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+--- Thread: System bloat (again) (/showthread.php?tid=295052)
System bloat (again) - Todd's keyboard - 03-16-2025
A few months ago, I posted about having to purge files on my 500 GB SSD drive. It was too full for Time Machine to make backups.
Removing FitBit and its related files freed of 200 GB of space.
This morning, I'm experiencing similar system bloat. Checking "Manage Storage," I see that there is a greyed out "... System Data" showing 279.64 GB being used.
Can't find any trace of FitBit. Any thoughts I what I should be looking to purge?
Oh, yeah, still running MacOS Monterey 12.6.3 on a 2018 Mac Mini. I'm reluctant to upgrade the OS because I don't want to lose any current software capability. Reluctant to upgrade the Mac because I'm cheap. Plus, it still serves my needs.
thanks, Todd's XXXL keyboard
Re: System bloat (again) - Tiangou - 03-16-2025
Terminal:
sudo tmutil thinlocalsnapshots / 100000000000 4
Re: System bloat (again) - Robert M - 03-18-2025
Todd,
How much space is on your 2018 mini? Time Machine prefers lots and lots of space on its drive. I have a 2TB boot drive for my iMac. My Time Machine drive is a 6TB platter drive. Time Machine's settings even that wasn't really spacious enough. It said I should be using an 8TB drive for Time Machine Backups.
Maybe part of the issue is that you're not using a spacious enough drive for Time Machine? A high capacity platter drive is dandy for incremental backups like Time Machine. If you're happy with your machine, maybe you need to switch to a different drive for Time Machine.
Or, if the space issue you're describing is on the Mac Mini and not on the Time Machine drive, then it's time to switch to a different boot drive. A 1TB NVME stick and a USB 3.1 Gen 2 or USB 3.2 enclosure can be put together for less than $100.00. OR, spend the bucks for a Thunderbolt enclosure. Adjust a setting or two on the Mini and turn the external into a boot drive. Easy.
My office's 2018 Mini uses a 1TB external SSD for its boot drive and my office;s M4 Pro mini uses an 1TB external Thunderbolt drive as its boot drive.
Robert
Re: System bloat (again) - Todd's keyboard - 03-18-2025
Robert,
Thanks for the feedback. Good advice (which I'll probably not heed right away).
The current, startup drive is an internal SSD of 499 GB. Time Machine backs that up to an external spinner of 4 TB.
Time Machine recently stopped backing up when the available space on the startup drive was down to 1 GB. I've managed to free up space so the startup now has a bit over 19 GB of free space. For the moment, Time Machine seems happy.
What I don't understand is the grayed-out notice from "Manage Storage" that says "... System Dat 279.32 GB". It feels like I should be able to delete some of that but don't know how. (It looks like I'll need to learn about Terminal.)
Hoping to clean up some of that unreachable System Data, I purchased CleanMyMac. Didn't work. A chat with a MacPaw support person confirmed CleanMyMac doesn't access many of those files.
On the plus side (well, my wife's side of the computer), I've found several screen recordings that are using about 100 GB of data. I'll see if she still needs them, and move them to a different drive.
thanks again, Todd's on-regime keyboard
Re: System bloat (again) - Tiangou - 03-18-2025
Nothing much to learn about using the Terminal for this purpose.
Just open the Terminal app, copy/paste the line that starts with “sudo” and hit
It deletes old snapshots which can hang around indefinitely and invisibly, causing your Mac to appear to have a full drive. The snapshots retain data/files that you thought you deleted successfully.
Re: System bloat (again) - Todd's keyboard - 03-19-2025
Turns out my wife has been inadvertently making screen recordings on her side of the computer. One recording lasted well over an hour. Deleting those has freed up almost 300 GB of space (on a 500 GB startup drive).
Many thanks again for your thoughts.
Todd's no-longer-Office-Crampkeys board
Re: System bloat (again) - rich in distress - 03-20-2025
Tiangou wrote:
Terminal:
sudo tmutil thinlocalsnapshots / 100000000000 4
Great tip, thank you!
Re: System bloat (again) - Robert M - 03-20-2025
Todd,
Yags! Glad you found the source of the used storage. Maybe setup a drive just for her recordings. That way, she can do the recording and then offload it. The usual recommendation to backup the recordings (if you need to keep them) in more than one location applies.
Robert