Where is the 5.98 GB I want to delete?

[lostinasia]

Hello. Can anyone help?

I have a Macbook Air M1 and when I check the storage there is 5.98GB in the "Other Users and Shared" segment. I am the sole user of the mac so it was confusing to me. After googling th issue I went to the shared file in my hard drive and when i click on that there is 5.14GB in the shared folder.

HOWEVER when I actually look inside the shared folder there are are a few files called "previously relocated items" (?) and the total size of all the folders combined is only about 3mb.

1. Is it ok to delete these files?
2. And, moreover, where is the 5.14GB??

Thanks

Thanks

 

[lostinasia]

Image of the shared folder unopened.

 

[Brian33]

Ever since macOS switched to using APFS, accounting for file sizes and disk space usage has gotten quite complicated. Specifically, APFS clone files, APFS sparse files, and APFS snapshots use space "on disk" in new ways. I'm somewhat interested in the topic and have tried to read up on it, but I still get confused.

2. And, moreover, where is the 5.14GB??

Good question. I doesn't seem like it would be in the "Relocated.." folders, in my experience. I would use Terminal.app and the 'du' command. I've found 'du' to have easily interpretable, consistent results. It will "see" files that Finder hides from you.

This command will show you how much "on disk" space is used by the contents of Shared, with a total at the bottom.

du -hc -d1 /System/Volumes/Data/Users/Shared/

1. Is it ok to delete these files?

"Probably." I've been struggling to sort mine out. They usually seem to contain system-level configuration files. When the macOS update process detects something non-standard(?) or unexpected(?) (in the '/etc' folder, for example), instead of overwriting that file (which could be purposeful changes made by the user), the updater will create a Relocated... folder.

I've delved into mine, and it appears that sometimes the "new" versions of the files get put into /Users/Shared, and sometimes "older" versions (e.g., ones I might have modified) get put into Shared. Odd and confusing.

In any case, IMHO, if you have not purposely changed configuration or other system-level files, it's likely you don't need the folders in Shared and can safely delete them. Go ahead and look through the contents first, though, in case you recognise something you had altered.

 

[lostinasia]

Ever since macOS switched to using APFS, accounting for file sizes and disk space usage has gotten quite complicated. Specifically, APFS clone files, APFS sparse files, and APFS snapshots use space "on disk" in new ways. I'm somewhat interested in the topic and have tried to read up on it, but I still get confused.


Good question. I doesn't seem like it would be in the "Relocated.." folders, in my experience. I would use Terminal.app and the 'du' command. I've found 'du' to have easily interpretable, consistent results. It will "see" files that Finder hides from you.

This command will show you how much "on disk" space is used by the contents of Shared, with a total at the bottom.

du -hc -d1 /System/Volumes/Data/Users/Shared/



"Probably." I've been struggling to sort mine out. They usually seem to contain system-level configuration files. When the macOS update process detects something non-standard(?) or unexpected(?) (in the '/etc' folder, for example), instead of overwriting that file (which could be purposeful changes made by the user), the updater will create a Relocated... folder.

I've delved into mine, and it appears that sometimes the "new" versions of the files get put into /Users/Shared, and sometimes "older" versions (e.g., ones I might have modified) get put into Shared. Odd and confusing.

In any case, IMHO, if you have not purposely changed configuration or other system-level files, it's likely you don't need the folders in Shared and can safely delete them. Go ahead and look through the contents first, though, in case you recognise something you had altered.

Thanks.

I tried the command you suggested and Terminal (see attached) and it seems to suggest there is 4.8GB in "/System/Volumes/Data/Users/Shared//Library".

I am way out of my depth here.

There IS a "Library" folder in the HD with a bunch of important looking files in it but that is separate and different from the "shared" folder in "users" right? (it also is much bigger that 4.8GB)


I cannot see any "Library" folder in the "shared" files within "users" so seem to be back where i started or am i misunderstanding the Terminal lookup?

Thx

 

[bogdanw]

"How to Show Hidden Files on a Mac" https://www.macrumors.com/how-to/show-hidden-files-on-a-mac/

 

[Brian33]

I tried the command you suggested and Terminal (see attached) and it seems to suggest there is 4.8GB in "/System/Volumes/Data/Users/Shared//Library".

Great! That's where the data is hiding. I've never heard of any Library folder getting copied to Shared, but it likely happened during a macOS update. I wonder what's in this one...

There IS a "Library" folder in the HD with a bunch of important looking files in it but that is separate and different from the "shared" folder in "users" right? (it also is much bigger that 4.8GB)

Yes, there is a Library folder at the root of the filesystem that is for "the system" and it is different from your user's Library folder in your home directory. Leave both of them alone. It's the third Library folder within /Users/Shared that is unusual and is taking up 4.8GB.

I cannot see any "Library" folder in the "shared" files within "users" so seem to be back where i started or am i misunderstanding the Terminal lookup?

The Library folder within Shared is being hidden by Finder (but it's there). @bogdanw 's link shows two ways of showing "hidden files". The easiest is opening a Finder window and holding Shift and Command and hitting '.' (period). But I don't remember if that shows Library folders (which are normally hidden). You can try it, then look in Shared and see if it shows the extra Library folder.

On my Mac, I've used the defaults write com.apple.finder AppleShowAllFiles YES method to show hidden files in Finder. That should work if the first method doesn't. (If using this method, as mentioned in @bogdanw 's link above, don't forget to restart Finder. Also that link has a way to un-do the command if you want to.)

Once you can see the Library folder within the Users/Shared folder, you can look through it and try to get an idea of why it's there. I suspect it can be deleted, but it's better to check it first.


If you can't get Finder to show it, here's a Terminal.app command which will show the folders within the extra Library folder: ls -lhFOe /System/Volumes/Data/Users/Shared/Library
That should tell us if it originated from the "system's" Library or your user's Library. Post the results, if you like. This command will work regardless of whether Finder shows the hidden Library or not.

 

[lostinasia]

Thamks both - will try

 

[lostinasia]

Great! That's where the data is hiding. I've never heard of any Library folder getting copied to Shared, but it likely happened during a macOS update. I wonder what's in this one...


Yes, there is a Library folder at the root of the filesystem that is for "the system" and it is different from your user's Library folder in your home directory. Leave both of them alone. It's the third Library folder within /Users/Shared that is unusual and is taking up 4.8GB.


The Library folder within Shared is being hidden by Finder (but it's there). @bogdanw 's link shows two ways of showing "hidden files". The easiest is opening a Finder window and holding Shift and Command and hitting '.' (period). But I don't remember if that shows Library folders (which are normally hidden). You can try it, then look in Shared and see if it shows the extra Library folder.

On my Mac, I've used the defaults write com.apple.finder AppleShowAllFiles YES method to show hidden files in Finder. That should work if the first method doesn't. (If using this method, as mentioned in @bogdanw 's link above, don't forget to restart Finder. Also that link has a way to un-do the command if you want to.)

Once you can see the Library folder within the Users/Shared folder, you can look through it and try to get an idea of why it's there. I suspect it can be deleted, but it's better to check it first.


If you can't get Finder to show it, here's a Terminal.app command which will show the folders within the extra Library folder: ls -lhFOe /System/Volumes/Data/Users/Shared/Library
That should tell us if it originated from the "system's" Library or your user's Library. Post the results, if you like. This command will work regardless of whether Finder shows the hidden Library or not.

Maybe I stumbled accross the answer by luck?

I ran CC cleaner and found what it classified as a large file worth about 5GB it said i could get rid of.

It was called data.qcow2 and seemed to be in folder called Tiramisu64.

I had no idea what they were but asked an AI assistant and found they were "virtualizers" related to Androd emulators. I dont really know what they are but , after googling them, know I once downloaded Bluestacks (and also Docker? Is that an emulator?)

Anyway, i had already deleted them but maybe this was somehow left behind?

I took a risk and deleted it and now the "other users/shared" file is down to 849MB.

Thx

 

[Brian33]

Tiramisu and Bluestacks seem to be related to game emulators. I think data.qcow2 was a "virtual disk" for one of those emulators. So yes, I think this "Library" stuff was just leftover from the emulator.

Glad you got your disk space back!