (-) at the bottom of that window.
Finally, be sure to empty the trash.

There's other things involved, but that should get you a LOT of space back after that.

Cheers for the replies! My sister in law has given me the laptop. The only suite of apps I don't want to delete are Microsofts (Word, Excel etc), and Adobe (Photoshop etc).

I went into storage management and started deleting stuff there but the Documents section says there's 40GB but I can't see any files

 

[DeltaMac]

Did you wait?
The Storage Management screen can take a bit of time before it populates completely. Give it up to 30 minutes.

It's really easier to go straight to the various folders. Keep in mind that if your sister is using iCloud, that those files may not be deleted at all from Storage Management, but remain stored in your sister's iCloud account (and in fact are not taking space on your internal drive
Better way is to remove the files by deleting the other user, per the steps that I posted. That will assure that the files that your sister left in place are gone. Make sure your Mac is logged out of your sister's iCloud account, and removed from her AppleID devices.
If you were given the laptop, but no user licenses for Microsoft Office, nor the Adobe apps, then you don't own them. Maybe you can ask your sister for the installer media for Office, and the Adobe app. (What else will you do in the event something goes wrong and you need to reinstall those apps for some reason?)

 

[shuffles]

So, I signed out of her iCloud account, restarted the mac and pressed command + r.

I erased the hard drive and restarted the mac again.

A flashing question mark kept appearing so I restarted once more and held command + r once again.

I repaired the hard drive, all looked good but the mac still wouldn't load up. I then clicked reinstall OS X.

It's now reinstalling Mountain Lion. The mac was on Sierra.

I'm guessing Mountain Lion was the OS when she bought the mac?

Anyway, it's still reinstalling. It says it's downloading additional components but says it's going to take 5 hours?

Have I botched everything up here?

 

[Deacon-Blues]

Oh dear.

 

[Weaselboy]

Have I botched everything up here?

You are going to end up with nothing but the operating system on there. So if your goal was to keep those apps you mentioned, they are gone.

 

[bartvk]

Anyway, it's still reinstalling. It says it's downloading additional components but says it's going to take 5 hours?

Have I botched everything up here?

I always thought this really is the best in any case. Sometimes it really takes hours. Just let it run through the night. As soon as it's reinstalled, check for updates and upgrade to Sierra.

You'll start with a clean sheet. Get office and Photoshop in the official way. If you can get them with educational discounts, so much the better.