Others taking a lot of storage on Mac

[FeliApple]

The Others category on about this Mac is taking 20GB of storage on my 128GB 2015 MBP and I barely have 5 apps installed totalling like 150MB. How can I find out what is using the storage? I am on El Cap.

 

[chown33]

A similar thread:
https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/others-storage.1960646/

 

[FeliApple]

I am reindexing Spotlight, thank you.
Edit: I reindexed Spotlight and it is even higher than before.

 

[KALLT]

To get a quick overview of the space usage, you can use this Terminal command:

sudo du -hxd 1 /

 

[FeliApple]

I used a different command. Ignore the quality of the picture, took it with my iPad as I couldn't upload the screenshot on my Mac. Nothing sounds off though.

 

[KALLT]

This does not look unusual. The system itself costs data and it will generate caches for you to speed things up. I wouldn’t worry about this.

 

[chown33]

I used a different command. Ignore the quality of the picture, took it with my iPad as I couldn't upload the screenshot on my Mac. Nothing sounds off though.

For future reference, text in a Terminal window can be drag-selected. Then ⌘C will copy it to the clipboard, and you can paste it into an ordinary post here.

 

[FeliApple]

Thank you both. I will not worry about it then. Chown I used the command that was suggested to lightning in the quoted thread above, thanks for that too.

 

[KALLT]

You should consider updating to macOS Sierra. Apple focusses more on lower space usage in that version and gives you extra tools and information.

 

[FeliApple]

You should consider updating to macOS Sierra. Apple focusses more on lower space usage in that version and gives you extra tools and information.

I am new to OS X and I have ported updating fears from iOS but if I have a problem I can reinstall El Cap if I recall correctly? Or is that impossible?

 

[KALLT]

Updates are usually unproblematic. Nevertheless, Apple provides the tools to get you back on your feet if something goes wrong. You should make a backup with Time Machine. If something goes wrong, you can restore a Time Machine snapshot and continue as if nothing happened. You can also always reinstall the original system that your computer shipped with.

 

[FeliApple]

Updates are usually unproblematic. Nevertheless, Apple provides the tools to get you back on your feet if something goes wrong. You should make a backup with Time Machine. If something goes wrong, you can restore a Time Machine snapshot and continue as if nothing happened. You can also always reinstall the original system that your computer shipped with.

Thanks for the information!