"System" Uses 360GB...What Gives?

[rhyzome]

So I noticed my 1 TB rMBP 2014 is running out of space...I checked "About This Mac" and saw that "System" is using more than 260 GB of my SSD!

How can I figure out if any of this "system" stuff is unnecessary? Can I reduce the space that "system" stuff uses? How much space does your "system" use?


[edit typo it "only" uses 260 GB]

 

[AuricBlue]

Download OmniDiskSweeper and run it. It will help you determine what is taking all the space.

 

[BrianBaughn]

Using Time Machine to back up? First suspect would be Time Machine snapshots.

 

[Martius]

Yeah it is usually Time Machine. I was dealing with this kind of problem and I learned that TM is also making some local snapshots and those snapshots are deleted when you need that space to something else.

 

[jerryk]

Is time Machine saying "it is has been xxx days since you last backed up". If so, it is keeping all of the versions of the files you changed or created in a special area waiting for you to backup. Perform the TM backup, and the space will be freed.

 

[rhyzome]

Yes--I do use Time Machine with an Apple Time Capsule. And I had been away from the capsule for a long time... I performed a full backup today though and "system" is still taking up the same amount of space. Does it take time to clear up?

 

[jerryk]

Yes--I do use Time Machine with an Apple Time Capsule. And I had been away from the capsule for a long time... I performed a full backup today though and "system" is still taking up the same amount of space. Does it take time to clear up?

It can take some time. Make sure you let the system complete it's post backup sync/verify pass. And when I have had the issue I do a second backup just to be sure.

Earlier this year I regained 200 GB after a day or so.

Now, I perform a backup every week or so

 

[rhyzome]

Well, it has been some time since I did my Time Machine backups to the Time Capsule and the system section has been fluctuating from 260 to 204 to 235 GB when I check it at different parts of the day.

What is a "normal" size for the system storage in the "About this Mac" menu? Can I still get back GBs or is it just normal for it to be around 200 GB? Doesn't seem right because some macs have 256GB SSDs...


I do have an iPhone (256GB) and iPad Pro (512 GB)...could there be backups of these devices taking up space on my Mac?

 

[rhyzome]

Bump...anyone know how I can figure out if it is iOS device backups or time machine backups that are taking up my space? Can the iOS backups be made to automatically go to the Time Capsule?

Can I get the computer to push all of the "snapshots" to the time capsule?

Apple's the biggest and greatest company in like the world today...why can't they figure out how to make this stuff happen automatically?

 

[Weaselboy]

Open iTunes then go to preferences and look in the Devices tab. That will show your iOS backups. If there are backups there for devices you no longer own, you can delete then there.

Run this command in Terminal and it will remove all the local snapshots (assuming you are on High Sierra).

tmutil  listlocalsnapshotdates / |grep 20|while read f; do tmutil deletelocalsnapshots $f; done

 

[rhyzome]

THanks--well it is a month later and I have been doing regular Time Machine backups, I deleted local snapshots as recommended and deleted iOS backups...but "System" STILL 282 GB.

What else can I do?

I'm thinking about upgrading to a new MBP but because of this problem I can't determine how much storage I will actually _need_ to migrate my stuff and still have a smooth experience...

 

[Weaselboy]

THanks--well it is a month later and I have been doing regular Time Machine backups, I deleted local snapshots as recommended and deleted iOS backups...but "System" STILL 282 GB.

What else can I do?

I'm thinking about upgrading to a new MBP but because of this problem I can't determine how much storage I will actually _need_ to migrate my stuff and still have a smooth experience...

Run this command in Terminal and give it a couple minutes to finish, then tell us the result.

This will show hidden and system files not shown by most of those space used apps.

sudo du -d 1 -x -c -g /