How to resize the partion size on Mac High Sierra?

[happy bird]

Hi all!

Somehow I have 2 containers on my macbook pro 128 GB. Both container /volumes are around 60GB.

I have managed to get by with using just the one partition with the other not being used as I do not know how to resize them.

But now I am on the last GB!

Therefore I need to increase the size of the start up disk which is the container (I have 2 containers) on the left side of the pie chart.

I am using High Sierra 10.13.6 and disk utility.

I can decrease the size of the right hand container to say 10GB, then that gives me 'free space'. However I do not seem able to increase the size of the other container with the start up disk with the 'free space'. It just resets back to 60GB.

I can use the command line prompt if need be. Does anyone have any clues?

Thanks in advance!

 

[Raz0rEdge]

Please first backup all of your data, you are going to likely mess up your working partition trying this.

Next, you cannot resize partitions while you are booted into the system, you have to do it from "outside" like the recovery console or something. You can search for that, but more likely your bets course of action is to create a backup of your data, then boot into Recovery Console (with CMD+r) and erase all the partitions on your drive, create a single partition and re-install High Sierra and restore your data.

 

[MacInWin]

You use the term "container" which is associated with the new format, APFS. Is that what the drive is using?

Have a read here: Erase and reformat a storage device in Disk Utility on Mac - Apple Support

You can select the version of the OS you want the guide for, it will show the Table of Contents and you can read how to use Disk Utility to do what you want. MAKE A BACKUP FIRST! (Yes, I'm yelling.)

 

[pm-r]

MAKE A BACKUP FIRST! (Yes, I'm yelling.)

And now highlighted... just in case...

+1!!! At least one and maybe make one of them a bootable clone and include all data from all partition volumes!!!





- Patrick
======

 

[happy bird]

And now highlighted... just in case...

+1!!! At least one and maybe make one of them a bootable clone and include all data from all partition volumes!!!




- Patrick
======

Hi Patrick

Thank you for your reply and understanding my question!

Yes the container is APFS.

I have only just recently 'restored' my mac from an image I took 2 weeks after buying the laptop and installing all the software I need (Adobe Creative Suite, and security software mainly). The system info says the system alone is 40GB! And apps are using 11GB. I have just deleted 'garage band' that seemed to use 4GB. I am not sure what is happening with the other space, maybe used by the system I guess.

I have no work on the macbook (so don't need to worry about data) - the container is just full with the system and apps.

It sounds like from what you describe, the way to increase the size of the partition with the system startup is to start up in recovery mode, delete the current container with startup disk and then create a new much bigger container.

Could I then restore my original image with OS and my apps again, or do I need to actually start from scratch with new copy of OS and install apps one by one?

Thanks again!

 

[MacInWin]

I am thoroughly confused. From your posts, it would seem your drive is only 60GB. You named 40 GB for "system," apps take 11GB, you have 1gb left before you deleted GarageBand that had 4GB. So, 40+11+1+4 = 56GB. Before you do anything else, can you invoke Disk Utility and take a screenshot of what it shows? I find it hard to believe that any system today has just a 56GB drive installed. Something else is going on. From the screenshot, we may be able to give you better advice.

 

[ferrarr]

You are going to need to boot from an external USB installer to completely wipe the internal drive.

 

[MacInWin]

Bob, I'm not sure that is necessary. Under APFS, I think you can manipulate the containers as long as the container you manipulate is not the one with the boot volume. So, for example, if there are two containers with volumes in them, the OP can boot from one, delete the other just fine, then depending on how the drive is organized, may be able to expand the remaining partition. Partition a physical disk in Disk Utility on Mac - Apple Support

 

[pm-r]

I find it hard to believe that any system today has just a 56GB drive installed.

As I read the post, it seems that they partitioned their main drive into Two partitions, each about 60 GB each:

Somehow I have 2 containers on my macbook pro 128 GB. Both container /volumes are around 60GB.

Even as a Mac user who often uses partitions, I would have suggested that a 128 GB drive is already on the small size and too small to be partitioning.

Besides needing enough room for the macOS and applications etc., the OS needs sufficient room to be able to breathe properly, i.e., a fair bit of free read/write drive sace.





- Patrick
======

 

[MacInWin]

Yep, Patrick, that is why I asked for the DU screenshot. His drive is 128GB, according to the first post, but he's describing only 60 GB or so of data, so something is wrong somewhere.

 

[happy bird]

Hi!
Thank you all for trying to figure it out!

The 60 GB container/partition is full with system, apps and 'breathing space' as pm-r suggests (I get 'low space errors when working on documents).

It would be better with one big container, which is what I'd like to do, just trying to work out how to get there.

I think MacInWin is suggesting I can delete the start up disk in recovery mode, then expand the other container in recovery mode, then restore my 'image' into that new bigger container?

Phew.. here is the screen shot

 

[ferrarr]

Hi!
Thank you all for trying to figure it out!

The 60 GB container/partition is full with system, apps and 'breathing space' as pm-r suggests (I get 'low space errors when working on documents).

It would be better with one big container, which is what I'd like to do, just trying to work out how to get there.

I think MacInWin is suggesting I can delete the start up disk in recovery mode, then expand the other container in recovery mode, then restore my 'image' into that new bigger container?

Phew.. here is the screen shot
View attachment 31527

#7


How to create a bootable installer for macOS - Apple Support

Make sure you have a current good backup of all your important data. Download a new copy of whichever Mac OS X/OS X/macOS you prefer. Then create the bootable USB macOS installer.

 

[MacInWin]

I think MacInWin is suggesting I can delete the start up disk in recovery mode, then expand the other container in recovery mode, then restore my 'image' into that new bigger container?

No, in fact I said exactly the opposite.

So, for example, if there are two containers with volumes in them, the OP can boot from one, delete the other just fine, then depending on how the drive is organized, may be able to expand the remaining partition.

A bit of a tutorial: Before APFS, folks used "Partitioning" to break up big drives into smaller ones. Frankly, I never really knew why they did that, but it was a way of sharing a big drive multiple ways. It worked best for multiple operating system booting (BootCamp), for example, but it added a layer of complexity and was inflexible in that once the partitions were created, they were very hard to change size or delete. And each one needed free space on it for the OS to use to copy/move/update files. So this big drive typically ended up broken up in fragments with a lot of wasted space.

Apple made APFS specifically for SSDs but it has a great advantage in that one no longer has much need to partition a big drive. About the only reason left is BootCamp, which, I think, still needs a partition (I confess I have never used it.) But for big drives, there is no longer any need to create a partitioning system at all. In lieu of partitions, Apple creates "Containers" that hold "Volumes" in them. The beauty is that the Volumes share dynamically the remaining space in the Container. So, for example, in your setup you have a 128GB drive with two partitions, each about 60GB, but each has to have 5-6 GB of free space to operate well, so your storage limit is about 122GB on the combined partitions. Plus, to change a partition boundary requires that you either find a tool capable of moving the boundary without losing data (expensive and unreliable, plus I think currently unavailable for APFS) or you wipe the drive completely and start over. If you had one Container you could have multiple Volumes in it and each of them is dynamic in size, that is, each one can grow and shrink to as much of the free space as the Container has. So now, with APFS, a 1TB internal drive has one Container of TB and then as many Volumes as the user may want to create, with all of them sharing the 1TB space dynamically. Apple takes advantage of that feature with Catalina, for example, by having two Volumes in the boot container, one for the system and one for the user data, then merging the two volumes to look like one to each user. This process then allows Apple to have higher security on the System Volume as a protection from malware.

At this point, the wipe and start over is the path I think you need to take. Back up both Partitions to something external, then boot from something external and use DU to reformat the hardware into one partition, install the OS and restore from your backups. If you still want two "drives" for whatever reason, you can create a new Volume on the fly after you have the operating system installed.

 

[IWT]

Another fine mini-tutorial, Jake. We all learn from them..

Ian

 

[MacInWin]

Thanks, Ian. I have to admit that the "teach a man how to fish" kicks in every once in a while.

 

[pm-r]

Another fine mini-tutorial, Jake. We all learn from them..

Ian

Not to berate Jake's excellent article, I came across a video that some may find interesting on the same topic and how some Mac OS things have changed recently, and especially with High Sierra and later:
macOS High Sierra Disk Utility: A Video Walkthrough
macOS High Sierra Disk Utility: A Video Walkthrough - The Mac Observer




- Patrick
======

 

[MacInWin]

Interesting video, Patrick, but Catalina has even more changes emphasizing Container and Volume. For example, if you click on the "Partition" button, you get this message:

and three options, Partition, Cancel or Add Volume. So Apple really wants us to stop partitioning and use one Container per disk, with dynamic Volumes in the Container.

He also implies that every Volume ends up in a separate Container, which is not true. The best way, in fact, to use a drive is to have ONE Container and multiple Volumes. That approach minimizes the amount of space one needs to leave open for the drive to run smoothly as you don't need to leave space on every Volume, just leave enough room in the Container.

What is interesting to see is that on drives with multiple Volumes in a single container, every Volume reports the same amount of unused space, as that space is shared. So if you have a 1TB drive with one Container and three Volumes, where Volume A is Using 425 GB, Volume B is 10 GB and Volume C is 530 GB, all three will indicate that there is 35GB free. Even though the sum of 425+10+530+35+35+35 is 70 GB larger than the drive itself, the fact is that the 35GB is shared with all three Volumes. The sharing is even more pronounced if the Volumes are smaller. On that same 1TB drive, for example, three volumes of 10GB each will each show 970 GB available. At first that is jarring, but as you use APFS more, you begin to appreciate the idea that the Volumes are dynamic and that you don't really need to ever repartition again. And at that point, you start converting every SSD you have to APFS!

APFS doesn't work so well on spinners, although it works the same way. The actual reading and writing to the drive is optimized for SSDs where fragmentation is not so much of an issue for performance. Spinner drives will get slower faster as APFS actually fosters fragmentation. Here is an article from OWS on that topic: Using APFS On HDDs ... And Why You Might Not Want To

 

[chscag]

Hey Jake, great explanation! Now all we need to do is get Patrick from out under his bed where he is currently reciting the Greek Alphabet backwards.

Hey Patrick.... only kidding you. All that math that Jake stated has me a bit out of it also.

 

[MacInWin]

Hey, Charlie, that's not math, just arithmetic. Now THIS is math:

 

[IWT]

Hey Jake, I think there's a mistake there.

This seems to make more sense:



Ian