What is using up my memory?

[Jaguar57]

hey guys, take a look at this screenshot. I have minimal software installed and I deleted all the I-Tunes music and I have no movies saved so for the life of me I can't figure out what is taking up most of the memory. Any suggestions?

 

[Cory Cooper]

Hello,

It could be several things - support files for applications like iMovie and GarageBand, runaway log files (know to happen with Gmail accounts), backups of your iOS devices, etc.

First, I would check your Home folder - specifically the Downloads folder.

C

 

[Diana 45]

Hello,

It could be several things - support files for applications like iMovie and GarageBand, runaway log files (know to happen with Gmail accounts), backups of your iOS devices, etc.

First, I would check your Home folder - specifically the Downloads folder.

C

If I delete all the files in the downloads folder will this affect the apps etc?

 

[CarlosTheJackass]

Did you empty the Trash after deleting?

 

[Diana 45]

Did you empty the Trash after deleting?

I haven't deleted anything yet as I am afraid to

 

[Diana 45]

I haven't deleted anything yet as I am afraid to. I just want to free up
some space

 

[CarlosTheJackass]

I think that may be why your drive is showing as full still. I had this problem until I emptied the trash.
You might try copying your deleted files to a backup drive, test some of the files on that backup, then when you're happy you have a good copy, empty the trash.

Just to be sure, use backup software to do the copying. It's wise to keep a backup in any case. I use ChronoSync, but Carbon Copy Cloner or SuperDuper do the same. I think you can download tryout copies of all of them.

 

[Peter Aretin]

hey guys, take a look at this screenshot. I have minimal software installed and I deleted all the I-Tunes music and I have no movies saved so for the life of me I can't figure out what is taking up most of the memory. Any suggestions?View attachment 3622

I think you mean storage.

 

[Diana 45]

I think that may be why your drive is showing as full still. I had this problem until I emptied the trash.
You might try copying your deleted files to a backup drive, test some of the files on that backup, then when you're happy you have a good copy, empty the trash.

Just to be sure, use backup software to do the copying. It's wise to keep a backup in any case. I use ChronoSync, but Carbon Copy Cloner or SuperDuper do the same. I think you can download tryout copies of all of them.

May I ask which is the easiest backup to use for a layman of 75 who really doesn't have a technical brain?

 

[Peter Aretin]

I confess I've never used Time Machine so I can't comment on it. I use Carbon Copy Cloner and make a bootable copy of my boot drive on a partition on an external drive. CCC will make incremental backups to the clone and either save the files that are missing or changed since last backing up, or delete them depending on which you prefer. You can also boot up in this partition to do maintenance or troubleshooting of your internal drive. The interface is pretty intuitive. It works for me, and I'm 77.

 

[CarlosTheJackass]

Diana 45, Time Machine, which is built into MacOS would be the easiest to use to start with and give you a basic backup. Third party backup software has more options. Either way, in your case, you will need a separate hard drive, which will need to be formatted first. Once you have your new drive ready and before going down the backup software road, you could just drag and drop the files over to the new drive (the files will actually be copied to it since it's a different drive). Check you can open them from that drive. After which, you can delete them from your primary drive. The Trash will need to be emptied in order for that drive to show up as such.

 

[Peter Aretin]

Storage is cheap these days. Another reason why a bootable clone of your startup drive is handy is to test out new applications and operating system updates. You can boot up into and install them onto the clone, a perfect copy of your main drive, and run from it until you're satisfied things are working properly. If not, you can always, from your internal drive, wipe the partition the clone was on, and start over with a fresh copy. Only update your internal drive after things are working right on the clone. You can take your time.