Need software to see where my space went

[Ratatapa]

I have a 13 inches MBA 2011 128gig

I have like 20gig left on my HDD

I have 30gig of VMs
and 15gig of Pictures + music

Which makes 65gig so i should have much more space left, is there a software (free if possible) that will inspect my HDD and tell mw what is taking up so much space

Thanks

 

[GGJstudios]

If you're wondering what "Other" category in the Lion storage tab is about, this may help explain:

What is this "Other" in the storage tab? What is eating my space​

For space issues not explained by the above, there are a few things you can try, some of which may or may not apply:

• Begin by restarting your computer as a first step. This sometimes resolves issues.
• For Time Machine users on notebooks running Lion, space may being consumed by Time Machine local snapshots, which can be disabled.
  OS X Lion: About Time Machine's "local snapshots" on portable Macs
• Search with Finder to see if the space is being consumed by a very large file or several large files. Adjust the 50GB in the illustration to whatever size you deem appropriate.
  
• Use OmniDiskSweeper, JDisk Report, Disk Inventory X, DaisyDisk or GrandPerspective to see how space is being used on your drive. Some of these apps may show more detail than others, so try several.
• Check your drive with Disk Utility: Using Disk Utility to verify or repair disks
• Try re-indexing your drive: Spotlight: How to re-index folders or volumes

Here are a few resolutions found by others with the same question:

• Encrypted drive
• Time Machine backup files and needed disk repair
• App filling log file
• App or file was 89GB
• Drive needed to be re-indexed
• Time Machine backup file
• Large app cache file
• Garageband files and video podcasts
• Oversized email being duplicated
• Another email issue

 

[bogatyr]

I second DaisyDisk. It's an excellent app to quickly find where large amounts of storage are going.

 

[Dangerous Theory]

Check the trash can and empty it. If you're a heavy deleter, you'll probably see a large increase in disk space after that.

 

[Matthew9559]

I really like Disk Inventory X. I have always used that in the past.

 

[gentlefury]

Daisydisk is my favorite

 

[GGJstudios]

As I said earlier, some of these apps may show more detail than others, so it's best to try several. You may find that one app shows more detail in one situation, where another app shows more in a different situation.

 

[No-Me]

I always just go into the finder and activate the "show all sizes" in the view setting.

That way you can sort the directories on size and open every directory to see what the biggest files are in there. That way you easily see what big files are there on your system.

 

[hob]

http://daisydiskapp.com/

 

[Enzedder]

I have a 13 inches MBA 2011 128gig

I have like 20gig left on my HDD

I have 30gig of VMs
and 15gig of Pictures + music

Which makes 65gig so i should have much more space left, is there a software (free if possible) that will inspect my HDD and tell mw what is taking up so much space

Thanks

Grand Perspective is exactly what you need.

 

[chrono1081]

I recently removed 25 gigs (maybe 20 I forget) of iPhone backups from my brother in laws computer, make sure theres not a whole bunch of those in your iTunes if you have iOS devices.

 

[LaWally]

http://daisydiskapp.com/

And DaisyDisk is having a half-off sale at the moment. The AppStore price is $9.99 and web store price is $9.95.

 

[yongren]

I really like Disk Inventory X. I have always used that in the past.

I second this. Daisydisk is pretty, but it never seemed quite as intuitive to me.

 

[rikahlberg]

Try Omni DiskSweeper

I second the recommendation for Omni DiskSweeper from OmniGroup. It's free:

http://www.omnigroup.com/products/omnidisksweeper/

I've used this for years to find out where the heck all my disk space goes.

 

[JHUFrank]

I use Grand Perspective, but agree, most of these will do the job you need.

 

[LAS.mac]

I use Space Gremlin

 

[jmgregory1]

This seems to be one issue that people just can't seem to search and find the answer for. It's been discussed countless times before. The "missing" space is being held by the system as a backup snapshot. The system will make room as you need it. You can, if you're anal about stuff like this, turn off local snapshots.

 

[GGJstudios]

The "missing" space is being held by the system as a backup snapshot.

That is not always the issue, as some have this issue even if they don't use Time Machine. Read the 2nd post in this thread.

 

[jmgregory1]

That is not always the issue, as some have this issue even if they don't use Time Machine. Read the 2nd post in this thread.

True, but $5 says this issue, as has come up in countless threads, is related to the backup snapshot. There should be a sticky for this "issue" so that new mba owners don't keep posting the same "where's my memory" questions.

 

[simsaladimbamba]

True, but $5 says this issue, as has come up in countless threads, is related to the backup snapshot. There should be a sticky for this "issue" so that new mba owners don't keep posting the same "where's my memory" questions.

Stickies or guides are hardly read anyway, thus the link collections some posters have to link to for those users, who didn't find anything.

Like this one: What is this "Other" in the storage tab? What is eating up my space? by theSeb