I can't log in after I got a start up disk is full message, what do I do? ?

I am having a problem logging in after a startup disk is full message. Is there anything I can do to get it to log in again? I have been deleting large files but I guess it wasn't enough to take care of the problem.

It is very difficult to offer troubleshooting suggestions when the "os version" you are using is unknown as each os has their own troubleshooting solutions.

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My iMac does not start up as usual. Start up disk is full message and I do not get normal desk top. Please can you help? Thanks

My iMac does not start up as usual. I now get a ' start up disk is full. You need to make space available on your start up disk by deleting files' message.
I am able to key my log on password however I just get the purple galaxy screen with no desktop.
If I try to use the keyboard I get a tone when pressing the keys.
Has worked perfectly well up until I got this dusk full message.
Can anyone help please. Thanks

Your going to have to follow the Data Recovery Efforts page here to be able to access your drive and remove files without booting the computer.
You can't open the iMac so you will need OS X booted from a external drive or via Firewire Target Disk Mode using another Mac.
https://discussions.apple.com/docs/DOC-3172
I would concentrate on Movies as this is a big source of large files to free up room.
Read Storage Drive here
https://discussions.apple.com/docs/DOC-3045
If you not handy with computers, your going to have to hire a local service or provide the info above to someone you know who can, it's not easy.

How can I find where this came from? - start up disk almost full

Hi, my mac began saying this to me today "Start up disk almost full"
So I began deleting files. I deleted a lot via DiskWave.
But now Diskwave says I have enough space but my mac sure doesn't.
What do I do? What's all that 'other' stuff and where can I find it?
Thanks in advance!

For information about the Other category in the Storage display, see this support article. If the Storage display seems to be inaccurate, try rebuilding the Spotlight index.
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. Type carefully and then press return. 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.

IMac can't log-in after regular e-update

This is a follow up for my old post.
My iMac-G4(flat panel) can not log-in after the on-line free software e-update provided by Apple weekly. The actual diagnosis is: start up the iMac, when the blue-bar finishes, no log-in box showing up, so I can't log-in to use. I have tried to re-install, but it could not re-install. But I ran the Hardware Test CD, it said OK. I took the iMac to Apple's Hong Kong support center, they charged me HK$600(US$80) for examination fee, then said it was the logic-board problem and needed to replace for another HK$6000(US$800) cost. I ended up not to fix it as too expensive. Anyone have opinion? Because I thought if the logic board died, how can I still able to start up and run the Hardware Test CD?
imac G4 Mac OS X (10.2.x) was upgraded to OS X 10.4.3

This is a follow up for my old post.
My iMac-G4(flat panel) can not log-in after the
on-line free software e-update provided by Apple
weekly. The actual diagnosis is: start up the iMac,
when the blue-bar finishes, no log-in box showing up,
so I can't log-in to use. I have tried to re-install,
but it could not re-install. But I ran the Hardware
Test CD, it said OK. I took the iMac to Apple's Hong
Kong support center, they charged me HK$600(US$80)
for examination fee, then said it was the logic-board
problem and needed to replace for another
HK$6000(US$800) cost. I ended up not to fix it as too
expensive. Anyone have opinion? Because I thought if
the logic board died, how can I still able to start
up and run the Hardware Test CD?
imac G4 Mac OS X (10.2.x)
was upgraded to OS X 10.4.3
My iMac just crashed after the latest software update - (iMac 20" Intel Core Duo, 2GB RAM, 256MB-VRAM)
After the latest software update, the screen went grey and black boxes appeared with messages about a "panic". Needed to use power button to restart but I received the same message ("panic" and need to use power button).
AppleCare didn't solve it - They had me "Repair Disk" (it was OK, no repair needed) then they had me try a "Archive Install" but that didn't finish (after about 40 min. it locked-up with only 2 min. to go!). I tried this 3 times with the same problem during the last 2 min. (it was installing iWeb files...)
I have Apple Care but since they couldn't help, I plan to take it to the Apple Store today.
I can't believe your logic board is bad either...
Anyone else having a problem with the latest updates??

My start up disk is full, and i can no longer log in to my username to remedy it. i am abroad and my coverage is about to expire. what to do?

My start up disk is full, and I can no longer access my username to remedy it or remove files. I can only access the guest user profile in safari only mode. I am currently overseas and my coverage expired the day this problem happened. sos what do i do? i need to access iphoto and itunes. and everything else I have

My start up disk is full, and I can no longer access my username to remedy it or remove files. I can only access the guest user profile in safari only mode. I am currently overseas and my coverage expired the day this problem happened. sos what do i do? i need to access iphoto and itunes. and everything else I have

After a failed backup because my macbook went to sleep, my hard disk is full. What happened? Where can I find the file i need to erase?

because my macbook went to sleep, my hard disk is full. What happened? Where can I find the file i need to erase

It's hard to tell -- just going to sleep shouldn't have caused a problem. Something else may be going on.
See Where did my Disk Space go? especially the blue box.

How to fix macbook air that is frozen after log in, it says start up disk is full.

Hi! Im getting an error message on my macbook air that the start up disk is full, so i trashed some files and this morning when i turn it on it still says the same error message, and just freezes upon log in.. it wont let me do anything, it only display blank screen. plaese help. thanks.

Hi Laiwin,
What did you delete? Did you by any chance delete anything out of the /Library or /System folder off the root level of the drive? Probably the best option is startup the computer and then immediately hit Command + V. This will boot into Verbos mode. When does the boot process stop? What does it say? This will help tell us where it is failing in the boot process.

I have a mid 2007 iMac.    2 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo, 4 GB 667MHz DDR2 SDRAM, OSX 10.9.5.   I attempted to do the latest update and got the message: Start up disk is full. Delete files. How do I do that?

I have a mid 2007 iMac.    2 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo, 4 GB 667MHz DDR2 SDRAM, OSX 10.9.5.   I attempted to do the latest update and got the message: Start up disk is full. Delete files. How do I do that?

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. Get an external hard drive on which to store some of your files after which you can
      erase the data from your internal drive to free up space.
5. Also see Freeing space on your Mac OS X startup disk.
6. See Where did my Disk Space go?.
7. 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.

I can't download anything as it keeps telling me my start up disk is full. I have deleted loads of files and it still keeps popping up with the same messge??

Please help - I am not too computer savvi and my computer keeps telling me my start up disk is full. I have purchased a passport and transferred loads of images and files onto that and then deleted them from my computer but the message is still the same and I can't download anything.

How big is your hard drive, and how much space is used/free?
To find out, click once on the hard drive icon on your desktop to highlight it (it will be called Macintosh HD unless you renamed it). Click the command and I keys on your keyboard to open the information window. In "General", you will see Capacity and Available. What are those figures?
If you have a little bit of space left, I recommend that you install Omnidisksweeper (it's free) to tell you what folders are using up the most room.
Be careful when you transfer files - only move files that you know are yours. Don't move or delete any system files unless you're specifically recommended to do so (some files are safe to delete; some are not).
Matt

Hello, I have a problem with my start up disk is full. I have cleared the movies and non relevant items from my computer, but when I check my storage in About tho mac, the movie in the storage indicate still 178 GB of movies. So How can I get read of that

Hello, I have the alarm Start up disk is full. I have cleared everything, I have removed all the movies from itune. But when I check via the apple icon , About this mac and then more info and then storage, the graphic shows movies still at 178 GB. How can I clear that so that I can free my start up disc?
Thank you.

Dear Allan,
Here is the status of my storage.,
Cheers

I keep getting a "start up disc is full" message on my iMac (running leopard)- its a new mac so can't be full?

I keep getting a "start up disc is full" message on my iMac (OSX 10.7.3 running leopard). It can't be full the mac is only a few months old - please help - I am not a computer whizz so treat me gently!!

Do you have any external hard drives attached that your system might be booting from? Did you create multiple partitions on your hard drive, one of which may be full? These are a couple of possibilities, and there may be others.
I suggest powering on your system then immediately hold down the option key. Your system should display the system picker screen showing all bootable volumes. Do you see just one boot volume show up?
I also suggest launching the Activity Monitor application that can be found in the Applications/Utilities folder. Click on the 'Disk Usage' option to see how much drive space is available as shown below. You may also want to use the Disk Utility application to verify the hard drive and file permissions. Both of these are options available within the application.

HT201210 my start up disk is full what can i get rid of i have no movies or videos ?

my start up disk is full what can i get rid of i have no movies or videos ?

Download and install OmniDiskSweeper. It will tell you the names of the folders and files taking the most disk space.
If you are not absolutely sure about something please ask here before deleting it.
Allan

My macbook air won't load. Says start up disk is full but I can't get the home page to open

My Macbook air won't load. Says the start up disk is full but won't open the home page so I can do anything about it

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 Start Up Disk is Full and I can get no acces to anything when the computer starts

The computer turns on and I can get no acces to anything. It display a message "Your Start Up Disk is Full" and comes to a white screen. I can only move the mouse but there is nowhere to click.
How can I delete any files, so the computer can come back to life?? Is there any way I can acces those files??
I'm using 250GB and this Mac has 500GB total memory.

Supposedly one can hold the Shift key down while booting (Safe Mode) and that's supposed to allow one to boot the machine when the startup disk is full.
Step by Step to fix your Mac
If that works, then use a storage drive (not TimeMachine) to move excessive files too likely starting with Movies (large and easy) or iTunes supscirptions downloads which have gotten out of control.
Most commonly used backup methods
Another method is to create a boot drive on a external drive, this then will allow one to option key boot the computer and remove files off of the internal drive, allowing the free space needed for OS X to swap stuff to the drive and operate.
Create a data recovery, undelete boot drive
Now for some reason it takes rebooting the original drive to get OS X to recognize there is free space available again, so reboot the machine normally (no Shift key). Just saying that because you may be wondering how come it does't register when you delete stuff later.

I have a Macbook Air and the start up disk is full so it won't boot up. How can I get it to boot so I can delete files?

I have a Macbook Air and the start up disk is full so it will not boot up. How can I boot it up so I can delete some files?

You will have to see about booting it from another drive or USB flash drive or another computer. When you are able to then see the following:
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.
Try using OmniDiskSweeper 1.8 or GrandPerspective to search your drive for large files and where they are located.

I can't log in after I got a start up disk is full message, what do I do? ?

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