Why is the other category taking up all my space?

All of a sudden my computer's hard drive has been consumed by this "other" category. Not too long ago we had half the space on our computer. And whenever I delete applications and such it all comes back. I deleted 11 GB of applications, and two days later it was all consumed by the other category. We didn't even download anything! What is going on and is there a solution?
Macintosh HD                                                                   248.3 MB free out of 499.25 GB
Audio               Movies               Photos               Apps              Backups               Other
Zero KB           Zero KB              Zero KB             Zero KB          Zero KB               499 GB

Select  ▹ System Preferences ▹ Spotlight ▹ Privacy. The list of items excluded from Spotlight indexing is shown (it may be empty.) Click the plus (“+”) icon to add an item to the list. Select your boot volume (under DEVICES) and add it to the list. Then remove it from the list by selecting it and clicking the minus (“-“) icon.
Spotlight will rebuild the index. If you try to do a Spotlight search now from the magnifying-glass icon in the top right corner of the display, a pulsing dot will appear in the icon. When the dot disappears, the indexing is complete.

Similar Messages

Why does the "other" category take up so much space on my iphone?

I want to get rid of the "other category that is taking up so much space on my iPhone. It's taking up 2GB of space. Thanks!

This much "other" indicates corrupt files.
A restore should resolve.

Why is iPhone Other Category Taking up Half my Phone's Storage?

I have restored my 16 GB iPhone 4S twice, once from iTunes and once from iCloud. I can't get the 8.9 GB of the Other category to go down. The Other category is only a tiny sliver on my iPad. I've read many posts on this problem but have not found a solution that works.

I restored it back to factory default in iTunes. After that I added all of my settings and apps back to the phone from a backup.
Are you saying the only way is to start from scratch and rebuild my entire contact list, apps etc?

Why is the "other" category for capacity so big?

My 3rd generation nano has a a really large "other" category for capacity. What is filling this up? What can I do to lower it?

Read this
https://discussions.apple.com/thread/4542883?start=0&tstart=0

The other category on my iphone is really high and I dont know why

I plugged my phone into my computer to download some new songs and when I looked at Phone capacity/usage I saw that the 'other' section was using 4.50 gb. How could this happen? I got my phone less than a week ago for christmas. Is there anyway of deleting stuff on my phone so that the 'other' section will go down?

what is the Other on my iPhone and How to Remove It
Summary
What is the Other on my iPhone? Now the Other is taking up 1.9GB space on iPhone 4, how can I remove it and release the space?
oneClean - Clean Up Your iPhone iPad
Reclaim up to 40% free space on your iPhone with One-click. Start download now before reading this What is the Other on my iPhone guide.
Symptom: Frankly I rarely cared about the free space on my iPhone until it ran out today and my iPhone 4 warned me to release some space. The first thing that I were considering initially was to delete some large game Apps. But when I connected to my computer, I noticed that a "Other" bar was consuming 2.5 GB of my iPhone's 13.57 GB. Does anyone know what the Other means on my iPhone?
Don't Miss: How Can I Transfer Music from iPhone to iTunes
What is taking up "Other" space on my iPhone
Analysis: Some of you may think the Other on your iPhone is the pure OS taken space or Safari, email temporary data. But that’s not the complete answer.
Part of that Other space on iPhone is taken up by iOS, the operating system running on your iPhone. For this part, this is no way to reclaim the free space from that. However, the Other part of iPhone storage space also contains sort of caches and temp files generated by App and iTunes syncs, and some of them won't be used long-term.
The size used by Other on your iPhone largely depends on the App you currently installed on the phone. The more caches and temp files created by Apps, the more space consumed by Other. And of course, it may slow your iPhone down.
Solution: it is hardly to put up with 2-3GB space taken by Other on iPhone, especially we even have no idea about what exactly it is. So to remove the Other, you can try to reclaim this space by doing a sync with iTunes; in other cases, you may have to go through a full backup and restore process.
Because iTunes is terribly slow and troublesome on Windows PC (Best iTunes Alternatives ), and every time we sync our iPhone with iTunes will take lot of time. So, alternatively, you can use an iPhone Cleaner program to remove their Other files on your iPhone.
PhoneClean is an iPhone, iPad, iPod touch cleaner application, which is dedicatedly designed to free up space on iPhone; clean App cache, cookies, and history; sweep off media temp files, etc.
PhoneClean - iPhone Cleaner made for Free up Space on iPhone

How can I stop the "other" category from taking up all the remaining space on my iphone 4?

I have an iphone 4 that is unlocked (when my contract ended, I called AT&T and unlocked the phone since I was going abroad and needed a new carrier) and the "other" category is out of control. It was at about 3GB and I did everything possible to try to remove it - cleared cache, deleted data from apps, deleted messages and voice memos, but nothing worked- it just kept coming.
I reset the phone and restored from back up, and it seemed to fix the problem. But then I checked it again and the "other" category is steadily creeping up again. It went from 500MB to 3.5GB again in about two hours. It seems to be just trying to take up all of the remaining space available on the phone.
Is my only option to restore the phone completely and not restore from any of the potentially infected back up data?

Thanks, Thomas. I can see the data usage by app, but that's the problem- there is nothing that it taking up that much space. The largest ones are these:
Whatsapp: App size: 61.8MB, Data and documents 108 MB
Facebook: App size: 91.2MB, Documents and data: 49.3MB
Photos and camera: 131MB
I systematically went through and deleted all of my conversations in messages, so I know that there are no photos/ videos hiding there.
I really think that it's coming from something I can't see, especially since it's still there after resetting to factory settings and restoring from backup.
There only reason there is 1.75GB of available space is because I deleted all of my music so that at least it wouldn't be over capacity!! This is so frustrating!

What is the "other" category and why is it taking up so much space?

The "other" category on my iPod is taking up a considerable amount of space. I don't have very many apps, pictures, or videos because I want to preserve room for more music, but I can't seem to find a way to reduce the amount of memory that "other" takes up. Please help! Also, I would update to a newer system, but I don't have enough room.

Everything else plus the operating system.

Whenever I go to iTunes with my iPod 5th generation 32 gb iPod Touch, running iOS 8.0.2, It tells me that the "Other" category is using up 14.59 gb of data. I have no clue why it says this and I have searched the internet for fixes and none worked.

Whenever I go to iTunes with my iPod 5th generation 32 gb iPod Touch, running iOS 8.0.2, It tells me that the "Other" category is using up 14.59 gb of data. I have no clue why it says this and I have searched the internet for fixes and none worked. I have tried on a windows and a mac and noticed no change. I have tried restoring to a backup but that didn't help. I haven't had time to do a full restore but I will try if the problem persists.

An "other" larger than about 1 1/2 GB indicates corrupted files.
What is the Other on my iPhone and How to Remove It
What is "Other" and What Can I Do About It?
Next, usually restoring from backup eliminated the corrupted files. However, sometimes restoring to factory settings/new iPod is required.
To restore from backup see:
iOS: How to back up
To restore to factory settings/new iPod see:
iTunes: Restoring iOS software

When syncing my ipod touch, the Other category shows it's taking up a lot of space. What is in Other?

When syncing my iPod Touch, the "Other" category shows it's taking up a large amount of storage space on the device. What is in the "Other" category, and how do I control what goes into it?

Restore from a backup will get you some 'other' back.
Still not happy, Restore in iTunes, Setup as new. Sync back personal data using iTunes Tabs

All my music got moved to the "other" category

http://i80.photobucket.com/albums/j191/polyjuicepotion/ahhhhhhhh.jpg
somehow all my music is under the "other" category now & i can't listen to it. how do i move it back to "audio"?

Was it ever on the iPod in the normal area?
Is it still all in your iTunes?
If the answer to the second question is Yes, then simply do a restore on your iPod and let everything resync back to it.
Patrick

How do I get rid of the "other" category on my iPad Air?

iTunes is saying that "other" occupies 1.97GB out of my 16GB tablet and I need to learn how to remove it. I am a long-time apple user with all the apple devices, but can't seem to figure out what causes the "other" category to be so large on any of my devices.
Thanks in advance for your help!

iPhone, iPad, and iPod: Understanding capacity
http://support.apple.com/kb/ht1867
How much space is used by your Other? You may be able to reduce.
How Do I Get Rid Of The “Other” Data Stored On My iPad Or iPhone?
http://tinyurl.com/85w6xwn
How to Remove “Other” Data from iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch
http://www.igeeksblog.com/how-to-remove-other-data-from-iphone/
With an iOS device, the “Other” space in iTunes is used to store things like documents, settings, caches, and a few other important items. If you sync lots of documents to apps like GoodReader, DropCopy, or anything else that reads external files, your storage use can skyrocket. With iOS 5/6/7, you can see exactly which applications are taking up the most space. Just head to Settings > General > Usage, and tap the button labeled Show All Apps. The storage section will show you the app and how much storage space it is taking up. Tap on the app name to get a description of the additional storage space being used by the app’s documents and data. You can remove the storage-hogging application and all of its data directly from this screen, or manually remove the data by opening the app. Some applications, especially those designed by Apple, will allow you to remove stored data by swiping from left to right on the item to reveal a Delete button.
What is “Other” and What Can I Do About It?
https://discussions.apple.com/docs/DOC-5142
iPhone or iPad Ran Out of Storage Space? Here’s How to Make Space Available Quickly
http://osxdaily.com/2012/06/02/iphone-ipad-ran-out-of-available-storage-space-ho w-to-fix-quick/
6 Tips to Free Up Tons of Storage Space on iPad, iPhone, and iPod Touch
http://osxdaily.com/2012/04/24/6-tips-free-up-storage-space-ipad-iphone-ipod-tou ch/
Also,
How to Clear Message/iMessage Cache on iPhone & iPad And Reclaim Lots of Free Space
http://www.igeeksblog.com/how-to-clear-message-imessage-cache-on-iphone-ipad/
What is Stored in iCloud and What is Not
https://sites.google.com/site/appleclubfhs/support/advice-and-articles/what-is-s tored-in-icloud
 Cheers, Tom

HT201656 In itunes my iphone shows up as having nearly 8G of "Other"...what is taking up all this space?

In itunes my iphone shows up as having nearly 8GB of "Other"...what is taking up all this space?
On the iphone itself under settings, general, usage it indicates 12.7GB used and only 840MB available. I have one app (Audible) that is taking up 1.6GB, photos&camera take up 636MB, Spotify takes up 495MB, everything else takes up less less than 100MB each and totalling less than 2.5GB.
So if Audible is taking up 1.6GB and Spotify is taking up 636MB and all other apps take up 2.5GB this combined totals around 5GB. I have a 16GB iphone 4s.
16GB minus 5GB (my calculated usage) equals 11GB remaining. Allow for some required space utilization (let's say 3GB) and that leaves 8GB remaining. Why does my phone indicate 840MB available? That seems to equate to the amount shown in itunes that indicates 8GB of "other".
What is this 8GB of "other" that is taking up so much storage space on my iphone?
Thanks in advance.
John

johncdaly1955 wrote:
In itunes my iphone shows up as having nearly 8GB of "Other"...what is taking up all this space?
Other is usually around 1 GB...
A ' Large Other ' usually indicates Corrupt Data...
First Try a Restore from Backup...
But... if the Large Other Persists, that is an Indicator of Corrupt Data in the Backup...
Then a Restore as New is the way to go...
Details Here > http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1414
More Info Here...
maclife.com/how_remove_other_data_your_iphone
More Info about ‘Other’ in this Discussion
https://discussions.apple.com/message/19958116

HELP!!!!!! What does the "Other" category mean when iPhone is on iTunes???

Hey,
I was fixing to sync my 3G iPhone when i realized i didnt have enough room for what i wanted because the "other" category is taking up so much space. Ive reset iTunes and iPhone but still see so much space taken up by "other." I've deleted all emails and texts and only have a few pictures on my iPhone but the "other" still takes up over 3gigs on my iPhone.
What is the "other" section and how do i get rid of items that the phone puts in the "other" category???
Also, as another seperate problem, i believe, i cant seem to locate the application link in my itunes library anymore for some reason even though the tab under the iPhone device link recognizes my applications in iTunes. How do I get the Applications link back in my iTunes library?
THank you so much!!!
Message was edited by: lcivic048678

OK,
I checked my prefernces and you were right, the applications weren't checked. Thank you.
As far as my "other" problem.....before i do the restore, how do I backup my iPhone? When i clicked on restore a moment ago it said it will erase my phone but i thought that iTunes periodically backedup my phone anyways.

My week old MacBook w/ retina has half of its storage taken up by the "other" category. I don't have any downloads or backups. How can I get rid of it?

I now no longer have any storage and it is only 1 week old!!

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. 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 items are in the "other" category on the iPad

What is in the "other" category on the iPad (i.e., there is audio, photos, etc.) and the end, there is an "other" tab. These tabs show how much space you are using. My "other" category is showing 8GB used. Have no idea what that is, but it is taking up all my space on my ipad.. Thank you

See this document for a comprehensive list of what is in Other and how to deal with it.
https://discussions.apple.com/docs/DOC-5142

Why is the other category taking up all my space?

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