Its saying startup disk almost full. have no music or photos on computer. how do i clear it up and free up the HD

its saying startup disk almost full. have no music or photos on computer. how do i clear it up and free up the HD

There are some items to the right of these reply boxes,
of them a few are likely to be of help to some extent...
Without knowing which OS X version, advice will be not specific
and to answer three different ways when one of them is correct
is a waste of time.
Is your OS X newer than Lion 10.7.5? IF so different rules apply
to finding out what is free space, where it is, & how to tell if it is.
For systems older than Lion (Snow Leopard, Leopard, Tiger, Panther)
the rules are a little different, since there would not be an Other item
on the hard disk drive which could contain items necessary to the OS
yet not detailed to the user.
And Lion 10.7 has a few hidden files that are hard to locate, and one
of them may have some bearing on the missing space of a HDD.
The items here, mostly for 10.7:
https://discussions.apple.com/message/24954432#24954432
start up disk full, other options:
https://discussions.apple.com/message/11808734#11808734
There are Support articles, you could use Help viewer in the
system, on your computer, to look for results; or use google.
However, avoid the temptation to use a badware such as cleanmymac,
mackeeper, and others that are sources of known trouble to the Mac.
Good luck & happy computing!

Similar Messages

HT3680 My 3 year old iMac is freezing and I get a message "startup disk almost full for running applications. delete files..." Where do I find the startup disk and what should I delete?

My 3 year old Mac is having trouble and freezes up from time to time lately. I get a message saying "startup disk almost full, delete files ..." something about having enough room for applications to function. I know my startup disk is the Macintosh HD, but what kind of files do I need to delete and how much space do I need to free up? In my "about this mac" area, it says I have 4.89gb free out of 319.21 So I am confused why I need to do this.

You're less than 2% free and should always have at least 15% (my SWAG). Best is to get an ext FWHD and move stuff from the startup disk to it and delete it from that. Best things to move are movies, music, and photos, using the apps that manage those things.

"startup disk almost full" message - NOT TRUE! I have about 900 GB of free space. What can I do about this?

I have been getting repeated messages "startup disk almost full". I am on a very new iMac running Lion with the most up to date OS. This is a 1 TB iMac. When I first got the message, I cleaned almost everything but the applications off the disk. I now have more than 900 GB of space but again I am getting the message. I found someone reporting the same problem and he said Apple Care reported a but in the mail system. He found a Fix but it is not working for me. (He clicked the option key and opened finder, then went to Library/mail/mailbox/recovered messages and deleted the recovered messages. But I do not have any folder called "recovered messages" so can't pursue that fix. Any ideas?

I'm don't know about the new systems, but I remember that I set the % full to warn me. Your % might be set to 20% or something rather than 10% which is a preferable safety margin for many uses. I solved this start up disk problem by installing a 2 Tb internal drive and keeping my data files on external, raided, drives. A real show-stopper is when your 45 Tb external drive warns you that you're too close to OUT for comfort. And, Yes, I do keep it trash free.

Startup disk almost full, what are my option

"startup disk almost full"
What are my options for additional space on my startup disk??????
Previously I have copied my photos and documents onto disks to make more space.
I do have lots of program on my computer which I guess is taking up most of the space.
Any help would be greatly appreciated.

1030/3476
Hi deeswaz,
I would download and run WhatSize or OmniDiskSweeper, separately from each User Account, to make sure about some files that may exist somewhere, grown enormously with no reason to keep them on your hard drive.
Also:
Does your periodic maintenance (aka "cron scripts") run regularly enough? If it never ran, your log files too can take a huge space in some cases.
Caches:
You can delete Users caches folders to gain space. Use WhatSize or Finder's Find (⌘F) to locate them and drag them to the Trash.
They will rebuild themselves automatically (experiencing some small, harmless slowdowns sometimes), with nothing but the caches your applications actually use, not the old stuff that you don't use since months.
Other:
Of course the obvious:
Uninstall all that is useless. Did you Custom-Install Mac OS X, with only the printer drivers you need, with not all languages installed etc (keep BSDSubsystem though).
Good luck!
Axl

Startup Disk Almost Full

I went to use my iMac last night and noticed that sometime between the time I last used it that morning to the time I used it in the evening I lost about 50GB and got a "Startup Disk Almost Full" error message. When I did a "Get Info" on the iMac's HD it said zero space available. I rebooted and did everything I could think of to see if it was just a glitch, but it still said zero space available. I ended up using the Leopard Install Disk to restore from a Time Machine Backup that was done about the time I had last used the iMac and somehow came out with 119GB of free space. At the time the back was made my HD had only about 50GB of free space so I am not sure where all the extra space came from. The good news is that it looks like Time Machine did a great job of restoring the Mac and I haven't discovered anything missing, at least so far. The bad news is that I continue to have a lot of problems with Leopard; this being only one minor one. Just wanted to see if anyone else has had this "Disk Almost Full" error and were able to diagnose it.

Thanks. I had already used Time Machine to restore to a previous backup and fixed the problem that way. Next time this happens I will try to figure out what files are consuming all the space and see if that helps me determine the cause of massive memory loss.

Why is my Macbook pro with OS lion prompting me my startup disk almost full when i have deleted many files, photos and videos? Even thrashing them doesn't help. There seems to be an automatic space usage in the background

I have deleted many unwanted files and apps and yet the available space keeps depleting every time i am using my Macbook Pro. I believe under the OS 10.7.4 one of the features is it backups or has backgrounding features which uses memory. Sometimes even when i hv 8GB space after using my Macbook Pro for say 2hrs surfing internet and using Pages which has a "Save Version" feature suddenly my 8GB goes down to 300+MB only and it starts prompting me "My Startup Disk is almost full" once it reaches 1GB space left. How can i get more space.... Please someone can help me? Do i need to re-format my hardisk??!! Any help out there is greatly appreciated.
My original HD is 320GB. And i don't hv too many Apps installed. I do have abt 50-70apps. I do have many photos and videos stored in iPhoto's Library though.

One thing I've noticed is that a shared tab pops up when I open the finder under "favorites" with a random connection. It's called hp68b... None of my friends that I live with have this and we all use the same internet. Two days ago when I would click it and click get info, it said it was a pc. When I checked it today it said it is a "sharepoint" and looks like a harddrive.
I took it too the store after i spilt water on it but when I got it back it ran perfectly fine. I don't know a lot about computer so if somebody could help me. It says I'm connected to it and I can't disconnect or delete it. I don't know if the guy at the computer store put something in my computer and is sharing all my files.

Error message says startup disk is full but I have 611 GB available on HD?

Keep getting message that the startup disk is full. Checked and have 611GB available on the HD. Help!

"...When I look at the get info screen it says 24mb left..."
What did you do a get info on?

My mac air says " startup disk is full".How to solve ???

My Mac air has a message during starting the computer and says that startup disk if full. In the composition of my hard there are 120 GB used space on other parts, which I have not understand where is these files.

First, empty the Trash if you haven't already done so. Then reboot. That will temporarily free up some space.
According to Apple documentation, you need at least 9 GB of available space on the startup volume (as shown in the Finder Info window) for normal operation. You also need enough space left over to allow for growth of your data. There is little or no performance advantage to having more available space than the minimum Apple recommends. Available storage space that you'll never use is wasted space.
If you're using Time Machine to back up a portable Mac, some of the available space will be used to make local snapshots, which are backup copies of files you've recently deleted. The space occupied by local snapshots is reported as available by the Finder, and should be considered as such. In the Storage display of System Information, local snapshots are shown as "Backups." The snapshots are automatically deleted when they expire or when free space falls below a certain level. You ordinarily don't need to, and should not, delete local snapshots yourself.
To locate large files, you can use Spotlight. That method may not find large folders that contain a lot of small files.
You can more effectively use a tool such as OmniDiskSweeper (ODS) to explore your volume and find out what's taking up the space. You can also delete files with it, but don't do that unless you're sure that you know what you're deleting and that all data is safely backed up. That means you have multiple backups, not just one.
Deleting files inside an iPhoto or Aperture library will corrupt the library. Any changes to a photo library must be made from within the application that created it. The same goes for Mail files.
Proceed further only if the problem isn't solved by the above steps.
ODS can't see the whole filesystem when you run it just by double-clicking; it only sees files that you have permission to read. To see everything, you have to run it as root.
Back up all data now.
Install ODS in the Applications folder as usual. Quit it if it's running.
Triple-click the line of text below to select it, then copy the selected text to the Clipboard (command-C):sudo /Applications/OmniDiskSweeper.app/Contents/MacOS/OmniDiskSweeper
Launch the Terminal application in any of the following ways:
☞ Enter the first few letters of its name into a Spotlight search. Select it in the results (it should be at the top.)
☞ In the Finder, select Go ▹ Utilities from the menu bar, or press the key combination shift-command-U. The application is in the folder that opens.
☞ Open LaunchPad. Click Utilities, then Terminal in the icon grid.
Paste into the Terminal window (command-V). You'll be prompted for your login password, which won't be displayed when you type it. You may get a one-time warning not to screw up. If you see a message that your username "is not in the sudoers file," then you're not logged in as an administrator.
The application window will open, eventually showing all files in all folders. It may take some minutes for ODS to list all the files.
I don't recommend that you make a habit of doing this. Don't delete anything while running ODS as root. If something needs to be deleted, make sure you know what it is and how it got there, and then delete it by other, safer, means. When in doubt, leave it alone or ask for guidance.
When you're done with ODS, quit it and also quit Terminal.

IMovie: "startup disk almost full..."

but I currently have 221GB free on my hard drive. I realise there are other threads regarding this error, but they all seem to involve people whose disks are actually full. Mine, as indicated in Disk Utility, has 221GB available. This error only occurs when using iMovie. I am not working with HD video or doing anything really intense. I am running the MacBook Pro Retina (2012). This error has been occurring from the beginning and I've finally grown tired of it and decided to seek some answers. There's no reasonable explanation that using a stock native piece of software on Apple's premier notebook should be an issue. I don't know what I could do differently. I don't have any other applications running while iMovie is open.
Thanks!

Well, I am back in hopes that SOMEONE has respnded to this. I guess it's just me. I see literally hundreds of threads on here about the startup disk being full and everyone just assumes that they guy posting is a complete idiot. This message is appearing in ERROR. As I stated, I recently wiped, formatted, and installed a fresh OSX on my 2012 Retina. Upon starting iMovie for the first time, I got the same message I had always seen, "Startup Disk is Almost Full". I double checked my hard drive usage and confirmed that I still had 221GB free. 221GB free.
221GB of unused space on the disk.
221GB of unused space on the disk.
There are 221GB of free space on my startup disk.
My startup disk is NOT almost full, as more than half of it is empty, leaving 221GB unused. To put it another way, my hard drive currently has 221GB of unused space. As it stands today, 221GB of my startup disk are available for new data. When I start iMovie, an error comes up telling me that my startup disk is almost full but there is 221GB of open space on the disk.
In case I failed to clearly state the problem, my hard drive is more than half empty - 221GB free - and iMovie tells me its almost full.

2009 macbook "startup disk almost full"

I have an early 2009 macbook and have been getting a message saying "startup disk is almost full" I purchased a 500GB external hard drive and have 350GB available, however, I continue to get this message on my mac. Help?!

What did you move onto the external disk? After you copied the files to the external did you drag the originals to the trash and empty?

What can I do when my macbook air says startup disk is full

What can I do and where do I look to offload things when my macbook air says my startup disk is full?
Thanks

Empty the Trash if you haven't already done so. If you use iPhoto, empty its internal Trash first:
iPhoto ▹ Empty Trash
Do the same in other applications, such as Aperture, that have an internal Trash feature. Then restart the computer. That will temporarily free up some space.
According to Apple documentation, you need at least 9 GB of available space on the startup volume (as shown in the Finder Info window) for normal operation. You also need enough space left over to allow for growth of the data. There is little or no performance advantage to having more available space than the minimum Apple recommends. Available storage space that you'll never use is wasted space.
When Time Machine backs up a portable Mac, some of the free space will be used to make local snapshots, which are backup copies of recently deleted files. The space occupied by local snapshots is reported as available by the Finder, and should be considered as such. In the Storage display of System Information, local snapshots are shown as Backups. The snapshots are automatically deleted when they expire or when free space falls below a certain level. You ordinarily don't need to, and should not, delete local snapshots yourself. If you followed bad advice to disable local snapshots by running a shell command, you may have ended up with a lot of data in the Other category. Ask for instructions in that case.
See this support article for some simple ways to free up storage space.
You can more effectively use a tool such as OmniDiskSweeper (ODS) or GrandPerspective (GP) to explore the volume and find out what's taking up the space. You can also delete files with it, but don't do that unless you're sure that you know what you're deleting and that all data is safely backed up. That means you have multiple backups, not just one. Note that ODS only works with OS X 10.8 or later. If you're running an older OS version, use GP.
Deleting files inside an iPhoto or Aperture library will corrupt the library. Any changes to a photo library must be made from within the application that created it. The same goes for Mail files.
Proceed further only if the problem isn't solved by the above steps.
ODS or GP can't see the whole filesystem when you run it just by double-clicking; it only sees files that you have permission to read. To see everything, you have to run it as root.
Back up all data now.
If you have more than one user account, make sure you're logged in as an administrator. The administrator account is the one that was created automatically when you first set up the computer.
Install the app you downloaded in the Applications folder as usual. Quit it if it's running.
Triple-click anywhere in the corresponding line of text below on this page to select it, then copy the selected text to the Clipboard by pressing the key combination command-C:
sudo /Applications/OmniDiskSweeper.app/Contents/MacOS/OmniDiskSweeper
sudo /Applications/GrandPerspective.app/Contents/MacOS/GrandPerspective
Launch the built-in Terminal application in any of the following ways:
☞ Enter the first few letters of its name into a Spotlight search. Select it in the results (it should be at the top.)
☞ In the Finder, select Go ▹ Utilities from the menu bar, or press the key combination shift-command-U. The application is in the folder that opens.
☞ Open LaunchPad. Click Utilities, then Terminal in the icon grid.
Paste into the Terminal window by pressing command-V. You'll be prompted for your login password, which won't be displayed when you type it. You may get a one-time warning to be careful. If you see a message that your username "is not in the sudoers file," then you're not logged in as an administrator.
The application window will open, eventually showing all files in all folders, sorted by size. It may take a few minutes for the app to finish scanning.
I don't recommend that you make a habit of doing this. Don't delete anything as root. If something needs to be deleted, make sure you know what it is and how it got there, and then delete it by other, safer, means. When in doubt, leave it alone or ask for guidance.
When you're done with the app, quit it and also quit Terminal.

What does it mean when my macbook pro says startup disk is full?

When im on my macbook pro a message keeps poping up that says my startup disk is full.

First, reboot. That will temporarily free up some space. According to Apple documentation, you need at least 9 GB free for normal operation. You also need enough space left over to allow for growth of your data.
Use a tool such as OmniDiskSweeper to explore your volume and find out what's taking up the space.
Proceed further only if the problem hasn't been solved.
ODS can't see the whole filesystem when you run it just by double-clicking; it only sees files that you have permission to read. To really see everything, you have to run it as root.
First, back up all data if you haven't already done so. No matter what happens, you should be able to restore your system to the state it was in at the time of that backup.
Launch the Terminal application in any of the following ways:
☞ Enter the first few letters of its name into a Spotlight search. Select it in the results (it should be at the top.)
☞ In the Finder, select Go ▹ Utilities from the menu bar, or press the key combination shift-command-U. The application is in the folder that opens.
☞ If you’re running Mac OS X 10.7 or later, open LaunchPad. Click Utilities, then Terminal in the page that opens.
After installing ODS in the Applications folder, drag or copy — do not type — the following line into the Terminal window, then press return:
sudo /Applications/OmniDiskSweeper.app/Contents/MacOS/OmniDiskSweeper
You'll be prompted for your login password, which won't be displayed when you type it. You may get a one-time warning not to screw up.
I don't recommend that you make a habit of this. Don't delete anything while running ODS as root. When you're done with it, quit it and also quit Terminal.

Imovie won't let me save my movie as a file, and it says ''startup disk'' is full!

I made a movie on Imovie and it won't let me download or convert, I don't know what else I can do, and also it says my disk is full, and my macbook is 64 and its impossible, i dont have that much. please help me. I want to save my movie and fix disk because is making my computer slower and doesn't let me save anything because is ''full''. I need to find a way to save the movie complete and as a file and make my computer faster and with it's original memory.
HELP!.

I have the same problem and then some. I movie won't share this particular project, but it also won't save any changes made to it or any other project. At least that's what it started doing, now when I go to even try to make any changes it wigs out and things get scrambled in the Project window and it plays video from another project.
When I create a new project, the Share menu is available, but it won't save changes to that project either. And by that I mean I can put stuff in the project and do whatever, but as soon as I quit and relaunch the application, the project is empty. I did figure out that if I make changes in a new project and immediately share it to the media browser that it will save the changes, but then it messes up my other project even more somehow!
Tried archive and install, deleting plists, reinstalling iMovie and iLife support stuff (twice), repairing permissions, and changing permissions in the project package. Any other ideas?

Startup disk almost full but cannot log on to delete items

when I start up my MacBook air it said "start up disk almost full" but I cannot even log on my act to get to my home screen to attempt to delete stuff... what do I do?

Step 1
The first step in dealing with a startup failure is to secure the data. If you want to preserve the contents of the startup drive, and you don't already have at least one current backup, you must try to back up now, before you do anything else. It may or may not be possible. If you don't care about the data that has changed since the last backup, you can skip this step.
There are several ways to back up a Mac that is unable to start. You need an external hard drive to hold the backup data.
a. Start up from the Recovery partition, or from a local Time Machine backup volume (option key at startup.) When the OS X Utilities screen appears, launch Disk Utility and follow the instructions in this support article, under “Instructions for backing up to an external hard disk via Disk Utility.” The article refers to starting up from a DVD, but the procedure in Recovery mode is the same. You don't need a DVD if you're running OS X 10.7 or later.
b. If Step 1a fails because of disk errors, and no other Mac is available, then you may be able to salvage some of your files by copying them in the Finder. If you already have an external drive with OS X installed, start up from it. Otherwise, if you have Internet access, follow the instructions on this page to prepare the external drive and install OS X on it. You'll use the Recovery installer, rather than downloading it from the App Store.
c. If you have access to a working Mac, and both it and the non-working Mac have FireWire or Thunderbolt ports, start the non-working Mac in target disk mode. Use the working Mac to copy the data to another drive. This technique won't work with USB, Ethernet, Wi-Fi, or Bluetooth.
d. If the internal drive of the non-working Mac is user-replaceable, remove it and mount it in an external enclosure or drive dock. Use another Mac to copy the data.
Step 2
You might be able to start up in safe mode even though you can't start up normally. Otherwise, start up from an external drive, or else use the technique in Step 1b, 1c, or 1d to mount the internal drive and delete some files. According to Apple documentation, you need at least 9 GB of available space on the startup volume (as shown in the Finder Info window) for normal operation.

My computer says startup disk is full but it isn't. Is there a fix?

I'm getting a message saying my startup disk is full, and I need to delete files. However, I'm only using about 15% of my hard drive (macbook is less than a year old). Any suggestions what might be going on?

How do you know you're only using 15% of the hard drive?
There could be a number of things going on. In the first instance, I'd run Applications/Utilities/Disk Utility and use it to run Verify Disk.
Bob

Its saying startup disk almost full. have no music or photos on computer. how do i clear it up and free up the HD

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