System storage is taking up 114GB out of 128GB hard drive on MacBook Air

[ViPa]

System storage is taking up 114GB out of 128GB hard drive on MacBook Air. There's clearly something wrong with this. No matter how many personal files I delete, the system files seem to keep growing. This is preventing me from downloading any new files or even receiving iMessages.

Running macOS Sierra 10.12.6 (I don't even think I can update this as space has run out)
Mid-2017 MacBook Air

How can I fix this?

Thank you!

 

[chscag]

You need to first get a handle on what's taking up the space. The best way to do that is to download an app that can show you exactly what is using the space and where it's located.

DaisyDisk, the most popular disk space analyzer

Get a visual breakdown of your disk space in form of an interactive map, reveal the biggest space wasters, and remove them with a simple drag and drop.

daisydiskapp.com

There's also other apps that will tell you the same thing, some free, some not. You can use Daisy Disk during its free trial period. It's only $9.99 if you decide to buy it.

 

[ViPa]

thanks for the suggestion. After running daisy disk, it seems like the vast majority of space is taken up by:
users > *me* > library > containers > com.apple.cloudphotosd ...and when i keep clicking thru, its all just photos and videos that were sent to me or I sent over text messages

a second tree which reveals a ton of storage use is:
users > *me* > library > containers > messages > attachments ..then a ton of videos/pictures

how is one supposed to go about purging this? Shouldn't these files be stores on icloud? I do not have any similar issues on my other macbook.

Thanks again

 

[jz0309]

is the recycle bin empty?

 

[ViPa]

yes it is

 

[jz0309]

Sierra is too long ago for me to remember ... but, is there a Storage tab in About this Mac? In Mojave you have multiple options to identify clutter etc ...

 

[ViPa]

yes there is..

i click about this mac > storage > manage

unfortunately under that menu the "System" tab is grayed out, and that is where 114gb of data is being held.

I think what is happening is that all imessage photos/videos that are sent/received are being cached on my hard drive rather than get deleted and/or stored on icloud

 

[FNH15]

thanks for the suggestion. After running daisy disk, it seems like the vast majority of space is taken up by:
users > *me* > library > containers > com.apple.cloudphotosd ...and when i keep clicking thru, its all just photos and videos that were sent to me or I sent over text messages

a second tree which reveals a ton of storage use is:
users > *me* > library > containers > messages > attachments ..then a ton of videos/pictures

how is one supposed to go about purging this? Shouldn't these files be stores on icloud? I do not have any similar issues on my other macbook.

Thanks again

Are you using iCloud Messages? If not, they're all locally stored. Make sure it's turned on in Messages preferences.

 

[ViPa]

that option isnt available thru my messages app on my mac, but i enabled it on my iphone (using same icloud account)

 

[FNH15]

that option isnt available thru my messages app on my mac, but i enabled it on my iPhone (using same iCloud account)

Ah. It’s entirely possible that didn’t launch until after 10.12. It’s been quite a while since I used a legacy OS.
I’d try moving the offending folders off the machine to an external, and updating to the latest shipping OS your MacBook Air supports. What model do you have?

 

[BrianBaughn]

I've seen a macOS hard drive fill due to some iCloud Drive weirdness. No matter what was deleted the space would still be used up. Turning off iCloud Drive fixed it.

Also, I don't know if you've considered whether Time Machine snapshots are filling the space.