How To Make More Space On My Mac Startup Disk

What’s causing low disk space on your Mac? Before you begin to free up disk space, let’s identify what’s taking it up. From the Apple Menu in the upper left-hand corner of your screen, select About this Mac and then click the storage tab in the window that opens. You’ll get a handy, color-coded graph that looks like this. Choose the Startup Disk option in the warning window. Then click Target Disk Mode button, when the computer has started up, a disk icon appears on the desktop of the other Mac. Access the disk and got to /Users/username location, to delete some files.

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'Hello, I need to install my windows 10 system on my Mac (OS 12.13), I run Boot Camp Assistant and load the ISO file, but when I click Continue, get an error message 'Not enough space on startup disk to repartition. You must have at least 50GB of free space.' I have 64GB free and I have SSD (128GB), what’s the problem?'

Without a doubt, you must have created Windows 10 bootable disk, but on Windows operating system. But when are supposed to create it on a Mac, it seems a far-fetched possibility. Boot camp Assistant is a software which helps you experience Windows activities on Mac and you use it to create Windows 10 bootable drive on Mac. But on many occasions a strange issue seems to surface, creation of the Windows 10 bootable disk is impeded with a message which says 'There is not enough space available on the disk' or 'Your Bootable USB drive could not be created'.

Does that mean Boot camp fail you? Not Really. Sometimes the size of your ISO file using which you create the Bootable disk is way too large then this issue is quite certain to come. This error might also appear if you are trying to install the October 2018 edition of Windows 10 on a Mac device which is operating an earlier version of Mac operating system.

Part #1: Install Latest Windows 10 April 2018 Version

If boot camp says not enough space on startup disk, you can try to use the last win 10 version. For this method to work out, first you have to download the Windows 10 April 2018 Edition to your MacOS, and then install it. Next check the Windows requirements to know whether your Mac shall be able to handle this new edition of Windows or not. For the information, all the Windows OS versions, be it 7/8/10 can be handled by the latest models of MacOS.

Step 1. So to begin with this method, check if your Mac has enough space to run Windows 10.

Step 2. Now go to the link given here and download Windows 10 April 2018 edition.

Step 3. Open a new 'Finder' Windows. Go to 'Applications', then 'Utilities'.

Step 4. Click on the 'Boot Camp Assistant' option and then click on the 'Continue' button.

Step 5. From the right-hand panel, browse to select your ISO file of the directory.

How To Clear Disk Space On Mac

Step 6. Next partition the hard disk to offer at least 55 GB for Windows OS and the rest for MacOS.

Step 7. Click on the 'Install' option and booting up of Windows begins. Select the drive named 'Bootcamp' while the booting continues. Simultaneously, choose your language, account details, timeline, etc.

Step 8. Eventually, accept all the terms and conditions of Bootcamp and the software needed later on. You will be asked next to restart the system, so click 'OK' and it will be done. Now after the system boots, try to create the bootable disk this time. Graciously, this time, the error message will not pop up. But still, if it resurfaces again, try out the next method.

Part #2: WonderISO for Mac - Best Alternative to Boot Camp

How To Free Disk Space On Mac

Though the first method was quite simple to attempt, it might fail at various times. Thus here we are going to use a third-party tool, known as PassCue ISO Editor, which can help you Extract, Burn, Create, Copy Disc, Edit a bootable disk without losing any data. So basically here we will re-create the downloaded ISO file which will compress it to reduce its size to an extent that there will be enough left to create the bootable disk.

Key Features:

  • It comes with 5 core integrated functions, Burn, Extract, Edit, Create, Copy Disc.
  • 2 ways to create bootable disk: USB and DVD/CD.
  • Fully supports both MBR and UEFI based computers.
  • It fully supports both Windows OS and MacOS.
  • Support 300+ computer brands: HP, Dell, Asus, Acer, Lenovo.

Step 1. Firstly download the software from the official website of Passcue, install it and run it. In the main window, you will see there are 5 features built in it. Burn, Extract, Cretae, Edit and Copy Disc. To install a Windows on Mac, you need to chose first option: 'Burn' and next.

Step 2. Suppose you've downloaded a Windows ISO file on your Mac desktop, then insert your USB on computer which the program installed on, click Browse button to load your ISO file to program.

Step 3. For windows 10 ISO, then choose UEFI mode to process. Select your file format from the 'System File' section as FAT, FAT 32, NTFS.

Step 4. Click Burn button to start writing ISO file to USB drive, it will take 5 - 10 minutes to complete the burning process.

Step 5. When the burning process is finished, check if there is some booting files in it, eject your USB drive and insert to your Mac computer, and set USB as first boot order, it will load the windows installation interface.

After tried these two ways and you still get messages 'Boot Camp says not enough free space....' then It is possible that there is not enough free space in a single congruent area on your SSD, in other words, fragmentation is keeping you from being able to partition. There is other possible solution would be to use a 128 GB or larger flash drive to save Windows installation files.

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Optimized Storage helps you save storage space space by storing your content in iCloud and making it available on demand:

  • When storage space is needed, files, photos, movies, email attachments, and other files that you seldom use are stored in iCloud automatically.
  • Each file stays right where you last saved it, and downloads when you open it.
  • Files that you’ve used recently remain on your Mac, along with optimized versions of your photos.

If you haven't yet upgraded to macOS Sierra or later, learn about other ways to free up storage space.

Find out how much storage is available on your Mac

How To Make More Space On My Mac Startup Disk Recovery

Choose Apple menu  > About This Mac, then click Storage. Each segment of the bar is an estimate of the storage space used by a category of files. Move your pointer over each segment for more detail.

Click the Manage button to open the Storage Management window, pictured below.

Manage storage on your Mac

The Storage Management window offers recommendations for optimizing your storage. If some recommendations are already turned on, you will see fewer recommendations.

Store in iCloud

Click the Store in iCloud button, then choose from these options:

How To Make More Space On My Mac Startup Disk Mac

  • Desktop and Documents. Store all files from these two locations in iCloud Drive. When storage space is needed, only the files you recently opened are kept on your Mac, so that you can easily work offline. Files stored only in iCloud show a download icon , which you can double-click to download the original file. Learn more about this feature.
  • Photos. Store all original, full-resolution photos and videos in iCloud Photos. When storage space is needed, only space-saving (optimized) versions of photos are kept on your Mac. To download the original photo or video, just open it.
  • Messages. Store all messages and attachments in iCloud. When storage space is needed, only the messages and attachments you recently opened are kept on your Mac. Learn more about Messages in iCloud.

Storing files in iCloud uses the storage space in your iCloud storage plan. If you reach or exceed your iCloud storage limit, you can either buy more iCloud storage or make more iCloud storage available. iCloud storage starts at 50GB for $0.99 (USD) a month, and you can purchase additional storage directly from your Apple device. Learn more about prices in your region.

Optimize Storage

Click the Optimize button to save space by automatically removing watched movies and TV shows. When storage space is needed, movies or TV shows that you purchased from Apple and already watched are removed from your Mac. Click the download icon next to a movie or TV show to download it again.

Your Mac will also save space by keeping only recent email attachments on this Mac when storage space is needed. You can manually download any attachments at any time by opening the email or attachment, or saving the attachment to your Mac.

Optimizing storage for movies, TV shows, and email attachments doesn't require iCloud storage space.

Empty Trash Automatically

Empty Trash Automatically permanently deletes files that have been in the Trash for more than 30 days.

Reduce Clutter

Reduce Clutter helps you identify large files and files you might no longer need. Click the Review Files button, then choose any of the file categories in the sidebar, such as Applications, Documents, Music Creation, or Trash.

You can delete the files in some categories directly from this window. Other categories show the total storage space used by the files in each app. You can then open the app and decide whether to delete files from within it.

How To Make More Space On My Mac Startup Disk File

Learn how to redownload apps, music, movies, TV shows, and books.


Where to find the settings for each feature

The button for each recommendation in the Storage Management window affects one or more settings in other apps. You can also control those settings directly within each app.

  • If you're using macOS Catalina or later, choose Apple menu  > System Preferences, click Apple ID, then select iCloud in the sidebar: Store in iCloud turns on the Optimize Mac Storage setting on the right. To turn off iCloud Drive entirely, deselect iCloud Drive.
  • If you're using macOS Mojave or earlier, choose Apple menu > System Preferences, click iCloud, then click Options next to iCloud Drive. Store in iCloud turns on the Desktop & Documents Folders and Optimize Mac Storage settings.
  • In Photos, choose Photos > Preferences, then click iCloud. Store in iCloud selects iCloud Photos and Optimize Mac Storage.
  • In Messages, choose Messages > Preferences, then click iMessage. Store in iCloud selects Enable Messages in iCloud.
  • If you're using macOS Catalina or later, open the Apple TV app, choose TV > Preferences from the menu bar, then click Files. Optimize Storage selects “Automatically delete watched movies and TV shows.”
  • In you're using macOS Mojave or earlier, open iTunes, choose iTunes > Preferences from the menu bar, then click Advanced. Optimize Storage selects “Automatically delete watched movies and TV shows.”
  • In Mail, choose Mail > Preferences from the menu bar, then click Accounts. In the Account Information section on the right, Optimize Storage sets the Download Attachments menu to either Recent or None.

Empty Trash Automatically: From the Finder, choose Finder > Preferences, then click Advanced. Empty Trash Automatically selects “Remove items from the Trash after 30 days.”

Other ways that macOS helps automatically save space

With macOS Sierra or later, your Mac automatically takes these additional steps to save storage space:

  • Detects duplicate downloads in Safari, keeping only the most recent version of the download
  • Reminds you to delete used app installers
  • Removes old fonts, languages, and dictionaries that aren't being used
  • Clears caches, logs, and other unnecessary data when storage space is needed

How to free up storage space manually

Even without using the Optimized Storage features described in this article, you can take other steps to make more storage space available:

Mac
  • Music, movies, and other media can use a lot of storage space. Learn how to delete music, movies, and TV shows from your device.
  • Delete other files that you no longer need by moving them to the Trash, then emptying the Trash. The Downloads folder is good place to look for files that you might no longer need.
  • Move files to an external storage device.
  • Compress files.
  • Delete unneeded email: In the Mail app, choose Mailbox > Erase Junk Mail. If you no longer need the email in your Trash mailbox, choose Mailbox > Erase Deleted Items.

Learn more

  • The Storage pane of About This Mac is the best way to determine the amount of storage space available on your Mac. Disk Utility and other apps might show storage categories such as Not Mounted, VM, Recovery, Other Volumes, Free, or Purgeable. Don't rely on these categories to understand how to free up storage space or how much storage space is available for your data.
  • When you duplicate a file on an APFS-formatted volume, that file doesn't use additional storage space on the volume. Deleting a duplicate file frees up only the space required by any data you might have added to the duplicate. If you no longer need any copies of the file, you can recover all of the storage space by deleting both the duplicate and the original file.
  • If you're using a pro app and Optimize Mac Storage, learn how to make sure that your projects are always on your Mac and able to access their files.