MacBook Air saying hard drive is full when it's really not

I have just started getting error messages saying that my startup disk is full, saying I have "Zero KB" available, which makes sense being I have been doing a lot of downloading recently and have been learning Java programming (lots of Java and Class files), and the fact that 80GB isn't a lot of storage space these days (and hasn't been for at least the last 5 years), most notebooks these days have at least 200GB hard drives in them (that is one thing, that as much as I love Macs, has always irked me about them, very little storage space)
I have deleted over 30KB worth of unimportant files to free up some space (one file being 24KB alone), then opened a Finder window only to find out that it still says "Zero KB Available", if I delete 30+KB worth of files, shouldn't there be an equivalent amount of storage space afterwards? It doesn't make any sense that I would still be getting "Zero KB Available" after I deleted 30+KB worth of data
I am not sure if it's related, but for quite a while, I have noticed that my MacBook has been making a clicking noise, this has been happening for quite a while, though I have been hearing it less than before, and just recently I am now hearing what sounds like a screech coming from the MacBook (mostly when I put it on standby by closing the screen, right when the sleep mode initiates), though I have ignored it, being until now, I have not noticed any problems with the MacBook, no loss of data, no corruption, etc., and now the only problem I am experiencing is that it's saying my hard drive is 100% full even after deleting some files, though does fail when I try to verify the disk in Disk Utility
So is there a reasonable explanation for why it's saying my hard drive is full, or is it possible that there could be a potential disk failure?
Message was edited by: Mikedamirault2
Reason for edit: Paragraph Spacing

18tracks, a KB is small, Ill give you that, but the reply you typed alone, if copied to TextEdit and saved in TXT or RTF format should only be several bytes (under a KB), I have Java and Class files with plenty more text in it and they only range from 1KB to 8KBs, way below 30KB, though if I were to save this webpage as an HTML file, then yes, it would probably get close
Regardless, it doesn't matter how little I delete, even if I only delete one 1KB file, it should still say 1KB free, yes that is barely anything, but at least that means it would be accurate
My point, was I deleted 30+KBs worth of data (that is a rough estimate, I am not exactly sure how much I deleted) and Finder STILL said that I had "Zero KB" available, I don't know about you, but 30KB sure sounds like a HUGE difference than 0KB
To me, this means that it doesn't matter if I deleted 1KB, 1MB, or even 1GB worth, Finder would still say that "Zero KB" is available, and the OS will still refuse to save or manipulate files, to me, that's a sign that something much bigger is going on, and with the clicking and screeching going on (which may not necessarily be the hard drive, but you never know), and the fact that my hard drive failed a verification, something tells me my hard drive must not be in good shape, and could possibly be disastrous

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Message that hard drive is full when clearly it is not!!!! HELP!!!

This is weird. Got a message that I had 117 mb left on hard drive. Dumped a bunch of programs and pictures. Then it said I had 25 gb on drive. Three days later, having done NOTHING, I got a message I was totally out of hard drive space again. Dumped a couple of programs - back up to 1.84 gb. An hour later it is full FULL AGAIN. I had done NOTHING. What is going on here??? My user folder says I have no space when I go to "get info" but when I check "get info" on all the folders inside (system, library, pictures, music, etc) it only adds up to half of the capacity of my hard drive (250 gbs). So in fact I know I only have less than 100 gb on that computer This is very strange. The drive is not full, and when I dump programs and data, it fills itself back up but can't find out why/how/where. I threw out the finder preferences but that didn't work. I booted up from my Leopard disk and it said my hard drive was full, but I KNOW it is not. What is going on??

Sounds like something is generating garbage. You've got a couple of options (at least) to track it down, starting with one tool built into the command-line interface. Pop open the Terminal (/Applications/Utilities/Termain.app) and type in the following:
cd /
sudo du -hd 1
Enter your password when prompted. du is the Disk Usage command, which will print out the disk space taken up by each folder, including invisible ones. Note that du can take a fair bit of time to complete; my own drive took about 5-6 minutes with only 27GB on it, so yours will probably take longer.
Your other option is to grab Disk Inventory X, a freeware utility which performs a very similar job to du, but with a shiny user interface to help you locate the offending space waster. If you're not comfortable with the terminal, this may be the best place to start.

My mac air says hard drive full and 90% is full of 'other' which I cant work out what 'other' is as i Have transferred most to my external hard drive

My mac air says hard drive full and 90% is full of 'other' which I cant work out what 'other' is as i Have transferred most to my external hard drive.
Do you know how I can tell how large each file is taking up and what my 'other' category could be?
thanks

Initial easy steps to gain disk space:
- Delete all files in the Downloads folder.
Empty the Trash.
- Start iPhoto.
Empty its trash.
Restart.
Backup:
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 if you plan to offload some files. (See suggestions for where to purchase hard drives at the end of this message.)
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
Deleting 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.
Additional reference on freeing disk space:
http://pondini.org/OSX/DiskSpace.html
Offloading files:
Consider moving some of the no-often-used large files or directories to an external disk. Use ODS again to find them. 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.
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 Manager enable 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
Hardware — Bigger disk/SSD:
OWC sells 120, 240 and 480 GB SSD upgrades for MacBook Airs. A 240 GB upgrade costs $265. http://eshop.macsales.com/shop/SSD/OWC/ . If your Mac is under warranty or AppleCare replacing the SSD will void the warranty.

Macbook Air's hard drive full with files under the 'other' category - how do I find these files and delete them?

A few days ago a pop up message came up on my screen saying that my hard drive was full, and that I could not install valuable updates because I did not have enough space on my computer. I checked my computer's storage space only to find that 18.22GB of my hard drive was filled with files/programs under the 'other' category. I have deleted all my downloads, most of my pictures and have done virus scans and I still don't have enough room. How do I find out what is in this 'other' category so that I can delete these files (which seem to be hidden) or whatever they may be?

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. For info about "Other":
    http://pondini.org/OSX/DiskSpace.html
    http://pondini.org/OSX/LionStorage.html
Best.

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.

Getting message saying hard drive nearly full

I've started getting a message when I boot up "your start up disk is almost full please remove some programs"
This I find hard to beleive as I have very little on my hard disk, I use an external My Book & other usb sticks to store most things including photos , the only things I have stored on the hard drive
any advice please ,
I've only started getting this message the last few days, and since I had a problem with my WD 1T external drive and time machine backup (time machine is supposed to be backing up to the WD external drive

See Where did my Disk Space go?

ITunes cannot backup because it says hard drive is full but I have 292gb available

I (my girlfriend) have a MacBook 1,1 from 2006, an iPhone 4s, an iPad Retina and just bought an iPhone 5s.
I'm trying to backup the phones and ipad to MacBook but iTunes is saying that the MacBook doesn't have enough room.
I've checked and I do have enough room 292gb - this is what I would expect because the original hard drive burnt out and so I had to buy a new one (the Macbook has hardly anything on it).
I'm not sure if it's related but i'm also trying to backup this MacBook to an external hard drive (Seagate) and Time Machine doesn't list the external drive, or any other drive at all.
Thanks in advance.
Ryan

@Ronald,
I'm glad to know that you can get by on only 120 GB . However, that's not my experience on Windows. Admittedly, Mac and Mavericks in particular seem to manage memory a lot better than Win. But I've been using PS since ver 4 and it's always been a huge memory drain.
In CS6, I'm finding my scratch disk often exceeds 100 GB. I have dedicated almost 300 GB to mine and it's still not enough for everything I do. But I know how to manage my resources so I can get by on what I have until new computers arrive.
Nancy O.

MacBook air says startup disk is full

What do you do when it says startup disk is full

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.

Why is my macbook pro 500gb hard drive filled up when I have only 1,000 songs and two home movies

i have a macbook pro with a 500 gb hard drive. there is only about 20 gb left open. i have about 1,000 songs and a couple of home movies that are about 30 min. in length. how can i find out what is on my hard drive that is taking up so much space?

Find out what's taking space on your Mac hard drive
Mac 101: Six steps for tracking down hard drive space hogs
Freeing Up Hard Disk Space
Freeing space on your Mac OS X startup disk

My hard drive is full when it isn't.

i have 500 GB and it is filled with 45GB or audi, 158GB movie, 10GB photos and 280GB or other. what is 'other' i cannot locate it nor delete it. when i put things in the trash, they disappear without emptying it.

Hi d,
HD: HOW TO FIND WHERE SPACE IS BEING USED
Disk Inventory X: http://www.derlien.com/
OmniDiskSweeper: http://www.omnigroup.com/products/omnidisksweeper/download/
GrandPerspective: http://grandperspectiv.sourceforge.net/#download
SupaView: http://twinside.free.fr/supaview/
WhatSize ($12.99 and includes a duplicate finder): http://www.whatsizemac.com/
DaisyDisk: http://daisydiskapp.com/
http://web.me.com/pondini/AppleTips/DiskSpace.html

I need to wipe my MacBook Air's hard drive - how can I do it?

Looking to sell and upgrade and want to be secure!

Take a look at this link, http://support.apple.com/kb/HT3263

My iPad says a game is installed when it's really not in iv been told to go to settings general usage then delet it and redownload but there is no usage category in setings general

Please help me out guys.Thanks

Open App Store, and go to Purchases. You'll see a list of things you purchased - including the game. Download it there.

Infected with malware. Says my hard drive is full, wont let me delete applications or allow clamx av to finish running.

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So when do you get the "your HD is full" message?

My hard drive is full, and it will not let me delete anything... :(

hello, so here is the story...
i bought my iMac about a little more than half year ago and i really like this mac. About 3 months ago, my computer started popping up me hard drive is full messages, and i did not really bother to delete any files. Because i have been using computers before this one, and i have never used up all the spaces before and the computer i have used before had even smaller hard drives. At the time i did not think it is going to effect my usage of this computer so i kept on using it. After about a month, while i was using my computer, it suddenly shut down and when i restart it my desktop is a plain blue background, with no wallpaper or any icons. Then i tried to delete some files, but when i try to do so, i can not even open up my applications or any kind of window. The only thing that i can open is safari, so right now i can only serve the internet, can not even watch any videos or movies online...
can anyone tell me how to delete files right now, because my hard drive is so limited right now, i can not even open up anything, so there is no way to delete any files

In all your use of computers, did you learn how to recover your backups and have a good backup strategy in place?
Or are you going to need help now on backups, recoverying files (already some good threads to just re-read), and rebuild your hard drive.
For starters you will need one or more external drives, and install OS X on one of them and use one or part of one for recovering files.
You should be able to free up space. Just go to your home account folder / library / caches and trash anything to do with Safari like Metadata cache folder to free up a little.
You don't need to "open" anything other than Finder. And you probably want to boot with SHIFT KEY at the least on startup - continue to hold shift key until you hit the desktop.
But you really should not or limit any use of this hard drive, and work from and boot from another hard drive for now.
Pick up some USB/FW drives:
http://www.macsales.com/firewire

I downloaded carbon copy. transferred entire internal hd to new replacement HD thru USB. computer booted from replacement hrdrive. then installed replacement hard rive into iMac. when rebooting imac did not recognized new replacement hd.

i downloaded carbon copy. transferred entire internal hd to new replacement HD thru USB adapter kit. computer booted from replacement hrdrive. then i erased the internal hardrive and reloaded the operating system.( i needed to find out if the hard drive was bad or virus/worm was the cause). then installed replacement hard drive into iMac. when rebooting, imac did not recognized new replacement hd. i also upgraded memory at the same time. ok what did i do wrong. do i have to remove the new replacement hardrive to extract the data.

It should not matter. CCC will "clone" the recovery partition as well, but not knowing exactly what operation you had CCC perform it is difficult to know what may have gone wrong - it has many customizable options and you have to choose the correct one.
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my backups have backups.
I assume you didn't mean that literally. Have redundant backups - don't "back up your backups".

MacBook Air saying hard drive is full when it's really not

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