![]() ![]() For exmaple, deleting a Steam game via the Finder is safe from ~/Library/Application Support/Steam/steamapps, but deleting the entire Steam Directory will cause issues. The most common place to reclaim storage is from the ~/Library.ĭeleting items from ~/Library is tricky as there are important files that could break applications and a few valuable system files. Sorting folders by size makes it easy to spot where the largest folders reside. Calculating folder sizes will take time depending on how many files are inside a folder. This is done by using view options "Show View Options" under View or using the keyboard shortcut, Command J. You can also make the Library permanently visible either using "Get Info" from the finder (on the user directory) and checking "Show Library" or using the terminal and running the following command:įor whatever reason, still to this day, one of the advantages of macOS is the ability to calculate folder sizes from the list view. Another method is to navigate to it from the Finder select under Go, "Go To Folder." and type in ~/Library. The easiest route is to go to the user directory and hit "Command Shift. There are still multiple vectors to viewing the contents of the ~/Library. ![]() It obfuscates where storage is going on behind the scenes. It's suitable for the basic user who probably shouldn't be manipulating it but bad for anyone with an intermediate level of familiarity with the underpinnings of their Mac. In modern macOSes, this is hidden, which is both good and bad. In the OS X days, the ~/Library (the Library folder found in /Users/your-user-name/) was a visible folder that you could easily poke around in. Displaying the Library folder in the User directy Unfortunately, this requires intervention on the user, which we will cover. In some cases, the official uninstallers from reputatable companies purposely do not uninstall entirely, like from Adobe. Official uninstallers do a much better job as do applications like App cleaner attempt to remove files that are associated with an Application but this is not 100% effective. Deleting the Application via the finder will not automatically remove them. An old install after many years can eat up a fair amount based on types of applicatios and how frequently applications are installed. A fresh install of macOS will have very little "System Data". Generally over time, when installing various Applications and utilities, they will also install items into the Libraries and accumulate. /usr - This is where CLI utilities installed by Homebrew and other applications end up.~/Library - This is hidden by default (more on this in a minute), but it uses a very similar structure to /Library with a large number of files landing in ~/Library/Application Support, things like Apple Messages, Apple Photo Libraries, Xcode Simulators, Crossover Bottles (games), Docker Containers, and Steam games within ~/Library/Application Support or ~/Library/.Audio plugins end up /Library/Audio, fonts go into /Library/Fonts, and the bulk of Application libraries into Application Support Things like Fonts, Audio plugins, support libraries for applications (Such as the Adobe CC suite), and assets for Final Cut Pro end up in this folder. /Library - This is the global library accessible to all users.To run macOS, you need this, and Apple protects its users from tampering with the /System. Under modern macOS this resides on a separate partition that isn't manipulatable by the user. /System - This is where macOS itself resides.Hint: Tilde (~) indicates the home directory of the user, this is a *nix convention that macOS carried over. This is confusing as there are at least two Libraries on your computer and more if you have multiple users on a single computer. System Data is the tally of the contents of the following:Īll these can be managed by the user with /System being the outlier. Why this difference is so large or why this difference even exists at all is not explained. One user might have "System Data" that is is only 10 GB and another might have 250 GB. This isn't because these individuals are incapable, rather that Apple does not clearly communicate what is happening nor give you any meaningful course of action. editing cache data but thats not it this time and I can't figure it out)". I see pretty frequently posts on Reddit posts like " Can someone please explain how to get rid of the "sYsTeM dAtA" this?" or hyper verbose " Why do I have 130 gigs of system data □ (and how do I get rid of it cause a normal mac barely has like a 20 gigs or so of system memory) (I checked the usual culprit i.e.
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