How do I find out what "other" consists of on my iMAC

Under About this MAC, Storage, I noticed that the vast majority of space (271 GB compared to the next closest at 16GB) taken up on my disk is "other" (not audio, movies, photos, backups, or apps) - What the heck constitutes 'other"? How do I find what the components of 'other' are that are taking up so much space?
Thanks,
Bob

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. Back up all data now 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. ☞ 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.

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I've emptied trash, removed files, discarded everything I don't use and my startup disc is still full. Half of it is 'other'. How do I find out what 'other' is and remove it?

I've emptied trash, removed files, discarded everything I don't use and my startup disc is still full. Half of it is 'other'. How do I find out what 'other' is and remove it? I'm using a Mac OS X Lion 10.7.5 (11G63). Any help will be treasured!

Linda Steider wrote:
How do I find out what 'other' is and remove it?
See Pondiini's The Storage Display, for details.

On my MAC, my storage reads 48 free GB out of 500GB. OF that "other" which is in yellow, is 350 GB. How do I find out what "other" is because I would like to know to delete it.

How do I find out what the "other" programs are on my computer. It is slowing the system down. I am wondering if it is one of my kids graphic games. The system is so slow and maxed out but not sure what the item(s) is that is clogging up the stroage. I am use to a dell and right clicking it to show me.

What is "Other" and What Can I Do About It?- Apple Support Communities
Freeing Up Space on The Hard Drive
1. See Lion/Mountain Lion/Mavericks' Storage Display.
2. You can remove data from your Home folder except for the /Home/Library/ folder.
3. Visit The XLab FAQs and read the FAQ on freeing up space on your hard drive.
4. Also see Freeing space on your Mac OS X startup disk.
5. See Where did my Disk Space go?.
6. See The Storage Display.
You must Empty the Trash in order to recover the space they occupied on the hard drive.
You should consider replacing the drive with a larger one. Check out OWC for drives, tutorials, and toolkits.
Try using OmniDiskSweeper 1.8 or GrandPerspective to search your drive for large files and where they are located.

How do I find out what "Other" is, in the "About this Mac", storage details bar graph?

My new Mac Book Pro with 250 GB Flash Storage is already full with only adding a few apps. I purchased the new Final Cut Pro X, but store all video data on an external drive. Whats up? Why is 146 GB used up with "Other"? What is "Other!?" How can I find out the details of what's in other, and get rid of what I don't want or use?

First, empty the Trash if you haven't already done so. If you use iPhoto, empty its internal Trash as well:
iPhoto ▹ Empty Trash
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.

How do i find out what 'other' stuff on my hard drive is taking up all the space?

I continue to get a startup disk error message but have empited all trash (incl in app like iphoto) and what seems to be taking up most space is the yellow 'other line... Is there a way of knowing what this comprises of and the sizes that each file contains? Or is there an option to purchase soem additional space??
Help appreciated :-)

You may find this great User Tip from Kappy useful:
What is “Other” and What Can I Do About It?

I have a massive 267GB yellow 'other' file in my memory. How can i find out what it is?

I am cleaning up my Mac and have gone through the usual processes of removing downloads, emptying trash and other usual cleaning up of unwanted files. On my memory storage I have a massive yellow "other" usage of 267Gb but cannot find out what this consists of. I have the usual music and photo files but how can I find out what this consists of?

If it doesn't correct itself after a reboot, the Spotlight database on your Mac may be corrupted. Try re-indexing: Spotlight: How to re-index folders or volumes - Apple Support

My hard drive is full, i'm being told i have 284.03 GB of other. How can I find out what these files are so i can delete them?

My Mac is telling me that my hard drive is almost full, i have used 7.65 GB for Audio. 16.58 GB for Movies, 9.89 GB for photos, 788.6 MB for Apps and 284.03 GB for Other. how can i find out what "other" is so I can delete it? I hope someone can help me.

If OS X is reporting you need to remove some items you obviously have a more severe issue.
To fix your issue is likely too complicated and lengthy to go into all of it here as it sounds like a OS X issue, it will require the services of person very familiar and experienced with Mac's to first recover your data and then restore OS X back to a functional state which may or may not require new hardware/software installed.
If your under warranty or AppleCare, take it in for service.
You can also hire the services of a local Mac computer support technician experienced in these matters.
Have them look at your Wifi, RAM amount, extra storage and computer backup proceedures in the process.
Good Luck.

I have a new 16g nano and I have only added about 600 songs and I only have less than a gig left of space. It says I have used over 9G of other. I have no movies, pictures, tv shows or anything else on it. How do I find out what the "other" is?

I have a new 16g nano. I have only added about 600 songs so far. It is telling me that I 4.47G of songs and 9.92G of other and only 3.297MB of space left. I have no tvshows, no movies, no pictures on the Ipod. How do I find out what the "other" is and get rid of it?

You most likely have some corrupted files in other. Restore it and resync.

When I go to About This Mac and click on Storage it shows 421.93GB as Other. This only leaves 46.85GB of 499.25GB free. How do I find out what this "Other" is so I can remove the stuff I don't need?

When I go to About This Mac and click on Storage it shows 421.93GB as Other. This only leaves 46.85GB of 499.25GB free. How do I find out what this "Other" is so I can remove the stuff I don't need?

What kind of use do you make of your MBP? A lot of photo or video? If so, you may be storing a lot of large files. Look at Finder and see what the file system looks like. Do you have large libraries of data files associated with applications?
You may want to think about an external hard drive to use for backups and data storage, you can point applications to the external drive as the default storage location.
A good source of external drives at a reasonable price is the Mac specialist, OWC, http://www.macsales.com
I bought their Mercury Elite Pro 2 TB dirve last September and set it up to use part for Time Machine backup and part for other work space. Setup with Disk utility into two partitions is very quick and easy. Just remember to format as Extended Journaled with GUID partition table. Setting the partition sizes is by using a braphical image on screen in DU so it is like falling off a log, so easy.

How do you find out what information is in the 'other' section of itunes when iphone is connected

How do you find out what information is in the 'other' section on the bottom of itunes

You don't
If it is much more than a gb or so, then it indicates corrupt files. A restore should resolve.

I have a iphone 3GS and approxiamtely 4 gigs of spaces is taken up by the other categoy. How can I find out what is being stored in the other section to free up some space.

Can anyone provide some insight on the problem that I am experiencing? I have an IPhone 3GS. Four of the 8 total gigs are taken up in the other category. I have attempted to delete apps numerous other things to free up space; however, I cannot determine why so much of the device's capacity is taken up in the other category. How can I find out what is stored in the other category to free up some of the device's storage capacity.

Also read this . If what i put first doesnt fix it.
https://discussions.apple.com/message/12525465#12525465

My storage, it says I have 44.58GB of "other storage"? How can I find out what is the "other" storage and/or delete it?

HELP! My storage, it says I have 44.58GB of "other" storage. How can I find out what this "other" storage is and/or delete it? I have no space available to update or download the software for my personal cloud.

About “Other”:
http://support.apple.com/en-us/HT202867
Go step by step and test.
1. Start up in Safe Mode.
    http://support.apple.com/kb/PH11212
2. Empty Trash.
   http://support.apple.com/kb/PH13806
3. Disk space / Time Machine ?/ Local Snapshots
Local backups
   http://support.apple.com/kb/ht4878
4. Delete old iOS Devices Backup.
    iTunes > Preferences > Devices
    Highlight the old Backups , press “Delete Backup” and then “OK”.
    http://support.apple.com/kb/HT4946?viewlocale=en_US&locale=en_US
5. Re-index Macintosh HD.
    This will take a while. Wait until it is finished.
    System Preferences > Spotlight > Privacy
    http://support.apple.com/kb/ht2409
6.Try OmniDiskSweeper. This will give the storage size details of the items.
   https://www.omnigroup.com/more
   Select Macintosh HD and click “Sweep Selected Drive” at the bottom.
   Delete the files you don’t want to keep.
   Be careful. Delete only the files that can be safely deleted.

In "About This Mac, on OSX MAVERICKS, under "Storage" How do you find out what is in "other" ? how do you delete what is in "other" without loosing important files?

In "About This Mac, on OSX MAVERICKS, under "Storage" How do you find out what is in "other" ? how do you delete what is in "other" without loosing important files?

About "Other":
    http://pondini.org/OSX/LionStorage.html
Hope this helps.
1. Start up in Safe Mode
    http://support.apple.com/kb/PH11212
2. Empty Trash.
    http://support.apple.com/kb/PH10677
3. Delete "Recovered Messages", if any.
    Hold the option key down and click "Go" menu in the Finder menu bar.
    Select "Library" from the dropdown.
    Library > Mail > V2 > Mailboxes
    Delete "Recovered Messages", if any.
    Empty Trash. Restart.
4. Repair Disk
    Steps 1 through 7
    http://support.apple.com/kb/PH5836
5. Disk space / Time Machine ?/ Local Snapshots
   http://support.apple.com/kb/ht4878
6. Re-index Macintosh HD
   System Preferences > Spotlight > Privacy
   http://support.apple.com/kb/ht2409

Hard drive shows 159gb of other (yellow) how do I find out what these are to free up space?

hard drive shows 159gb of other (yellow) how do I find out what these are to free up space?

Hope this helps.
1. Empty Trash.
    http://support.apple.com/kb/PH10677
2. Delete "Recovered Messages", if any.
    Hold the option key down and click "Go" menu in the Finder menu bar.
    Select "Library" from the dropdown.
    Library > Mail > V2 > Mailboxes
    Delete "Recovered Messages", if any.
    Empty Trash. Restart.
3. Repair Disk
    Steps 1 through 7
    http://support.apple.com/kb/PH5836
4. Disk space / Time Machine ?/ Local Snapshots
   http://support.apple.com/kb/ht4878
5. Re-index Macintosh HD
   System Preferences > Spotlight > Privacy
   http://support.apple.com/kb/ht2409

Mac Air 11" - how do I find out what files are showing up in "About this MAC" Storage "other" category?

Hi - I am having storage trouble with my storage. When I go into About this Mac, Storage, the category "Other" has a very large amount of gigs stored. I have already dumped my email, downloads when in to Trahs, emptied secure trash, etc. How do I find out what is included in the "other" category?

First, empty the Trash if you haven't already done so.
Use a tool such as OmniDiskSweeper (ODS) to explore your volume and find out what's taking up the space. You can 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.
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 see everything, you have to run it as root.
Back up all data now.
Install ODS in the Applications folder as usual.
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 (command-V) into the Terminal window. 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.
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 you're done with ODS, quit it and also quit Terminal.

How do I find out what "other" consists of on my iMAC

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