Big Sur too Big?

[rainbowcat]

I have 13GB free on my MacBook Air. Big Sur says it's an 11-12GB install, but when I go to download the install I get a message saying I need 16GB free. I can't find 3 GB of things to delete! Why the 4GB discrepancy and is there anything I can do about it?

 

[Slydude]

It's not unusual for an OS installation to need a few GB of additional free storage space during the installation process. The extra space is used to unpack some downloaded files and move them into the proper locations. Keep in mind that some free space is also needed for working/swap files.

The problem is 13 GB is not a lot of free space even if you weren't updating the OS.

 

[chscag]

I agree with our Moderator Slydude. Even without doing any updates, you're very close to locking up your drive by filling it up. Once that happens, you'll have a real problem trying to access your data.

You need a larger SSD in that MacBook Air. You can do it yourself with a kit from OWC:

MacBook Air SSD Storage Upgrades | SSD Replacements

Expand your MacBook Air's storage with our high-performance SSDs. Enjoy faster speeds, increased capacity, and easy installation. Get yours today!

eshop.macsales.com

 

[Rod]

Fully agree, please don't think that when it's full you can just move stuff to another drive. With10% free you will have slowdowns but less than that and you will find it difficult to move files off your internal HD. Just like the installer for Big Sur it needs space to work.
We have seen users with full HD's unable to copy or transfer files to an external drive because the device did not have enough empty storage to complete the process.

I would strongly advise you buy an External Hard Drive and begin moving non essential data onto that.

 

[IWT]

@rainbowcat

I too, fully endorse the comments above. I can't see mention of the total storage space on your MBA; but seriously - you need to have about 20% of the total completely free.

You said: "I can't find 3 GB of things to delete!" Well, you will have to find away of off-loading a great deal more than 3GB.

Music and Photo Libraries are keen contenders. They (the Libraries, not the apps) can be run from an External Hard Drive (EHD).

Videos take up a lot of space. Maybe your Documents folder is bloated. Only you will know.

Finally, I do hope you have up-to-date Backups because lockout is not far off.

None of what I've said is meant to offend and I hope you don't take it that way. I just want you to avoid a catastrophe.

Ian

 

[pm-r]

I can't find 3 GB of things to delete!

I don't know if I should dare mention deleting all the unnecessary language location files which probably totals well over 4GB, but as Sly, chscag and Ian already mentioned, 13 GB available drive space is inadequate for normal use even if using a solid state drive.

OT a bit but somewhat related, I tend to keep a pretty slimed boot Drive but I was very surprised a few days ago when I thought I would try one of the "find duplicate files" applications, and one of them said I had 26 GB and another one said I had 36 GB duplicate files.

That led me to some other old folders (Eudora Attachments and some others that are no longer needed etc.) so I am still in the process of moving them and substantially more than the listed 36 GB of duplicates.

Bottom line, you need to get more available free hard drive space made available and either a bigger and or additional one would both work.


- Patrick
=======

 

[rainbowcat]

I agree with our Moderator Slydude. Even without doing any updates, you're very close to locking up your drive by filling it up. Once that happens, you'll have a real problem trying to access your data.

You need a larger SSD in that MacBook Air. You can do it yourself with a kit from OWC:

MacBook Air SSD Storage Upgrades | SSD Replacements

Expand your MacBook Air's storage with our high-performance SSDs. Enjoy faster speeds, increased capacity, and easy installation. Get yours today!

eshop.macsales.com

Thank you chscag, but I'm not brave enough to do this - I know I'd screw it up! I'm okay messing around with software, but I know better than to trust myself messing about in the guts of the computer!

 

[rainbowcat]

Fully agree, please don't think that when it's full you can just move stuff to another drive. With10% free you will have slowdowns but less than that and you will find it difficult to move files off your internal HD. Just like the installer for Big Sur it needs space to work.
We have seen users with full HD's unable to copy or transfer files to an external drive because the device did not have enough empty storage to complete the process.

I would strongly advise you buy an External Hard Drive and begin moving non essential data onto that.

Does this mean that transferring stuff to a thumb drive (outdated - I know, but the best I can do!) won't help?

 

[rainbowcat]

@rainbowcat

I too, fully endorse the comments above. I can't see mention of the total storage space on your MBA; but seriously - you need to have about 20% of the total completely free.

You said: "I can't find 3 GB of things to delete!" Well, you will have to find away of off-loading a great deal more than 3GB.

Music and Photo Libraries are keen contenders. They (the Libraries, not the apps) can be run from an External Hard Drive (EHD).

Videos take up a lot of space. Maybe your Documents folder is bloated. Only you will know.

Finally, I do hope you have up-to-date Backups because lockout is not far off.

None of what I've said is meant to offend and I hope you don't take it that way. I just want you to avoid a catastrophe.

Ian

Not offended at all - appreciate your expertise! Total storage is 121GB; computer is 8 years old and a real workhorse. I only have 1 GB of music, but 22GB of photos and many Keynote presentations. I back up to an external hard drive every week. I'm guessing it's time for a new laptop?

 

[chscag]

Thank you chscag, but I'm not brave enough to do this - I know I'd screw it up! I'm okay messing around with software, but I know better than to trust myself messing about in the guts of the computer!

Don't sell yourself short. I'll bet you can do it and do it well. But anyway, offloading to an external drive is probably the easiest way for you. Do not use a thumb drive or flash drive as they are unreliable.

 

[rainbowcat]

Don't sell yourself short. I'll bet you can do it and do it well. But anyway, offloading to an external drive is probably the easiest way for you. Do not use a thumb drive or flash drive as they are unreliable.

Thanks for your vote of confidence, but I'm chicken! Is this something I could pay the Genius Bar to do? I've heard they frown upon it and want you to buy a new computer instead. Once I saw "magic keyboard" on the new MacBook Air, I really don't want one!

 

[chscag]

You could probably hire a third party Mac repair shop to do the work for you. The Genius bar will definitely not do it even if the equipment was new.

Be sure to get an estimate before allowing anyone to do the work for you.

 

[Rod]

I kinda doubt it. No harm in asking though.

In practicle terms what we are suggesting is:

Purchase a good quality External Hard Drive (EHD), bigger is better but you only have 120 GB so say 100 GB would do and be cheap.

Format it in the same manner as your internal drive. This is easy using Disk Utility which you will already have. We can walk you through this, there are only about 3 steps.

The EHD should now be on your Desktop, like a folder, with whatever name you gave it.

Select one of your presentations, for example, in a Finder window or on the desktop and drag it to the icon for the EHD. Now it will be in two places, where it was and in the EHD.

You can now move the original to the trash on your laptop. You may want to reassure yourself all is well before emptying the trash. Just double click the EHD to open it. You will see your copied presentation, just open it in the usual way.

As you progress through this process, emptying the trash as you go you will have more and more space on your internal HD. You may have to restart your laptop occasionally during the process to register this increase in storage.

Honestly, once setup this is no more difficult than copying a file from one folder to another.

Once you have a bit more elbow room on your internal HD you can start moving whole folders at a time which will greatly speed up the process but initially just one or two files at a time is best.

If you need any clarification or details on any part of this process please ask. There are no stupid questions.

 

[pm-r]

Thanks for your vote of confidence, but I'm chicken!

I'm sure you could manage it, especially if you got the right SSD

SSD Upgrade Kits for MacBook Air 2013 - 2017

Upgrade your 2013-2017 MacBook Air hard drive to an SSD for 16x the capacity and 5.8x faster speeds of the original drive. Kit includes all tools needed.

eshop.macsales.com

And have a look at this video for simplicity:

How to Install an Apple PCIe SSD in an OWC Envoy Pro

Step-by-step videos for the 13-inch MacBook Air (Mid 2013 - Early 2014).

eshop.macsales.com

Just for one of your choices you have available...


- Patrick
=======

 

[Rod]

rainbowcat, given the age of your MBA starting to put some of your important files onto an EHD is probably a good idea anyway.
You could copy your Photos Library for one thing and reclaim 33 GB of storage immediately.
I would not try this till you have a bit more "elbow room" on your MBA but it works quite well if the laptop is mostly stationary. It can be a bit of a PITA if you have to take it with you a lot but just saying.

 

[pm-r]

It can be a bit of a PITA if you have to take it with you a lot but just saying.

Adding a small 2.5 inch SSD with good quality double-sided mounting tape and a very short connection cable keeps things pretty portable.

And here's a better video of installing an internal drive if one goes that route which shows it is not a very involved process at all, assuming one knows how to use a screwdriver. And OWC includes any necessary screwdriver(s) with their internal SSD kits:

- Patrick
=======

 

[Rod]

Patrick, I would certainly go that way myself and the end result would be an internal drive with plenty of storage. Really the ideal result and pretty easy to do by the video.

The catch is setting up the new drive from an external source, the creation of that external source and transferring all the data to the newly installed SSD.

Having done this myself I would recommend going the way of a bootable clone with Carbon Copy Cloner (CCC). I assume rainbowcat, you are currently running macOS Catalina.
Obviously an external SSD would be ideal for this task but an ordinary "spinner" (HDD) type EHD can do the job albeit slowly. Just trying to keep costs down.

CCC offer a fully functional, no obligation, 30 day free trial which would be perfect for your purposes.
This would still require the removal of some data from your MBA to allow download of CCC and some room for it to work.

I would definitely do this myself but compared to the purchase of a 250GB EHD and dragging some files to it for external storage it's definitely a lot more work.

 

[Rod]

Odd, I have an email notification of a reply from Chas but despite relaunching my browser it's not here (yet). Anyway I agree. See if you can get a computer shop to do the work for you. It will save acquiring a lot of stuff you will probably only need once but get a quote first.
Also do a full backup first. Do you have a backup?

 

[rainbowcat]

Thank you for everyone for your replies! Sorry it took me so long to get back to you; I'm dealing with some very serious health issues.

My battery (which is supposed to be 11 hours) is now down to 4, so I'm thinking it's time to bite the bullet and buy a new MBA. I'm concerned about the "Magic Keyboard" though; I've heard it's awful. You folks have an opinion on that?

 

[chscag]

I'm a bit confused about your reference to the "Magic Keyboard"? That is a keyboard sold separately by Apple and has nothing to do with the new M1 MacBook Air.

Have you gone on to the Apple site and looked up the specs for the new M1 MacBook Air?