256gb of System Data!

[scouser75]

Guys, as the title says, I have 256gb on my System Data on my new Mac Pro. What on earth could this be for? And how do I check? I've looked everywhere but can't find a solution.

I did upload a large file to One Drive a few days ago but this is no longer on my Mac anywhere.

Any help much appreciated

 

[throAU]

Its likely time machine local backups that will be deleted if required to recover space.

You can either not worry about it, or look up the command line tmutil command to mess with them.

 

[scouser75]

Its likely time machine local backups that will be deleted if required to recover space.

You can either not worry about it, or look up the command line tmutil command to mess with them.

Thank you mate. Thing is, I don't have Time Machine turned on. Is it possible to delete items without using the command line as I don't feel too confident doing this in case I delete something important 😲

 

[orionquest]

I think you have left out some details which would help solve this.

Is this a brand new computer?
How did you discover this data?
If this Mac is brand new call Apple if you have a concern, have you done this?

One Drive has to store the file someplace, how large a file was it?

 

[scouser75]

I think you have left out some details which would help solve this.

Is this a brand new computer?
How did you discover this data?
If this Mac is brand new call Apple if you have a concern, have you done this?

One Drive has to store the file someplace, how large a file was it?

It's about 2 months old.

I discovered the data when I checked the storage as I previously had an old photos library document (252gb) on the mac, which I uploaded to One Drive and then wanted to delete. That photos library document can no longer be found anywhere!

One drive surely stores the file in the cloud, right? Therefore it shouldn't be on the mac?

Everything it telling me this system data total has something to do with the photos library document.

 

[MarkC426]

This does sound like local snapshots.
Once you delete/move files it should have the free space back after a couple of days.

 

[Shazaam!]

It's complicated

Free space on an APFS volume is an illusion

You’re in control of a traditional file system, but with snapshots, clones, sparse files and other volumes sharing free space, APFS isn’t as simple.

eclecticlight.co

 

[HDFan]

You can use a program such as DaisyDisk or Grand Perspective to get an idea of where the disk is being used.

 

[MBAir2010]

I accidentally video captured on my MacBook Air Ventura overnight once that made a 56gb video.

using about this Mac-storage- files did the finding trick after hours of searching....

 

[scouser75]

I think I may have sussed it. The photos library I uploaded to One Drive is currently sitting in my photos album. I'm going to delete this library tomorrow and see it the storage data size gets reduced.

 

[scouser75]

I think I may have sussed it. The photos library I uploaded to One Drive is currently sitting in my photos album. I'm going to delete this library tomorrow and see it the storage data size gets reduced.

OK. It wasn't the Photo's Library as I first thought. But, I have another theory for the system data. I backup my iPhone to the MBP. Could 60gb of this System Data be taken due to backing up the iPhone?

 

[MarkC426]

Have a look here to check size:

~/Library/Application Support/MobileSync/Backup/

 

[scouser75]

Have a look here to check size:

~/Library/Application Support/MobileSync/Backup/

That's brilliant. Thanks Mark. I'll look at that later.

 

[scouser75]

I just checked his folder and it came up with a whole load of folders labelled with numbers and letters. The total file size was 7gb. So not the 250gb(ish) I'm looking for.

Thanks again Mark for the tip though

 

[stradify]

HDFan's recommendation Daisy Disk will save you a ton of time.
You can download a free trial and see for yourself.

 

[enterthemerdaverse]

I delete everything in user/Library/Cache once a week.

 

[MarkC426]

I delete everything in user/Library/Cache once a week.

What exactly does that delete.....?
Does it remove saved pw for websites etc.

 

[enterthemerdaverse]

What exactly does that delete.....?
Does it remove saved pw for websites etc.

No just app caches. It's perfectly fine to clear everything in there.

 

[scouser75]

No just app caches. It's perfectly fine to clear everything in there.

I have stuff in Cache to do with Animojis, Apple TV, apps etc So do I delete EVERYTHING? And will it definitely not affect anything in the day to day running, such as Apple TV? I have no idea what Animojis are so not too fussed about that.

 

[enterthemerdaverse]

I have stuff in Cache to do with Animojis, Apple TV, apps etc So do I delete EVERYTHING? And will it definitely not affect anything in the day to day running, such as Apple TV? I have no idea what Animojis are so not too fussed about that.

The cache folder is just a temp folder. Apps temporarily fill it and sometimes it just gets bigger and bigger. After you clear it the apps will rebuild it with the temp stuff again.

If you want to test to see this, move everything from Cache folder into a a new folder on your desktop. Then you'll see the Cache folder being rebuilt.

 

[scouser75]

Thank you. I'll go off-load now

Do I delete all the FOLDERS? Or just the items within the folders?

 

[enterthemerdaverse]

Thank you. I'll go off-load now

Do I delete all the FOLDERS? Or just the items within the folders?

First right click on the Caches folder.

youraccountname/Library/Caches

Choose Get Info to see how much space the cache is using. If it is only a few gigs then it isn't worth deleting. If it is well over 10 gigs then delete everything inside Caches. Just select everything and trash it.

Before you empty the trash watch the Caches folder rebuild itself when you start using apps. Then you'll be happy to see that Caches doesn't affect anything. It's just a temp.

 

[scouser75]

Great call on checking the Info, thank you.Turns out it's only 3gb worth of data, so I just let it sit there.

I'll get to downloading Daisy Disk this weekend and see where all the System Data is coming from.

 

[mikelets456]

Great call on checking the Info, thank you.Turns out it's only 3gb worth of data, so I just let it sit there.

I'll get to downloading Daisy Disk this weekend and see where all the System Data is coming from.

Here's a similar occurrence listed on the Apple site:

Mac System Data is large - Apple Community

discussions.apple.com

One response: (More at the link)

"
Hey there!

Yes that’s a bit much for system data, I don’t think I saw any extra partitions using much data either. Any other Users on your Mac?

While in the ~/Library, (That you are familiar with). Can you get the size of Containers? And if you also have a folder called Screen Recordings? There are a few others to check out.

Ive found if Apple Mail is used and Mail logging is enabled, it can continuously generate logs you don’t need.

To check:
Open Apple Mail app.
Click Window > Connection Doctor.
Click “Show Logs”
Click Command i to see the size.
If large delete everything in that folder, empty the Trash, and make sure to disable the option for Mail Logging in Connection Doctor, to prevent this again.

(These logs are deep within ~/Containers/com.apple.mail, so Connection Doctor is an easy way to find them).

I take it otherwise you’ve already also checked in the ~/Library:
Cache
Containers
Group Containers
Logs
Messages
Mail
Screen Recordings

These are my go to’s for Other/System storage, just don’t go delete anything as they may contain important data, however things like Cache and Logs, you can typically get rid of if they get out of line.

Hope that helps!"

 

[scouser75]

Here's a similar occurrence listed on the Apple site:

Mac System Data is large - Apple Community

discussions.apple.com

One response: (More at the link)

"
Hey there!

Yes that’s a bit much for system data, I don’t think I saw any extra partitions using much data either. Any other Users on your Mac?

While in the ~/Library, (That you are familiar with). Can you get the size of Containers? And if you also have a folder called Screen Recordings? There are a few others to check out.

Ive found if Apple Mail is used and Mail logging is enabled, it can continuously generate logs you don’t need.

To check:
Open Apple Mail app.
Click Window > Connection Doctor.
Click “Show Logs”
Click Command i to see the size.
If large delete everything in that folder, empty the Trash, and make sure to disable the option for Mail Logging in Connection Doctor, to prevent this again.

(These logs are deep within ~/Containers/com.apple.mail, so Connection Doctor is an easy way to find them).

I take it otherwise you’ve already also checked in the ~/Library:
Cache
Containers
Group Containers
Logs
Messages
Mail
Screen Recordings

These are my go to’s for Other/System storage, just don’t go delete anything as they may contain important data, however things like Cache and Logs, you can typically get rid of if they get out of line.

Hope that helps!"

Thanks Mike. I just tried this but for some reason when I press Command and I I just get a click sound and no data. Am I doing something wrong?