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Purgeable Disk Space

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  Purgeable Disk Space RJH <patchmoney@gmx.com> - 2025-01-11 08:06 +0000
    Re: Purgeable Disk Space John Hill <watcombeman@yahoo.co.uk> - 2025-01-11 08:41 +0000
      Re: Purgeable Disk Space Alan B <alanrichardbarker@gmail.com.invalid> - 2025-01-11 09:13 +0000
      Re: Purgeable Disk Space RJH <patchmoney@gmx.com> - 2025-01-11 11:50 +0000
    Re: Purgeable Disk Space Jaimie Vandenbergh <jaimie@usually.sessile.org> - 2025-01-11 10:15 +0000
      Re: Purgeable Disk Space RJH <patchmoney@gmx.com> - 2025-01-11 11:51 +0000
    Re: Purgeable Disk Space RJH <patchmoney@gmx.com> - 2025-01-23 14:35 +0000

#180027 — Purgeable Disk Space

Reading from Disk Utility, the 500GB SSD (Apple SSD/Container disk1/Macintosh
HD) on my 2020 Intel iMac is showing 25GB available, 470GB used.

In the Macintosh directory below is a volume (or partition?) called 'Macintosh
HD - Data' which is showing 500GB capacity, 170GB available, 140GB purgeable,
460GB used.

How do I 'purge' the 140GB?

I've tried restarting, and searching using Finder shows only the files I'd
expect over 1GB - apps and video files. The only odd thing in
Settings/General/Storage is something called System Data at 135GB, but I don't
know what/where that is.

-- 
Cheers, Rob, Sheffield UK

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#180028

On 11 Jan 2025 at 08:06:35 GMT, "RJH" <patchmoney@gmx.com> wrote:

> Reading from Disk Utility, the 500GB SSD (Apple SSD/Container disk1/Macintosh
> HD) on my 2020 Intel iMac is showing 25GB available, 470GB used.
> 
> In the Macintosh directory below is a volume (or partition?) called 'Macintosh
> HD - Data' which is showing 500GB capacity, 170GB available, 140GB purgeable,
> 460GB used.
> 
> How do I 'purge' the 140GB?
> 
> I've tried restarting, and searching using Finder shows only the files I'd
> expect over 1GB - apps and video files. The only odd thing in
> Settings/General/Storage is something called System Data at 135GB, but I don't
> know what/where that is.

According to Disk Utility/Help,
"Amount of space available, which can include both free space and “purgeable
space” — or space that macOS can free up when needed by removing files from
your computer (you can’t manually remove the files that are designated
purgeable, but macOS removes them as space is required)".

So the answer would seem to be, you don't. It's down to MacOS to attend to.

Old John.
-- 
Lord, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change,
the courage to change the things I can,
and the wisdom to know the difference.

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#180029

John Hill <watcombeman@yahoo.co.uk> wrote:
> On 11 Jan 2025 at 08:06:35 GMT, "RJH" <patchmoney@gmx.com> wrote:
> 
>> Reading from Disk Utility, the 500GB SSD (Apple SSD/Container disk1/Macintosh
>> HD) on my 2020 Intel iMac is showing 25GB available, 470GB used.
>> 
>> In the Macintosh directory below is a volume (or partition?) called 'Macintosh
>> HD - Data' which is showing 500GB capacity, 170GB available, 140GB purgeable,
>> 460GB used.
>> 
>> How do I 'purge' the 140GB?
>> 
>> I've tried restarting, and searching using Finder shows only the files I'd
>> expect over 1GB - apps and video files. The only odd thing in
>> Settings/General/Storage is something called System Data at 135GB, but I don't
>> know what/where that is.
> 
> According to Disk Utility/Help,
> "Amount of space available, which can include both free space and “purgeable
> space” — or space that macOS can free up when needed by removing files from
> your computer (you can’t manually remove the files that are designated
> purgeable, but macOS removes them as space is required)".
> 
> So the answer would seem to be, you don't. It's down to MacOS to attend to.

Indeed.  Don’t use any of the well publicised macOS cleaning apps as rather
than clean they can brick your Mac. 

-- 
Cheers, Alan

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#180034

On 11 Jan 2025 at 08:41:59 GMT, John Hill wrote:

> On 11 Jan 2025 at 08:06:35 GMT, "RJH" <patchmoney@gmx.com> wrote:
> 
>> Reading from Disk Utility, the 500GB SSD (Apple SSD/Container disk1/Macintosh
>> HD) on my 2020 Intel iMac is showing 25GB available, 470GB used.
>> 
>> In the Macintosh directory below is a volume (or partition?) called 'Macintosh
>> HD - Data' which is showing 500GB capacity, 170GB available, 140GB purgeable,
>> 460GB used.
>> 
>> How do I 'purge' the 140GB?
>> 
>> I've tried restarting, and searching using Finder shows only the files I'd
>> expect over 1GB - apps and video files. The only odd thing in
>> Settings/General/Storage is something called System Data at 135GB, but I don't
>> know what/where that is.
> 
> According to Disk Utility/Help,
> "Amount of space available, which can include both free space and “purgeable
> space” — or space that macOS can free up when needed by removing files from
> your computer (you can’t manually remove the files that are designated
> purgeable, but macOS removes them as space is required)".
> 
> So the answer would seem to be, you don't. It's down to MacOS to attend to.
> 

Thanks, yes, I'd read that.

Just struck me that leaving 5% free disk space sailing pretty close to the
wind. Also, what are these files that might need to be called upon? I have the
occasional 1GB video file which I offload and delete immediately, but that
aside use the Mac for documents. Odd.

Anyway, if that's the way it is . . .


-- 
Cheers, Rob, Sheffield UK

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#180032

On 11 Jan 2025 at 08:06:35 GMT, "RJH" <patchmoney@gmx.com> wrote:

> Reading from Disk Utility, the 500GB SSD (Apple SSD/Container disk1/Macintosh
> HD) on my 2020 Intel iMac is showing 25GB available, 470GB used.
> 
> In the Macintosh directory below is a volume (or partition?) called 'Macintosh
> HD - Data' which is showing 500GB capacity, 170GB available, 140GB purgeable,
> 460GB used.
> 
> How do I 'purge' the 140GB?
> 
> I've tried restarting, and searching using Finder shows only the files I'd
> expect over 1GB - apps and video files. The only odd thing in
> Settings/General/Storage is something called System Data at 135GB, but I don't
> know what/where that is.

As others mention it's macOS managed. As long as it's tagged as
purgeable, which it is, then macOS will ditch it when it's outlived its
usefulness - or while you're copying in 300gig of files :)

To see if some of that space is local TM snapshots, if you like you can
clear those dowm at the terminal:

  tmutil thinlocalsnapshots / 9999999999999 4

From the manual page:

 tmutil thinlocalsnapshots mount_point [purge_amount] [urgency]
  Thin local Time Machine snapshots for the specified volume.
  When purge_amount and urgency are specified, tmutil will attempt (with
urgency level 1-4) to
  reclaim purge_amount in bytes by thinning snapshots.
  If urgency is not specified, the default urgency will be used.

    Cheers - Jaimie
-- 
'It's one of those irregular verbs, isn't it? `I protect the
lives and property of my citizens; you keep the public
safe from an unreasonable and trouble-generating
minority; he maintains a totalitarian regime of
thought control.'                -- Bernard, Yes Minister

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#180035

On 11 Jan 2025 at 10:15:04 GMT, Jaimie Vandenbergh wrote:

> On 11 Jan 2025 at 08:06:35 GMT, "RJH" <patchmoney@gmx.com> wrote:
> 
>> Reading from Disk Utility, the 500GB SSD (Apple SSD/Container disk1/Macintosh
>> HD) on my 2020 Intel iMac is showing 25GB available, 470GB used.
>> 
>> In the Macintosh directory below is a volume (or partition?) called 'Macintosh
>> HD - Data' which is showing 500GB capacity, 170GB available, 140GB purgeable,
>> 460GB used.
>> 
>> How do I 'purge' the 140GB?
>> 
>> I've tried restarting, and searching using Finder shows only the files I'd
>> expect over 1GB - apps and video files. The only odd thing in
>> Settings/General/Storage is something called System Data at 135GB, but I don't
>> know what/where that is.
> 
> As others mention it's macOS managed. As long as it's tagged as
> purgeable, which it is, then macOS will ditch it when it's outlived its
> usefulness - or while you're copying in 300gig of files :)
> 
> To see if some of that space is local TM snapshots, if you like you can
> clear those dowm at the terminal:
> 
>   tmutil thinlocalsnapshots / 9999999999999 4
> 
> From the manual page:
> 
>  tmutil thinlocalsnapshots mount_point [purge_amount] [urgency]
>   Thin local Time Machine snapshots for the specified volume.
>   When purge_amount and urgency are specified, tmutil will attempt (with
> urgency level 1-4) to
>   reclaim purge_amount in bytes by thinning snapshots.
>   If urgency is not specified, the default urgency will be used.
> 
>     Cheers - Jaimie

Thanks - I'd checked that and there was a zero kb remnant from when I used to
use TM.
-- 
Cheers, Rob, Sheffield UK

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#180086

On 11 Jan 2025 at 08:06:35 GMT, RJH wrote:

> Reading from Disk Utility, the 500GB SSD (Apple SSD/Container disk1/Macintosh
> HD) on my 2020 Intel iMac is showing 25GB available, 470GB used.
> 
> In the Macintosh directory below is a volume (or partition?) called 'Macintosh
> HD - Data' which is showing 500GB capacity, 170GB available, 140GB purgeable,
> 460GB used.
> 
> How do I 'purge' the 140GB?
> 
> I've tried restarting, and searching using Finder shows only the files I'd
> expect over 1GB - apps and video files. The only odd thing in
> Settings/General/Storage is something called System Data at 135GB, but I don't
> know what/where that is.

Update: the Purgeable Space has changed to System Data, as reported in Disk
Utility - currently 160GB. This happened sometime between my original post,
and warnings yesterday about running out of disk space, <10GB.

60GB of this space is in a folder called 'Metadata', but I've still no idea
where the other 100GB is hiding. Disk Inventory X gives no clue. Tried
rebuilding Spotlight but no significant change.

Something seems to be broken. I'll see if the system will limp on for the next
couple of weeks, when I'll start the transition to a new Mini.

-- 
Cheers, Rob, Sheffield UK

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