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System Data HUGE - 700GB. Help!

lwilliams

lwilliams

macrumors 6502
Original poster
How can I fix this. macOS Tahoe 26.2

Searched here and tried all the disk utilities that people said would help. ... nothing. I tried the one trick of going to safe mode and then back....... nothing.

I have deleted all cache files and log files. That only recovered about 12 GB.

Is there anyone with an idea other than disk utilites that don't find anything??

Help!!!
 
Try DaisyDisk to see where the big files are and delete them

You might also want to run First Aid on the drive, perhaps it's reporting the wrong file size and needs to be fixed.
 
I can't get DaisyDisk to run. It installs and then just says Thanks for Activating.

Couldn't First Aid cause an unbootable computer?
 
lwilliams said:
I can't get DaisyDisk to run. It installs and then just says Thanks for Activating.

Couldn't First Aid cause an unbootable computer?
Click to expand...

Uh there's a trial it works fine I have it on 3 machines.

No First Aid will fix certain issues with your drive. I would boot into Recovery Mode and run it from there (on Container and Volumes)

How to start up from macOS Recovery - Apple Support

macOS Recovery is your computer’s built-in recovery system, with utilities to reinstall macOS, repair or erase your startup disk, restore from a Time Machine backup, and more. Follow the steps for your type of Mac.
support.apple.com support.apple.com
 
Are you using a clipboard utility, by any chance, and move files to a NAS or file server by copying and pasting?
 
No, I am not doing any of that. I use TimeMachine for all backups.

In the past I have used Commander One file utility. But, I have not used it in a long time. And, when using it, I did not have this problem.
 
lwilliams said:
No, I am not doing any of that. I use TimeMachine for all backups.

In the past I have used Commander One file utility. But, I have not used it in a long time. And, when using it, I did not have this problem.
Click to expand...

Something must be corrupt and system must be reporting the wrong data sizes, run First Aid first and see what that does. And if that doesn't help use DaisyDisk or something else to find where the large files are on your drive.
 
lwilliams said:
No, I am not doing any of that. I use TimeMachine for all backups.

In the past I have used Commander One file utility. But, I have not used it in a long time. And, when using it, I did not have this problem.
Click to expand...

Just FYI, this is a non sequitur response, and it indicates you may not have the understanding of the system necessary to be able to suss out and solve the problem yourself. Find a technically-minded friend to sit down with you and run DaisyDisk. DaisyDisk has the answers for you, waiting to pick it up in seconds.

There is a bug in system handling of the clipboard if you use Paste, for one, and it leads to data never being flushed after a paste job. DaisyDisk will help you identify the system folder that's swelled to hundreds of gigagbytes, and easily delete it.
 
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lwilliams said:
No, I am not doing any of that. I use TimeMachine for all backups.

In the past I have used Commander One file utility. But, I have not used it in a long time. And, when using it, I did not have this problem.
Click to expand...
I'm getting Time Machine local snapshot vibes from this, if you haven't looked there yet. I repeatedly ran into trouble with them on an old work computer that had just 512 GB of onboard storage, especially during times of substantial file churn.

You can also use the command line to delete them all if you'd like, with:
Code: 
tmutil thinlocalbackups / 999999999999999 4

To be abundantly clear, this will not delete your existing backups on your Time Machine drive but only APFS snapshots stored locally. They're supposed to be purged automatically, as the support article states, but I have found that it doesn't always work out like sunshine and rainbows (like the article pretends) for unknown reasons.
 
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It's likely to be snapshots created by Time Machine. Select the data volume in Disk Utilities, select 'show snapshots' in view menu, delete a few of the oldest snapshots, and watch your free disk space grow. You can also delete all of them, if you want, but that would mean that TM loses the ability to browse previously deleted files. Consider getting a backup solution that is more customizable than TM.
 
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View APFS snapshots in Disk Utility on Mac

In Disk Utility on Mac, view a list of APFS snapshots, copy information about the snapshots, and delete them.
support.apple.com support.apple.com

APFS snapshots, in short:
A part of APFS, snapshots are a list of files, not the actual files, that is present on the disk at the time a snapshot is created. If you delete a file, putting it in the trash and emptying it, if that file is present in any snapshot, it will remain on disk, even if there is no way of seeing it, and disk space willl not be freed up. Deleting snapshots will immediately free up the space used by those 'invisible' files.

The idea behind this is to let the user 'go back in time' w/TM and see/recover files that have been deleted.

I've not used TM for over a decade. I use carbon copy cloner, and set it to create snapshots on the backup drive, not the source, and to automatically delete snapshots older than a few months.
 
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Ben J. said:

View APFS snapshots in Disk Utility on Mac

In Disk Utility on Mac, view a list of APFS snapshots, copy information about the snapshots, and delete them.
support.apple.com support.apple.com

I've not used [Time Machine] for over a decade. I use carbon copy cloner, and set it to create snapshots on the backup drive, not the source, and to automatically delete snapshots older than a few months.
Click to expand...

Carbon Copy Cloner by Bombich Software is a must-have for any Mac user who is able to find his ass with two hands and a map. You don't need to be so very technical to use it, and it's much better than Time Machine. I second this recommendation!
 
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jonblatho said:
I'm getting Time Machine local snapshot vibes from this, if you haven't looked there yet. I repeatedly ran into trouble with them on an old work computer that had just 512 GB of onboard storage, especially during times of substantial file churn.

You can also use the command line to delete them all if you'd like, with:
Code: 
tmutil thinlocalbackups / 999999999999999 4

To be abundantly clear, this will not delete your existing backups on your Time Machine drive but only APFS snapshots stored locally. They're supposed to be purged automatically, as the support article states, but I have found that it doesn't always work out like sunshine and rainbows (like the article pretends) for unknown reasons.
Click to expand...
Snapshots don't take up space, really. You can delete all your snapshots from Terminal if you really want but then it will be created again.

OP must do as others are saying to get any help, its likely a corrupt file system (Which First Aid will help fix) if not it must be some large files somewhere that he needs to find with tools that some good folks here mentioned.
 
SDAVE said:
Snapshots don't take up space, really.
Click to expand...
No, very little. But they keep deleted files from being 'erased', and unless you delete snapshots, free disk space will continue to diminish over time.

If the OP could add up the size of all the folders he can see in the Finder, it would surely not be the 700GB he's seeing now.

Delete snapshots in DU, and recover disk space immediately, like I explained above.
 
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I have already done everything suggested here - everything. Problem still exists.

Apple did a remote into my Mac for almost 3 hours yesterday and could not find the problem or reduce the System Data at all.

Apple, yesterday, has referred this to Tier 4/5 support. They are calling back at 10AM tomorrow (Friday).

I have backups to TimeMachine on a NAS (QNAP).

BTW - I am a certified IT Pro (A+, CCNA, Security+, MCSE, Cloud+, CISSP and PMP) - 31 years as an IT Director.

Ben J. said:
No, very little. But they keep deleted files from being 'erased', and unless you delete snapshots, free disk space will continue to diminish over time.

If the OP could add up the size of all the folders he can see in the Finder, it would surely not be the 700GB he's seeing now.

Delete snapshots in DU, and recover disk space immediately, like I explained above.
Click to expand...

Cannot delete the snapshots. Apple could not delete them yesterday either.
 
lwilliams said:
I have already done everything suggested here - everything. Problem still exists.

Apple did a remote into my Mac for almost 3 hours yesterday and could not find the problem or reduce the System Data at all.

Apple, yesterday, has referred this to Tier 4/5 support. They are calling back at 10AM tomorrow (Friday).

I have backups to TimeMachine on a NAS (QNAP).

BTW - I am a certified IT Pro (A+, CCNA, Security+, MCSE, Cloud+, CISSP and PMP) - 31 years as an IT Director.



Cannot delete the snapshots. Apple could not delete them yesterday either.
Click to expand...
What do you mean by "cannot"? Do you get an error? If so, what's the error? As someone who also works in IT, you've surely been in IT long enough to know that "I can't," on its own, is borderline meaningless.

If you genuinely cannot delete the snapshots no matter what, I'd personally be inclined to say screw it, wipe the machine, then reinstall macOS fresh and restore only what is absolutely critical from Time Machine. Granted, 95% of my work exists in the cloud or otherwise on servers, so it's easy for me to say that. YMMV.
 
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More specifically, neither me nor Apple can find the data......and, therefore, cannot delete it. Even going into all the "hidden" folders, nothing anywhere adds up to 661GB of data.

So, no. There is no error because it can't be found.

The TimeMachine snapshots that are showing add up to a little over 13 TB. So, those can't be sitting on the 1 TB SSD.
 
OP:

I'll fix your problem.
But you have to do everything I ask.

First:
Use either SuperDuper or CarbonCopyCloner to create a cloned backup of your internal drive.
Time Machine will NOT do for this job.
SuperDuper is FREE to download and use for this. Get it by clicking this link:

You MUST do this, because we are going to WIPE your internal drive. NOTHING that you have put onto it since you took it out of the box will remain afterwards.

Next:
DISCONNECT EVERYTHING attached to the Mac, other than keyboard and mouse.

Next:
Open System Settings.
In the search box (top left), enter "erase all content"
To the right, you should now see the button to "erase all content and settings"

Next:
Click the erase all content and settings button.
Follow the instructions (it's easy) and enter your password when required.

What will happen next:
The internal drive will be "cleansed" of everything you ever put onto it. NOTHING will remain.
When the process is finished (it goes quickly), the Mac will be at "moment zero" -- the moment you first took it out of the box and turned it on.

Now:
Connect your cloned backup drive.
DON'T connect anything else.

Begin setup, just as when it was new.
When setup assistant asks if you wish to migrate from another drive, point the way to the cloned backup.
SA will take a few moments to "digest" everything.
Now you can proceed with a restore of apps and data.

When done, log in and check around.

How do things look now?

The hardest part about the procedure above is doing the cloned backup (might take a little while) and restoring apps/accounts/data at the end (again, may take a little while).

But otherwise... it's easy.
I actually tried this process myself once on my MacBook Pro, just to see how things would go.
They went fine.
 
Well, duh! Of course that will fix it.

I am trying to avoid that. This should be "fixable" without wiping the system.

Strange that Apple's Tier 3 support digs around in the computer for 3 hours and can't find what is hold 660 GB of data.
 
"This should be "fixable" without wiping the system."

Sometimes one has to do, what one has to do.

If you don't want to do what may be required to fix the problem, then I'll reckon that all you can do... is to continue to live with the problem.
 
If that is is the only remedy after Apple gets back to me, then I will do that. I am just hoping that they have discovered an answer.
 
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