What is "other" in "About this Mac"

I have a new MacBook Air and I'm showing 13.13 GB free out of 59.81 GB in my About This Mac and was wondering what is Other.
Audio is 998.4 MB
Movies is 6.89 GB
Photos is 3.8 GB
Apps is 7.2 GB
Backups is 161.1 MB
Other is 27.63 GB
Thanks,
Mike

About "Other" :
    http://pondini.org/OSX/LionStorage.html
    http://pondini.org/OSX/DiskSpace.html
Hope this helps.
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

Similar Messages

I don't know what it means "other" in "about this mac -- storage". Someone knows???

Like i said, when i'm at "about this mac --> more information --> storage" i don't know what it means "others". I want to know this cause i used 27 gb of "others". Thanks,
Francisco from Argentina

fran.catena wrote:
Like i said, when i'm at "about this mac --> more information --> storage" i don't know what it means "others". I want to know this cause i used 27 gb of "others". Thanks,
Francisco from Argentina
Hi, have a look at this Discussion...
https://discussions.apple.com/message/16073912

Why does my Aperture library show up as "Other" in About This Mac?

I go to About This Mac- More Info- Storage, and it says I only have 2.99GB of photos when my Aperture library is close to 200GB. The Aperture library gets thrown into the Other portion.
I have tried using terminal to delete the current index and re-index, but that didn't work.
I did not have this problem when I was using iPhoto, it has only been since I switched to Aperture months ago. All my software is updated to the most recent versions. I had an early 2008 15" MBP and upgraded to a 2012 15" MBP, same problem on both machines. Is there any way to fix Spotlight Indexing?

The Aperture library is a library package and not an image file, so Spotlight will not show the library as an image but as "other". Since the unified library format has been introduced, iPhoto images will not be shown in Spotlight either.
The usual way to search for images managed by Aperture should be to use the elaborate search tools provided by Aperture - smart searches and smart albums or the Media Browser to access them from applications that can browse iPhoto and Aperture libraries, like Mail, Preview, iMovie, ...
If you want Spotlight to be able to the original image files of your Aperture images, convert your Aperture library into a referenced library (see: Aperture 3 User Manual: Working with Referenced Images). This way, the original image files will be stored in a folder outside the package and Spotlight or Find will see them. Only, if you decide to do that, remember that it it not save to manipulate the original image files in any other way than using Aperture to do this - don't accidentally delete them, move them, rename them, edit them. Referencing is meant as a method to be able to store the bulk of your images on external drives, not to give access to the original image files.
Also, Spotlight will never be able to show you your edited versions, since they do not exist as rendered image files until you export or share them. So Spotlight can only show the originals.
Regards
Léonie

When I go to About This Mac and click on Storage it shows 421.93GB as Other. This only leaves 46.85GB of 499.25GB free. How do I find out what this "Other" is so I can remove the stuff I don't need?

When I go to About This Mac and click on Storage it shows 421.93GB as Other. This only leaves 46.85GB of 499.25GB free. How do I find out what this "Other" is so I can remove the stuff I don't need?

What kind of use do you make of your MBP? A lot of photo or video? If so, you may be storing a lot of large files. Look at Finder and see what the file system looks like. Do you have large libraries of data files associated with applications?
You may want to think about an external hard drive to use for backups and data storage, you can point applications to the external drive as the default storage location.
A good source of external drives at a reasonable price is the Mac specialist, OWC, http://www.macsales.com
I bought their Mercury Elite Pro 2 TB dirve last September and set it up to use part for Time Machine backup and part for other work space. Setup with Disk utility into two partitions is very quick and easy. Just remember to format as Extended Journaled with GUID partition table. Setting the partition sizes is by using a braphical image on screen in DU so it is like falling off a log, so easy.

In "About This Mac, on OSX MAVERICKS, under "Storage" How do you find out what is in "other" ? how do you delete what is in "other" without loosing important files?

In "About This Mac, on OSX MAVERICKS, under "Storage" How do you find out what is in "other" ? how do you delete what is in "other" without loosing important files?

About "Other":
    http://pondini.org/OSX/LionStorage.html
Hope this helps.
1. Start up in Safe Mode
    http://support.apple.com/kb/PH11212
2. Empty Trash.
    http://support.apple.com/kb/PH10677
3. 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.
4. Repair Disk
    Steps 1 through 7
    http://support.apple.com/kb/PH5836
5. Disk space / Time Machine ?/ Local Snapshots
   http://support.apple.com/kb/ht4878
6. Re-index Macintosh HD
   System Preferences > Spotlight > Privacy
   http://support.apple.com/kb/ht2409

About This Mac/Storage/Other - what's the starting point?

I have a very new MacBook Air. After a fairly abortive migration (it carried over lots of stuff from my iMac which I didn't want - I only wanted settings, not files) I scoured the discussions and picked up a thread that suggested setting up a new administrator profile and deleting the old one, thereby getting rid of all the files and so on. (now why didn't I think of that?).
However, I've made the mistake of checking the "About This Mac"/storage info, and it shows as follows:
Audio 656.8MB
Movies 42.3MB
Photos 112.7MB
Apps 3.73GB
Backups zero
Other 9.45 GB
Now it's bugging me enough that I can't track down the audio, movies and photos (although I concede that these are very small and may be system related?).
BUT the "Other" section is really annoying me. What is it?
I'm aware that I might reinstall OS and start again only to discover that I STILL have 9.45GB in Other.
Can anyone who knows about these things help?
Does anyone have a brand new MacBook Air on which they haven't yet done anything at all and can check what it says under their "Other"?
Thanks!
Margo

Hi Margo:
Ultimately, you may want to perform a complete do over--which given your circumstances might require you to perform a clean install. More on that later if you want to do so eventually.
I am assuming you transferred your data, etc., from your iMac using either Firewire Target Disk Mode for over a network. It doesn't matter much, but which did you do.
Regardless, for now, I would do a repair install of Lion and see how things look after doing so. A repair install should leave installed apps, files, and settings alone. And, such an install very well sort out any issues of how much of what you have where. There are several ways of doing so. first, if your Lion Recovery HD partition is present or you have set up a Lion Recovery Disk Assistant, then either will work. Let's see if you can do either of these before going any other route.
Try starting up holding down the option key. Once done, see if there is a "recovery" option. If yes, then I would choose it and ultimately choose to reinstall Lion from the Apple site. If you have unbacked up files, etc., then be sure and back them up to your iMac before doing any kind of install.
If you want to read more about what I am talking about, then go here (read from the top).

Mac Air 11" - how do I find out what files are showing up in "About this MAC" Storage "other" category?

Hi - I am having storage trouble with my storage. When I go into About this Mac, Storage, the category "Other" has a very large amount of gigs stored. I have already dumped my email, downloads when in to Trahs, emptied secure trash, etc. How do I find out what is included in the "other" category?

First, empty the Trash if you haven't already done so.
Use a tool such as OmniDiskSweeper (ODS) to explore your volume and find out what's taking up the space. You can 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.
Proceed further only if the problem hasn't been solved.
ODS 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.
Install ODS in the Applications folder as usual.
Triple-click the line of text below to select it, then copy the selected text to the Clipboard (command-C):sudo /Applications/OmniDiskSweeper.app/Contents/MacOS/OmniDiskSweeper
Launch the 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 (command-V) into the Terminal window. You'll be prompted for your login password, which won't be displayed when you type it. You may get a one-time warning not to screw up. If you see a message that your username "is not in the sudoers file," then you're not logged in as an administrator.
I don't recommend that you make a habit of doing this. Don't delete anything while running ODS 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 you're done with ODS, quit it and also quit Terminal.

Using OS10.7, my hard disc is full. When I go to "About this Mac - Storage" almost all of the HD is occupied by "Other". Does anyone know what "Other" is so that I can remove some of it?

Using OS10.7, my hard disc is full. When I go to "About this Mac - Storage", it shows that it is entirely filled with "Other". Does anyone know what "Other" is so that I can delete some of it?

First, reboot. That will temporarily free up some space. According to Apple documentation, you need at least 9 GB free for normal operation. You also need enough space left over to allow for growth of your data.
Use a tool such as OmniDiskSweeper to explore your volume and find out what's taking up the space.
Proceed further only if the problem hasn't been solved.
ODS 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 really see everything, you have to run it as root.
First, back up all data if you haven't already done so. No matter what happens, you should be able to restore your system to the state it was in at the time of that backup.
Launch the 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.
☞ If you’re running Mac OS X 10.7 or later, open LaunchPad. Click Utilities, then Terminal in the page that opens.
After installing ODS in the Applications folder, drag or copy — do not type — the following line into the Terminal window, then press return:
sudo /Applications/OmniDiskSweeper.app/Contents/MacOS/OmniDiskSweeper
You'll be prompted for your login password, which won't be displayed when you type it. You may get a one-time warning not to screw up.
I don't recommend that you make a habit of this. Don't delete anything while running ODS as root. When you're done with it, quit it and also quit Terminal.

When I look at the storage on my Mac under about this Mac, what is included in the "other" category?

When I look at the storage on my Mac under about this Mac, what is included in the "other" category?

Hi, just about everything else...
OmniDiskSweeper is likely the easiest/best, and is now free...
http://www.omnigroup.com/applications/omnidisksweeper/download/
And if needed, you can use Terminal to run it in admin mode to see files/folders your user can't see...
http://www.macobserver.com/tmo/article/how_to_recover_missing_hard_drive_space/

Why would it state under the "more about this mac" that i already have10.8.3 and then in the app store say i need to "resume" do you know what i mean? is it possible i already did download mountain lion entirely once? I am confused and don't want it twice

why would it state under the "more about this mac" that i already have10.8.3 and then in the app store say i need to "resume" do you know what i mean? is it possible i already did download mountain lion entirely once? I am confused and don't want it twice

This is cause by the way the App Store checks to see if an application is installed on your system.
Basically when an app is installed it is in the Applications folder and this is where the MAS looks for them. So it looks at your purchase history for the apps you bought and looks in the Applications folder to see if they are installed. If an app is in your purchase history but not in the Applications folder the MAS says you need to install it.
For normal apps this works fine but the OS doesn;t install into the Applications folder. So the MAS sees you have Mountain Lion in your purchase history but it's not in the Applications folder and so it says you need to download it.
Hopefully one of these days Apple wil fix this.
regards

What does "Backups" mean in the "About this Mac" storage graphic?

I just migrated the contents of one Mac to a new MacBook Air and discovered something I had never seen before. I had 37MB of storage taken up with "Backups." What is that? What is the best way to reduce or manage it?
One other question, while I am at it. What is included in the category of "Other?"

OS X: What is "other" space in About This Mac? - Apple Support
About Time Machine local snapshots - Apple Support
The local snapshots should take care of themselves if you have a backup drive in place and Time Machine activated.

HT1750 What about TWO different numbers in MacOs (about this mac window) and on the bottom of the foot of the iMac ???

What about TWO different serial numbers in macOs (about this mac window) and on the foot of the mac. This mac was not purchased as a refurbished nor has been sent for servicing on any time since purchasing...
The one in MacOs is answering : "This is not a valid Apple Product serial number" when i try to check the iMac 1TB Seagate Hard Drive Replacement Program...

You will need to check with Apple - might be a good idea to take it to a Genius Bar so they can see it for themselves (and the diagnosis is free).

What does "About this Mac" consider backup files?

When I look at the storage on my drive in "About this Mac" it says I have 92GB worth of "backup" files. I can't figure out what these files could possibly be, or where they're being kept. Any ideas?

http://pondini.org/TM/30.html

I have a crazy amount of pop-ups on my mac. Do i have a virus? what do i do about this? - its so annoying

i have a crazy amount of pop-ups on my mac. Do i have a virus? what do i do about this? - its so annoying

Click here and follow the instructions, or if there’s a type of adware not covered by them on the computer, these ones. If you're willing to use a tool to remove it(you don't need to, but may find it easier), you can instead run Adware Medic; this link is a direct download.
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About this Mac won't show serial number. What then?

I have an iMac running Mavericks where "About this Mac" won't show the serial number. I checked the "System Report" and no serial number there either. What is causing this? Guess I have to look at the physical number.

Was your logic board or hard drive replaced? In my case, the tech forgot to re-associate the logic board with my serial number and I also had none showing. He had to come back with a special tool to be connected to a particular Apple site and input it manually (fortunately, I had made a record of it).
If there was a repair/replacement, call Apple and/or take it to your nearest Genius Bar so they can take care of it. FWIW, it should also be visible on the bottom of the iMac stand, so take a look (after you shut down the Mac and unplug it) and copy it for future reference.

What is "other" in "About this Mac"

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