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"Other" Category "About this Mac" Storage is taking up over 100 GB and cannot be deleted

Other Storage is taking up too much disk space. Its over 100 gigabytes

of unknown data.



Deleting large files only seems to add to the amount of space in this category. If I delete a 1 gigabyte file, I have 1 GB more in "Other".


I have also attempted to clean up any "Snapshots"… and unfortunately, this did not help.



Here is the data from a Etrecheck session:



Thanks for any help you can provide!

iMac Line (2012 and Later)

Posted on Nov 11, 2019 1:25 PM

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Posted on Nov 11, 2019 3:25 PM

"Other" is a pseudo-helpful way of grouping files that are not in the named categories together. Some will be files you want, some will be files you do not want.


Have a look in Downloads. Files there are often candidates for Other.


Sometimes the disk free space seems to take a while to catch up when you delete files (do not forget to empty the trash). This may be a lag in (eg) Spotlight reindexing the files. You can force a reindex if you really want to

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Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Nov 11, 2019 3:25 PM in response to Mikeylogs

"Other" is a pseudo-helpful way of grouping files that are not in the named categories together. Some will be files you want, some will be files you do not want.


Have a look in Downloads. Files there are often candidates for Other.


Sometimes the disk free space seems to take a while to catch up when you delete files (do not forget to empty the trash). This may be a lag in (eg) Spotlight reindexing the files. You can force a reindex if you really want to

Nov 11, 2019 3:15 PM in response to Mikeylogs

The Other in that image is not a physical folder location on your drive. It is all files, folders, or objects that do not fit into documents, music, or apps categories and is comprised of things both in your home directory, or within the operating system itself. You have control over third-party applications, their data, and media files stored in your home folder. The Catalina operating system is stored on a read-only partition and you have no control over that content.

"Other" Category "About this Mac" Storage is taking up over 100 GB and cannot be deleted

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