How do you free space on the startup disk

how do you free space on the startup disk

If your disk is 80% full that is normal. Time Machine uses up to 80% of the disk space for local snapshots. To get rid of these snapshots simply plug in your Time Machine backup drive and run a backup.
If you have less than 20% disk space then it is time to roll up your sleeves and search for what you can delete and what you can offload to another disk.
If you have less than 10 GB you definitely need to delete or offload some files. You may want to maintain at least 20 GB of free space so when your disk starts filling again it will have some room before it hits that 10 GB mark again. More headroom is better. If you let the space fall much below 9 GB you might not be able to boot your machine.
Initial easy steps to gain disk space:
- Delete all files in the Downloads folder.
- Empty the trash.
- Start iPhoto, empty its trash and restart the computer.
Deleting files:
Run a Time Machine (or other) backup since you are about to delete and move files and you may need to recover from any inadvertent mistakes or decisions. You will need one external hard drive for your Time Machine (or other) backup and a second one onto which you will offload some files.
Then use the free application OmniDiskSweeper http://www.omnigroup.com/more to explore your volume in descending order by size so you can attack the problem from the top down, deleting the largest unwanted files first. Delete with caution and do not delete any system files. Remember to empty the trash after trashing the files.
Moving files:
Consider moving some of the no-often-used large files or directories to an external disk. Use ODS again to find them.
As noted above this will be at least your second hard drive. Your first one(s) is/are for your Time Machine (or other) backup(s). Do not offload files onto a Time Machine disk.
Format the second drive as Mac OS Extended (journaled). Using OWS to find large files/folders and copy them from the system drive to the external hard drive and delete them from your internal drive.
Then  > System Preferences > Time Machine > Options… > Remove the offload HD name from the exclusions list.
Now both your system disk and your external offload disk will be backed up onto your Time Machine disk.
For more about backups:
Time Machine Basics: http://support.apple.com/kb/ht1427
Most commonly used backup methods:
https://discussions.apple.com/docs/DOC-3045
Methodology to protect your data. Backups vs. Archives. Long-term data protection:
https://discussions.apple.com/docs/DOC-6031
From: http://www.thexlab.com/faqs/freeingspace.html
To move your iTunes Music folder to another disk or partition:
To change the location of your iTunes Music folder, carefully follow the instructions in the AppleCare® Knowledge Base document "iTunes for Mac: Moving your iTunes Music folder."Additional information can be found in iTunes Help.
http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:http://www.thexlab.com/105/ 00000849.html
Laptop users may want to consider having two iTunes libraries: a small library of current favorites on their computer, while their complete library resides on an external hard drive. Utilities like iTunes Library Manager enable you to easily have multiple iTunes libraries you can use with your account. https://www.macupdate.com/app/mac/7689/itunes-library-manager
To move your iPhoto Library folder to another disk or partition:
To move the iPhoto Library folder to a new location, employ the instructions in the AppleCare Knowledge Base document from http://support.apple.com/kb/PH2506 corresponding to the version of iPhoto you are using. Additional information can be found in iPhoto Help.
Laptop users may want to consider having two iPhoto libraries: a small library of current, favorite photographs on their computer, while their complete library, or archives of older photos are saved on an external hard drive. Utilities such as iPhoto Buddy and iPhoto Library Managerenable you to have multiple iPhoto libraries that you can use with your account.
https://www.macupdate.com/app/mac/12175/iphoto-buddy
https://www.macupdate.com/app/mac/7158/iphoto-library-manager

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If someone torrents a OS X upgrade on your computer how can you restore it without the startup disk

I recently let my friend use my computer for a few days with the promise that it would run better. When i got it back i found out he torrented Mac OS X 10.7. i have let it sit on my computer for a while but it has caused problems with downloading apps. I would like to know how to downgrade back to the compter was when i orginally bought it. I do not have a startup disk because i bought it from a used mac seller online. also i would like to keep my files, music, games, ETC.

That was an incredibly bad thing your friend did to your computer. A torrent of just about any software you download for the Mac will have malware in it. So that gets installed along with the software you think you're getting for "free".
I wouldn't use that computer for anything where you may type in a password, checking or credit card numbers, or any other type of sensitive data until you've had the chance to backup your important files.
Once you have a way to do so, erase the drive and reinstall the OS, and then reinstall only your legally acquired software.

HT201364 How can I reduce space on the startup disc to enable the download of Mavericks?

How can I reduce space on the startup disc to enable the download of Mavericks? I have enough overall disc space but the update won't download and tells me to reduce "startup" disc space.

I have enough overall disc space but the update won't download and tells me to reduce "startup" disc space.
How much free space do you have?
This warning usually indicates, that your free disk space is critically low.
Empty you Trash, delete files that you do not need at all, and move large media files, like iPhoto libraries or videos to an external drive.

TA22302 freeing up space on the startup disk on a macbook

How to free up space on the startup disk on a macbook?

By deleting files and then emptying trash. To assist you, download from the Internet OnmiDiskSweeper (free) and open it. It will show all of your files and the respective sizes. Delete what you do not need or want
Also consider either transferring files to an external disk or installing a lager internal HDD.
Ciao.

HT201364 how do i make space on my startup disk?

how do i make space on my startup disk?

Here are some general tips to keep your Mac's hard drive trim and slim as possible
You should never, EVER let a computer hard drive get completely full, EVER!
With Macs and OS X, you shouldn't let the hard drive get below 15 GBs or less of free data space.
If it does, it's time for some hard drive housecleaning.
Follow some of my tips for cleaning out, deleting and archiving data from your Mac's internal hard drive.
Have you emptied your Mac's Trash icon in the Dock?
If you use iPhoto or Aperture, both have its own trash that needs to be emptied, also.
If you store images in other locations other than iPhoto, then you will have to weed through these to determine what to archive and what to delete.
If you are an iMovie/ Final Cut user, both apps have their own individual Trash location that needs to be emptied, too!
If you use Apple Mail app, Apple Mail also has its own trash area that needs to be emptied, too!
Delete any old or no longer needed emails and/or archive to disc, flash drives or external hard drive, older emails you want to save.
Look through your other Mailboxes and other Mail categories to see If there is other mail you can archive and/or delete.
STAY AWAY FROM DELETING ANY FILES FROM OS X SYSTEM FOLDER!
Look through your Documents folder and delete any type of old useless type files like "Read Me" type files.
Again, archive to disc, flash drives, ext. hard drives or delete any old documents you no longer use or immediately need.
Look in your Applications folder, if you have applications you haven't used in a long time, if the app doesn't have a dedicated uninstaller, then you can simply drag it into the OS X Trash icon. IF the application has an uninstaller app, then use it to completely delete the app from your Mac.
To find other large files, download an app called Omni Disk Sweeper.
http://www.omnigroup.com/more
Also, Find Any File
http://apps.tempel.org/FindAnyFile/
Download an app called OnyX for your version of OS X.
http://www.titanium.free.fr/downloadonyx.php
When you install and launch it, let it do its initial automatic tests, then go to the cleaning and maintenance tabs and run the maintenance tabs that let OnyX clean out all web browser cache files, web browser histories, system cache files, delete old error log files.
Typically, iTunes and iPhoto libraries are the biggest users of HD space.
move these files/data off of your internal drive to the external hard drive and deleted off of the internal hard drive.
If you have any other large folders of personal data or projects, these should be archived or moved, also, to the optical discs, flash drives or external hard drive and then either archived to disc and/or deleted off your internal hard drive.
Moving iTunes library
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1449
Moving iPhoto library
http://support.apple.com/kb/PH2506
Moving iMovie projects folder
http://support.apple.com/kb/ph2289
Good Luck!

I got my first macbook air about a year ago. awhile ago i started getting these notifications saying "your startup disk is almost full" or "your startup disk is full". i was wondering how to get more space on my startup disk, if that is possible?

i got my first macbook air about a year ago. awhile ago i started getting these notifications saying "your startup disk is almost full" or "your startup disk is full". i was wondering how to get more space on my startup disk, if that is possible?

Freeing Up Space on The Hard Drive
1. See Lion's 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.

You can't change the startup disk to the selected disk?

System Preferences: Startup Disk: Bootcamp (Windows 7 64): "You can't change the startup disk to the selected disk. The bless tool unable to set bootcamp disk"

I got the same problem, only with Win 7, but after a day's search on the net I found a solution. Something very simple and easy to use.
Open up Terminal and run the following command, where DISK NAME is the name of the disk you want to boot in. PS. use the quotes (") if you disk's name is longer than 2 words.
sudo bless -mount /Volumes/"DISK NAME" -setBoot
THIS WORKED FOR ME!!

How to fix this error? The startup disk cannot be partitioned or restored to a single partition.

Hey guys,
I am trying to install windows 7 ultimate 64 bit via bootcamp assistant. I open bootcamp assistant from utilities and i get the second window and try to click continue and i get a pop up, saying "The startup disk must be formatted as a single Mac OS Extneded (journaled) volume or already partitioned by Boot Camp Assistant for installing Windows." I looked around on the internet, i found that my internal HD must be set to OS Extended (Journaled). I went into disk utility and i clicked partition tab and the option was set to OS extended (journaled). Any ideas on how to overcome this error so i can install windows 7?

Error is:
1: common
2: misleading and poorly worded
3: space must be:
A: contiguous, that means unfragmented and in ONE section, not multiple
B: files cannot be loced, anchored or in such a manner as to prevent or block partition operation
C: to move, unlock and shuffle files requires booting from another drive or device
Shrink the HFS+ volume by as much or more than you need to set aside to use
If that does not,
Try iDefrag from another hard drive or by burning and using its own CD that is just for consolidating free space
Clone your system (should have backups already, clone is just bootable)
Erase and restore from clone - SuperDuper does consolidate files and free space and result in unfragmented (99% success rate)
None of which has to do iwth what that error message says. This error has been almost a daily threat topic - has gotten less but has not "gone away."

How can I remove files from the startup disk

I am getting a screen when I am trying to quit saying the "MAC OS X startup disk has no more space available for application memory" by closing the windows and removing files from the startup disk will help.
How do I do this?

That error message is misleading. Your problem is excessive swapping of data between physical memory and virtual memory.
That can happen for two reasons:
You have a long-running process with a memory leak (i.e., a bug), or
You don't have enough memory installed for your usage pattern.
Tracking down a memory leak can be difficult, and it may come down to a process of elimination.
In the Activity Monitor application, select All Processes from the menu in the toolbar, if not already selected. Click the heading of the Real Mem column in the process table twice to sort the table with the highest value at the top. If you don't see that column, select
View ▹ Columns ▹ Real Memory
from the menu bar.
If one process (excluding "kernel_task") is using much more memory than all the others, that could be an indication of a leak. A better indication would be a process that continually grabs more and more real memory over time without ever releasing it. Here is an example of how it's done.
The process named "Safari Web Content" renders web pages for Safari and other applications. It uses a lot of memory and may leak if certain Safari extensions or third-party web plugins are installed. Consider it a prime suspect.
If you don't have an obvious memory leak, your options are to install more memory (if possible) or to run fewer programs simultaneously.
The next suggestion is only for users familiar with the shell. For a more precise, but potentially misleading, test, run the following command:
sudo leaks -nocontext -nostacks process | grep total
where process is the name of a process you suspect of leaking memory. Almost every process will leak some memory; the question is how much, and especially how much the leak increases with time. I can’t be more specific. See the leaks(1) man page and the Apple developer documentation for details.

How to make more space on my startup disk

I keep getting messages that I don't have enought space on my startup disk, I was wondering if I can download
a program so see how I can clean it up, or see which files are using most of my disk to delete them or
to put them in an external hard drive!

see here: http://guides.macrumors.com/Freeing_Up_Hard_Disk_Space. Also, you can download omnidiscsweeper http://www.omnigroup.com/products/omnidisksweeper/. You can also download disk doctor from the app store.

How do i free space on my local disk?

I have recently purchased roller coaster Tycoon 3 and it says you need to free space on your local disk, could someone please explain to me where it is and how to free space if you could help it would be much appreciated Thank You

Disk Space - Free Up
Disk Space – Free Up (2)
Disk Space Filling Up – OmniDiskSweeper
Disk Space Filling Up - WhatSize

How do you add space between the Series Name and the chart?

I'm trying to format a 3D pie chart and the series name is nearly unreadable depending on the angle. I would like to add some space between the series name and the chart.

On my charts, I just select the legends and drag them away from the chart. Hopefully this example helps:
Regards,

***There is not enough free space on the untitled disk***

I am attempting to install PrintShop software and need approx. 1150MB for it to be installed. My computer says that I have a 256GB solid state SATA. It has 105.33GB free out of 159.18GB. I don't have any idea of how to fix this. I emptied my trash and got rid of many files that weren't being used any longer. Could someone tell me what info they need from me about my laptop in order to help me?
I know that this is not a new topic, but I couldn't find an answer in past discussions that fit my situation. Thanks so much.

I did the repair permissions in disk utility and I have done repair disk previously. After both quit running, I restart my computer (I'm not sure if that is what needs done). But neither of the disk utility actions have helped.
I also went in and looked at the partition. I think I messed that up. In the partition space, it only showed my Untitled partition. I took the cursor and used it to drag and enlarge the partition so that the Untitled had the full space. I've never used the partition before and I don't run Windows or anything like that so I don't think I have a need for more than one partition, do I?
My Untitled drive now shows that there is tons of free space, but I am still getting a "not enough free space" message.
Also, in Finder, I see Favorites with Apps, documents, downloads, music, etc and I see devices that lists my PrintShop CD, but I don't see my drive listed any longer. Do you know what I might have done?

How do i clear space on my startup disk

I am frequently getting error messages that my startup disk is full - how do I clear space so my system can run better?

A good tool to help with cleaning up a disk is OmniDiskweeper. It will tell you the files and folders that are taking up the most space.
The best candidate to pick are you own files generally located in Home.
Be very careful with system files because moving or deleting them can cause your system to stop running, If in doubt ask here about the files.
Allan

HT3680 how do i clear space on my startup disk?

I've erased tons of pictures and programs from my mac and when i go to software update it still keeps telling me i can't update because my startup disk is full

Visit The XLab FAQs and read the FAQ on freeing up space on your hard drive. Also see Freeing space on your Mac OS X startup disk. However, the best alternative is to put in a larger hard drive.
Note that dragging files to the Trash does not remove them. You then have to Empty the Trash to free up the space.

How do you free space on the startup disk

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