What are the "other" files on my macbook air HD? They are taking up 52 of the 60gbs. How do i erase these?

My macbook air has a 60gb HD that is currently full. 51 gb is "other" What in the world do i do to fix this?

See here for answer:
http://pondini.org/TM/30.html
and here:
http://pondini.org/OSX/DiskSpace.html

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How do I free up space in the other file on my MacBook Air?

My laptop is full and when I check the storage, over 50GB is taken up by 'Other'. What types of files are in Other and what else could i delete to free up more space?! I've deleted loads of photos/videos/etc. but obviously other is some other category!
Thanks

‘Other’:
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT6047

The hidden files on my macbook air keep showing up!

The hidden files on my macbook air keep showing up! I use different methodes to hide them, but every time, out of the blue, all those horrible 'windows like' .docs show up. I used Paralles 5 (have deleted it - no change), even updated to Lion, no change.. Deleted MacFuse.. no change... I suspected ThinkerTool, but also that one is gone... Files most of the time show as soon as I open a desktop folder... HELP anyone??

Dear People,
After month I'm still struggeling. Like I said, it is not just a replace True with False sollution. When I hide the 'hidden files' and I copy a file to my desktop, the screen flashes and boom... there are my hidden files again.
I can keep on hiding them, but they will keep showing up.... what to do?

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I have a rather sizeable Keynote (about 7GB) since it has several QT Movies embedded. And the key word is embedded: if I was to remove the “original” QT files and other large graphics off the HD (in an effort to regain some space on the 250GB onboard flash drive) and in Keynote Preferences I have checked “copy audio and movies into document” then the Keynote presentation remains intact and does NOT need any of those QT files living on the MBAir itself. I could keep them on a separate dedicated FW drive for future inclusion and/or editing.
That is – the Keynote presentation will stand as its own complete file and does not need to reference those files sitting on the HD in order to work as they have been copied into the Keynote presentation itself (and hence their propagation is what is also accounting for the disc space concern).
I am concerned that if I remove the files then the slides that do require QT won’t be able to “find” the files…..but I am working under the assumption that the above steps have ensured that they are integrated into the actual presentation file and do not need to “find” them on the HD. Make sense?
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Great! Thanks so much for the quick reply, Gary Much appreciated.
T

How do i remove the "other" storage on my MacBook Air.

The "other" storage on my MacBook Air takes up 25 GB out of the 60 GB and i dont know what it is or how to remove it, i only have 2 GB free.

Information from these articles may be helpful.
http://support.apple.com/kb/PH10677
http://pondini.org/OSX/DiskSpace.html
http://pondini.org/OSX/LionStorage.html
Best.

How can I print stuff from the 'Help' file using my MacBook Air?

How can I print stuff from the 'Help' file using my MacBook Air?

Open the Help viewer, select a category then from the menu bar top of your screen, click File > Print

CAN I SAFELY download the free audacity library mp3 file to my Macbook Air MAC OS X 10.6.8 through the audacity option button??

CAN I SAFELY download the free audacity library mp3 file (libmpslame.dylib) to my Macbook Air MAC OS X 10.6.8 through the audacity option button without crushing my computer?? Also (since my friend installed audacity I can only get out of it by force quitting. Am I doing something wrong?

I just had the same problem, I've updated to 10.6.8 yesterday, and since then the browsing are very slow, no matter what broswer I am using, the upload download speed are still the same. But browsing just take forever, It takes for example google.com 30 seconds to load. I have Extream high speed internet connection, 3 other computers, and the only one is having this problem is the Mac after the update.
Something in this update screwed my browsing capabitilties, I tried downloading Crome browser, same issue.
I hope there is a way beside TimeMachine to revert the latest update. I don't want to reformat as I am sure as soon as I am going to do the update it will cause the same problem.
Model Name:    iMac
Model Identifier:    iMac11,3
Processor Name:    Intel Core i7
Processor Speed:    2.93 GHz
Number Of Processors:    1
Total Number Of Cores:    4
L2 Cache (per core):    256 KB
L3 Cache:    8 MB
Memory:    12 GB
Processor Interconnect Speed:    4.8 GT/s
Boot ROM Version:    IM112.0057.B00

How do I remove the "other" stuff from my macbook air memory?

I have a Macbook air with a 60 gb hard drive. My memory keeps filling up even though I keep erasing things off my computer. Deleted a bunch of music, bunch of pictures, etc. I don't have any videos on my hard drive nor software that takes up a lot of space. Every time I erase or transfer something to make more room on my hard drive, the extra space is suddenly taken by "other". Right now "other" is taking up 30 gigs of my hard drive. I understand there is system stuff included in this, but should it be taking up 30 gigs? How do I shrink it?

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—not the mythical 10%, 15%, or any other percentage. 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 a photo or iTunes library will corrupt the library. Changes to such a 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 and start typing the name.
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. Ignore any other messages that appear in the Terminal window.
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.

How do I get rid of the "other" space on my macbook air?

I have 11" Macbook Air and mostly use it just for music and as a home computer and do not have a lot of documents or anything that take up a large portion of the storage. When I look at the storage though it has this "other" portion that takes up almost half of my storage. How can I get rid of the "other" space on my computer?

wdoutrich wrote:
I have 11" Macbook Air and mostly use it just for music and as a home computer and do not have a lot of documents or anything that take up a large portion of the storage. When I look at the storage though it has this "other" portion that takes up almost half of my storage. How can I get rid of the "other" space on my computer?
Bearing in mind that 'Other' consists of emails, contacts, appointments, data, document files, OSX and its libraries and more, I would be very careful what you delete. It is not just backup, it is your stuff.

HT1391 about 30 out of 80 songs that I purchased play on the computer the 80,the orignal file can not be found so they are unable to play

I purchased about 80 songs from i tunes eveything was working great,then all of a sudden about 50 of the purchased songs would not play ,a box came up stating that the orignal can not be found and if I wanted to search for it.What do I do now ?

If only some of the songs on an album are giving you the authorisation message, that suggests those song files are damaged.
If your country's iTunes Store allows you to redownload purchased tracks, I'd delete your current copies of the dodgy tracks and try redownloading fresh copies. For instructions, see the following document:
Downloading past purchases from the App Store, iBookstore, and iTunes Store
Otherwise, I'd report the problem to the iTunes Store.
Log in to the Store. Click on "Account" in your Quick Links. When you're in your Account information screen, go down to Purchase History and click "See all".
Find the items that are not playing properly. If you can't see "Report a Problem" next to the items, click the "Report a problem" button. Now click the "Report a Problem" links next to the items.

The print menu on my MacBook Air won't allow me to select two sided printing, how do I do this?

Hi Community,
I recently purchased a MacBook Air (my very first Mac) and I cannot access all of the printing options when I print. I am able to print and the printer driver was downloaded, but my options are limited. I cannot enable two sided printing, which is something I was able to do with my current printer via my old laptop. I am in grad school and have a lot of journal articles to print and read that are 60-70 pages each. I'd much rather print these two sided to save paper. I have the latest version of OS X (version 10.8.5) and my printer is an HP Laser Jet P2035n.
Can anyone help me fix this issue so I don't have to use my old laptop to print?
Thanks,
Melissa

Read the post by iron badger at the bottom of the page.
Check out the last post by iron badger. http://h30499.www3.hp.com/t5/Macintosh-Compatible-Products/LaserJet-P2035n-Doub le-sided-printing-Mac-OS-X-10-6/td-p/2359047#.UjybmBb3YzU
Best.

I am receiving iMessages on my updated macbook air, but they are not showing up on my phone.

I am receiving text messages just fine on my iphone, but when I get home and open the laptop I find multiple imessages from various people throughout the day. I do have imessage turned "on" on my phone and am using wifi most of the time. Why are they going to my computer and not my phone?

Do you have both your phone number and email in"send and receive" on both?

Somehow, the Message App on my MacBook Air had my iPhone and messages appearing on the screen without me even putting anything into the computer. This is a school computer, so it would be very intrusive and possibly bad if I has this. Suggestions?

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Mountain Lion sets your Apple ID for Messages app, so you can use iMessage and you can see your messages from other iPhones, iPads and iPods touch with your Apple ID.
To disable this, open the Messages app, go to Messages menu (on the menu bar) > Preferences > Accounts, choose iMessage in the sidebar and turn off this account

What are the "other" files on the hard drive and how can I reduce them

Advice please - what are the "other" files on my hard drive and can I reduce or clear them - currently taking up over 90 gig of disk space

WZZZ wrote:
"Other" than what?
In About This Mac > Storage -
...the yellow stuff.
I believe "Other" is primarily System and System-related files.

How do I erase the "other" files that are occupying my computer

I already deleted pics, music, etc and I am ready to continue to delete unnecessary files. How should I erase the "other" files that are in my computer. Please, advice. Thanks

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—not the mythical 10%, 15%, or any other percentage. 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.
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. Ignore any other messages that appear in the Terminal window.
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.

What are the "other" files on my macbook air HD? They are taking up 52 of the 60gbs. How do i erase these?

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