My start up drive is almost filled. What do I do?

Hard Drive full or near full?
Follow some of my tips for cleaning out, deleting and archiving data from your Mac's internal hard drive.
Have you emptied your iMac's Trash icon in the Dock?
If you use iPhoto, iPhoto has its own trash that needs to be emptied, also.
If you use Apple Mail app, Apple Mail also has its own trash area that needs to be emptied, too!
Other things you can do to gain space.
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 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.
Download an app called OnyX for your version of OS X.
When you install and launch it, let it do its thing initially, then go to the cleaning and maintenance tabs and run all of the processes in the tabs. 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.
You may have to Purchase an external FireWire or Thunderbolt hard drive to 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.
Good Luck!

Similar Messages

My 'start up drive' is almost full, and running slow. I transferred all my music to an external drive, but still getting messages. What is the best way to get rid of unneeded files.

I am deleting or burning to CD photos I dont use regularly. What else can I do?
Does a full hard drive and slow machine warrent upgrading to a new one?

I have 13 GB free out of 250GB
That's tight. Rule of thumb for a start up drive - the one inside the Macbook - is to have atleast 15% free at all times.
For getting rid of unnecessary stuff off the internal drive, I suggest you try Omni Disk Sweeper. It will give you a complete inventory of your drive, and purge what you ask it to delete. But be patient when it runs, give it time to do a full sweep.
It's the second one on this page: http://www.omnigroup.com/more
Hard drives are not that expensive. If I were you I would invest in another external drive for your library.

I keep getting the message that my start up disc is almost full, what can I do?

I keep getting the message that my start up disc is almost full. What can I do?

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.

My iMac's hard drive is almost full - what are my options?

My beloved iMac is running out of space inside
It says my hard drive has 232.57 GB, and that there's only 18.07 GB remaining. Eeek!
What are my options making more space on my hard drive? I know my biggest problem is iTunes, especially videos. My music library is taking up 6 MB, and videos 78 MB. I'm not tech-savvy in the slightest.
Somebody help? Thanks!

Using the external drive for more storage works fine. You can use Apple's method for formally changing location of the +iTunes Music+ (which also contains your iTunes videos). However, I use a different way that I like better, because you are not changing the iTunes settings (and you can easily undo it).
If iTunes is running, quit.
If you are using default settings, the +iTunes Music+ folder should be located at
<user home folder>/Music/iTunes/iTunes Music/
First copy this +iTunes Music+ folder to the external drive. Now, you have it in two locations. Change the name of the original folder from +iTunes Music+ to +iTunes Music old+ (or some other name). Make an alias (short cut) of the NEW +iTunes Music+ folder on the external drive. To do this (in case you are not familiar with using aliases) select the NEW +iTunes Music+ folder in a Finder window and
menu bar > File > Make Alias
or drag the folder while holding down Option-Command. You should see the curly arrow next to the icon indicating an alias will be created where you drop it.
Place the alias in the original location of the +iTunes Music+ folder (where you changed the name to +iTunes Music old+)
<user home folder>/Music/iTunes/
and name it exactly +iTunes Music+ (if you need to rename it). You are making the alias replace the original +iTunes Music+ folder, and have it point to your new +iTunes Music+ folder on the external drive.
When you run iTunes, it should be accessing your new +iTunes Music+ folder on the external, but you are able to keep iTunes using the default settings. To prove to yourself that the new +iTunes Music+ folder is being used, do something like rip a new CD or download a free song from the iTunes Store. Then check that the file ended up on the external drive. You can also do a +Get Info+ on any song or video (in iTunes) and verify that the file location is on the external drive.
(If something goes wrong, just get rid of the alias and rename +iTunes Music old+ back to +iTunes Music+.)
Once you are confident that all of your files are accessible and being accessed from the external drive, you can delete the old +iTunes Music+ folder on the internal drive.
Separate point...
You should also get another external drive that is at least as large as the filled space on your internal drive and your current external drive. Twice as large would actually be better. So if you have two 250GB drives that you plan to have at most 75% full, a 750GB external drive would be ideal. Then, you can use Time Machine to back up both your internal drive and external drive, to the new external drive. Getting an external drive with both FireWire and USB 2.0 would give you the most flexibility.

Low Memory Error (Computer also reporting that my hard drive is almost filled)

Is there a diagnostic tool or something else I can do to find out why I'm getting an low memory error?
I have a Compaq Presario CQ60. I have 4.0GB of RAM and a 2.0 GHZ processor.
I only have 5GB left on my hard drive. That can't be right! The drive is 285 GB total. What told me that I had a problem was when I removed 40GB of music that I ripped from my CD collection. I moved it off. It cleared up room on my HD until i rebooted it a few times. Then all 40GB were mysteriously gone. Program Files is 17.0 GB, MyDocuments 4.88GB, Music 5GB, Pictures 900MB, Videos 400 MB. Downloads folder 1.14GB. When i run Defrag from Windows 7 Home Premium, it fails.
I can't believe I've run out of memory or hard drive space. I think something else is going on. I've been using this computer for years and what I'm doing now is no where near as intense as I've done in the past.
Is there a tool i can download and run? At one time, my computer did restart and do a check on the Hard Drive sectors but it returned no errors. I don't know what to do.

Some very good tips here- includes tools to view what is using hdd space. (just be sure to ignore the ads)
http://www.howtogeek.com/125923/7-ways-to-free-up-hard-disk-space-on-windows/
******Clicking the Thumbs-Up button is a way to say -Thanks!.******
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Start up full gives full warning - what do I do?

Hi,
I have an old G4 with OSX 10.4.11 with a 25BG start up drive.
I am getting a warning in photoshop that I can't perform some functions because my
"Stratch Drive Is Almost Fill".
I pulled over 2GB onto my external drive leaving 2.76 GB open for use and
I still get the warning. There's nothing left on my internal drive that can be
shifted woithout causing all sort of the usual function roblems.
What else can I do (besides buy a new disk)?
Thank you

I pulled over 2GB onto my external drive leaving 2.76 GB open for use and
I still get the warning. There's nothing left on my internal drive that can be
shifted
Get a new, larger drive.
You don't have enough free space for OS X let alone Photoshop.
You need at least 10 GB of free space for OS X to flex its muscle, more if running Leopard.
If your G4 is a Sawtooth, Gigabit Ethernet, Digital Audio or first generation Quicksilver, get one of these drives:
http://eshop.macsales.com/item/Western%20Digital/WD1600AAJB/
If you have a Quicksilver 2002 or any MDD model, get one of these:
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/484049-REG/Western_Digital_WD5000JBRTL_500 GB_Caviar_Blue_Internal.html

Start up drive full on 4 week old MBA

Hello,
I received a message ths morning regarding my start up drive being almost full. When I have looked at the breakdown I have around 16GB of photos, music & Apps & 96GB of other. What is this other & where has it come from? Does anyone have any tips about how to find it (without the use of complex programmes).
I have emptied my Trash & the Safari Cache.
Thanks!!

Hi,
I've just run the disc inventory X & I have a couple of odd things
Mail Message @ 79.6 GB 8641 files
Documents @ 8.3GB 80229 files
Do you think this is the time machine back up? I've deleted all my old messages as they've come through & I only have about 3 documents on.
I tried disabling the local back ups, via terminal using the command
sudo tmutil disablelocal
It doesn't seem to have made any difference though (not sure if I used it right??)
Thanks for your help so far.

I have a mac os x ver. 10.5.8 2x2.8 quad. my start up disk is almost full. can i change my start up disk from the original hard drive to an additional hard drive i added in Bay 4?

i have a mac os x ver. 10.5.8 2x2.8 quad. my start up disk is almost full. can i change my start up disk from the original hard drive to an additional hard drive i added in Bay 4?

Always want to keep the boot drive with more free space than may seem necessary for performance and to function at its best, 30-40% free or even 50% is not excessive.
Ideal is to separate your system from your data.
You should always have bootable backup / clone of your system
Don't use a green drive for system or data though.
When you are done cloning system and/or data, remove the old original and keep as backup.
Then move the system drive to #1 - no matter what you want to reset the default boot volume to where the system is.
Using Cloning as a Backup Strategy
Carbon Copy Cloner 3.4.1
http://www.bombich.com/software/updates/ccc-3.5.html
How to clone your system:
http://macperformanceguide.com/Mac-HowToClone-backup.html
http://macperformanceguide.com/Mac-HowToClone.html
http://www.macupdate.com/app/mac/7032/carbon-copy-cloner
http://www.macperformanceguide.com/blog/2012/20120711_2-MacPro-internal-clone-ba ckup.html
How to relocate system and user data to another drive:
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT4337
By staying with 10.5.8 you are not going to receive security updates, might want to consider 10.6.8.

What data do I need to remove as I am getting alerts that my start-up disk is almost full?

What data do I need to remove from my laptop as I am getting alerts that my start-up disk is almost full. I have been deleting emails (I still have 4000+ in my inbox).
Also, I have been unable to download software updates nor been able to download more photos from my iPhone because there is too much on my hard drive. I don't know what to delete. I have no books or movies on laptop.
Thanks-----this is my maiden attempt for online discussion support.

Read here > Freeing space on your Mac OS X startup disk
And here > Freeing Up Hard Disk Space - Mac Guides
For iTunes you can back up your library...
iTunes: Back up your iTunes library by copying to an external hard drive
Or burn iTunes media to CD/DVD's > How to back up your media in iTunes

Got a message "iphoto disc is almost filled up do you want to continue? what does this mean?

Got message while downloading to iphoto from iphone" Your iphoto disc is almost filled up do you want to contine?" What does it mean and what should I do?

Click on the hard drive icon and type Command+i to bring up the Info window;
It's recommended that one have a minimum of 10 GB of free space on the boot drive to provide for optimal system and application performance and 20 GB minimum free if you use iDVD.
OT

My macintosh HD it is almost filled with "other" space and can't find the source to delete, what can I do?

My MacBook Air is almost filled up with "other"space and I can't find the source. What can I do to fix this and or what apps can I download to find the source and delete it. Thanks.

If you haven't restarted your computer for a while, do so. Sometimes cache files get mangled and begin expanding rapidly. A few weeks ago my iMac went from more than 500GB free to less than 20GB free in a short period of time. I knew that wasn't possible but also knew that I'd not shutdown or rebooted in over a month. After the reboot the disk was back to its normal usage and I've not seen a repeat.
If that doesn't do it, check out macupdate.com for programs such as DaisyDisk and Omni DiskSweeper to examine your drive contents. Media files (movies, digital photos, and songs) are the mostly likely culprits for taking up space.

I have a Mac Air. It said my start up disk was almost full and to delete files. I did but am not sure of what all I should delete. Then the color wheel wouldn't stop spinning so I just closed it. Now it won't open up at all. What can I do?

I deleted files from my MacBook Air after it said my start up disk was almost full. It did several xs, then the color wheel wouldn't stop spinning, so I closed it. Then after a sufficient amount of time, I tried to start it up again, only now the Apple start up wheel just spins non stop and nothing else happens. How or what can I do to get my MacBook Air to work again, without having to take it in? Thanks so much!

Backup your MBA then take it to Apple

Hi, Im new to Apple MacBook PRO. I have saved about 50GB files plus applications and message advises that my start up disk is almost full! My MacBook pro has a 500GB hard drive so don't know why this message is coming up. Please help.

Hi, Im new to Apple MacBook PRO. I have saved about 50GB files plus applications and message advises that my start up disk is almost full! My MacBook pro has a 500GB hard drive so don't know why this message is coming up. Please help.

MacBook Pro
https://discussions.apple.com/community/notebooks/macbook_pro
https://discussions.apple.com/community/mac_os/mac_os_x_v10.7_lion?view=discussi ons

I am a dj and my macbook pro 13inch 500g hard drive is almost maxed out. i want to upgrade to a 1tb HDD. what is my best option?

i am a dj and my macbook pro 13inch 500g hard drive is almost maxed out. i want to upgrade to a 1tb HDD. what is my best option?

Depending on the year of the MBP, the hard drive may not be considered a user replaceable item...but you can check the available 1 TB drives at good sources such as OWC, http://www.macsales.com they are great to deal with and have on-line videos showing how to do most installation tasks.

Received message that my start up disk is almost full. Where is this located and how do I know what I can delete?

Received a message that my start up disk is almost full. Where do I locate my start up disk / files and how do I know what i can delete from this folder to make more space?

Start up disk is the main, and only, internal disk of your computer.
I hope you know what you saved on it, so you also know what can be removed

My start up drive is almost filled. What do I do?

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