Help--system storage memory fluctuates

[samos]

I keep getting this warning on my MacBook Air 2017 (Mojave 10.14.6, 8 GB RAM, 128 GB SSD).

"your disk is almost full save space by optimising storage."

About-->Storage shows 50 GB free space out of 121.1 GB (see screenshot). But my system files space comes to between 59.79 GB and 49.34 GB. This fluctuates every half a minute or so. There doesn't seem to be clear pattern. It likely happens after some time spent browsing. Or, perhaps when I press dismiss the warning.

This has been going on for some months now. I've freed up a decent bit of space (videos, bigger PDFs, uninstalled iMovie). But the warning is now coming on more frequently.

Something tells me this has to do with system files. I sync Photos through iCloud between my Mac and iPhone. I have Time Machine backups going back years. But I cleared these out by temporarily switching off backups. I also setup an older backup to be read on Outlook Mail.

Other than these I don't think there's much I've done to clog up system files. How do I set things back to normal? Could this lead to a system crash?

Thanks!

 

[Cory Cooper]

Hello and welcome.

We apologize for the delayed response.

You shouldn't be getting that message about the internal storage if free space doesn't fall to below 10-15 GB or so. Could it be your iCloud storage instead?

You aren't storing your Time Machine backups on the internal...you have an external drive, correct?

C