How to delete System storage on Mac – Guide
Solid state drives (SSDs) are incredibly fast, but their high cost means that Macs with a built-in SSD boot drive have much less capacity than their hard drive-based counterparts. This can be a problem if you have a large collection of photos or music files, or if you use your Mac to edit videos. And so, if you have an SSD, you’ll probably spend a lot of time checking the Storage tab of About This Mac. One thing you might have noticed is the colored bar labeled ‘System Data’. What is it and how to clean it? Read and find out.
What’s in the system on Mac storage?
System is sort of an all-encompassing title for various elements that are scattered across your Mac’s drive. They often include old Time Machine snapshots, iOS backups, cache files, any disk image downloaded to update apps or macOS, and whether you’ve activated it. FileVault encryption feature then your files will also appear in System.
How much space the system is taking up up?
To get an idea of the space being used by system files, follow these steps: You will see a graph that illustrates how your disk space is being allocated. The system is grayed out and if you hover your mouse over the area it will reveal the size. For a more detailed analysis, click on the Manage… button which opens a new window with the various elements listed, along with the storage space they are using. You’ll find System at the bottom, but unlike the rest of the list, clicking on it won’t reveal which files are being assigned to System. That means you are alone when it comes to cleaning it. If you see another section called Other Outlets up disk space, so you’ll need to deal with that too. We have outlined the steps you will need to take how to delete Other Storage on Mac.
Why is the system storage on my Mac so high?
It all depends on what files are on your Mac. If you have a lot of Time Machine snapshots or iOS backups, they can be the cause of a large build up in System. when you shoot up storage overview in About This Mac, it’s worth waiting a few minutes before concluding that the system is taking up an obscene amount of storage. Apparently it can reset itself after a few minutes when some things that were assigned to the System are relocated to iCloud or elsewhere (although that didn’t happen in our case unfortunately).
Can I delete system storage on my Mac?
There is no cleaning system or exclusion system button available on macOS, so you’ll have to manage the storage yourself. In the sections below we will explain how to delete each type of file from the system. While it is possible to manually delete the various files included in the System category, we recommend that you only do this if you are sure you know what you are doing. It’s easy to accidentally delete an important file, only to find it causes problems later on. If disaster strikes, try some of the tips inside how to recover deleted files on Mac. Also, before removing anything, we suggest performing a full backup of your Mac’s storage, just so you can return it to its previous state if any issues arise. Reading how to Backup a Mac and the best Mac backup software for more details. Alternatively, the safer option would be to use a cleaning system like MacPaw’s CleanMyMac X or Nektony’s MacCleaner Pro. You can find reviews of these tools, plus many more, in our roundup of the best Mac cleaning software and optimization utilities. These apps can safely delete files you don’t need, so you don’t have to worry about finding and identify files that can be safely deleted.
How to remove Time Machine snapshots on Mac
One of the main culprits for up space on System are the local snapshots that Time Machine creates each day. You might think that Time Machine backups are only saved to an external disk, but Apple also creates local snapshots on your boot volume. The company says that these snapshots will only be saved if there is plenty of free space, and old snapshots will be automatically deleted when new ones are created. This is great if you accidentally save the correct changes to a document or delete something you didn’t intend, but it can take a while. up space on your Mac that you may prefer to have access to. Fortunately, there are easy methods to remove local snapshots from your hard drive. You can just turn off Time Machine feature itself, which will remove all local snapshots stored on your Mac. There is also a slightly more complicated method using Terminal. We explain both in our walkthrough guide to remove these space-stealing artifacts, so read how to delete Time Machine backups on Mac to find the easiest way to remove them.
How to remove old iOS backups on Mac
Another system space hogger is old backups of your iPhone or iPad. These can use up unnecessary space on your Mac, so it’s a good idea to clean them every now and then. Depending on which version of macOS you are using, here it is how to quickly dispose of them.
macOS Catalina or later
macOS Mojave or earlier
How to find the System folder on Mac
Was this resolved by two of the biggest users of system storage on the Mac, and all the rest? macOS likes to keep the System and Library folder hidden, presumably to prevent users from accidentally moving or deleting essential files. But if you want to access that part of your storage, you can through a menu option in Finder. To grant yourself temporary access, use the following steps:
Final note
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