PaulGrimaldi wrote:
If I add up the memory usage of all the apps listed under 'applications' I get 26GB, the largest being imovie at 3.75 and MS Office apps at around at around 2GB each. Loads of others of 200-300MB each or much less.
Yet the total space taken up is shown as 78GB. Others have asked this question but it is only ever answered with 'how to clean your mac' or how to find the usage. Nothing addresses the issue of the total usage not matching the sum of the usage of the apps listed.
Don't use any of the "cleaner" utilities that one can buy, they typically cause other problems.
I had never thought to add up the sizes of individual items inside Applications, but you motivated me to do so. It came to about 30 GB, and Get Info on the Applications folder shows 32 GB, so I figure that's about right.
Open the Applications folder in Finder, then select View menu, Show View Options, and select Calculate All Sizes. Wait a little until every folder has a size by it, in addition to the individual files.
If there is still a difference, it could be caused by invisible files (there are ways to see those either in Terminal or in the Finder) or by applications or other files that other users on your Mac placed in there.
