Comments on: What’s eating my disk space?

By: Markus Zeller

Markus Zeller — Mon, 04 May 2009 06:57:32 +0000

I think it’s not a MUST HAVE only for laptop owners! Should be running on every system.

By: mildm8nnered

mildm8nnered — Fri, 23 Nov 2007 11:47:33 +0000

You might also want to check out Baseline, which allows you to compare your disk against a previously saved scan, so that you can see what’s changed, as well as how much space each item takes up.

http://www.mildmanneredindustries.com/baseline

(I am the author of Baseline).

By: Apple Fever - Today’s Top Blog Posts on Apple - Powered by SocialRank

Apple Fever - Today’s Top Blog Posts on Apple - Powered by SocialRank — Mon, 01 Oct 2007 09:12:05 +0000

[...] What’s eating my disk space? – The Apple Blog [...]

By: Martin Cohen

Martin Cohen — Thu, 19 Jul 2007 22:37:50 +0000

A simpler alternative I have been using for many years on unix/linux/os x systems is this (in terminal):

du -k | sort -nr > filez

“du -k” gets the size of all files,
“sort -nr > filez” sorts the result of the “du” command in reverse order using the numeric value of the first field (the file size, in this case) and saves it in a file named “filez” (the name is arbitrary – just different from any existing file).

Then, edit “filez” with any editor.

By: Niclet

Niclet — Thu, 19 Jul 2007 14:27:10 +0000

I third Disk Inventory (!) it’s an awesome tool.

By: Ryan

Ryan — Thu, 19 Jul 2007 10:45:13 +0000

I second Disk Inventory – it gives you the best of both worlds – the quick glance spatial view (like Grand Perspective), plus a hierarchical view – both of which are arranged from biggest to smallest. Plus, you can zoom in on a particular folder to weed out the space hogs. (Plus it is free, too).

Best of the bunch.

By: J

Thu, 19 Jul 2007 05:27:17 +0000

I use Disk Inventory X, also free and visually stunning. Check it.

By: BY

BY — Thu, 19 Jul 2007 05:12:42 +0000

Over the years I have also used and recommend both:
OmniDiskSweeper (free, or $15 to activate delete button), http://www.omnigroup.com/applications/omnidisksweeper/
and:
WhatSize (free), http://www.id-design.com/software/whatsize/index.php .
.
Both provide a list of files and folders and their sizes, in Mac column-style view to allow you to drill-down and see what’s what.

To me, far more useful than the eye-disorienting (IMO) GrandPerspective app.

By: Tod

Tod — Thu, 19 Jul 2007 04:00:58 +0000

Gag! I hate these images that resemble the interior of a beehive on LSD. They tell me absolutely nuthin’.

As two other posters noted, “whatsize” is a more realistic alternative.

Of course, YMMV.

-Tod

By: Thame

Thame — Thu, 19 Jul 2007 00:10:47 +0000

OmniDiskSweeper does a similar job. I’ve found that Final Cut Studio and its associated resources are the most disk-hungry on my MBP.

By: Kai Howells

Kai Howells — Wed, 18 Jul 2007 22:57:42 +0000

http://www.id-design.com/software/whatsize/

A whole lot more elegant and far easier on the eyes

By: grampabigal

grampabigal — Wed, 18 Jul 2007 22:40:21 +0000

yes; like the caveman in geico ads, I say: “what?”. I’ve got glaucona & need to blowup text to see.
when doing so the text goes out of column under the side ads.
do you think to use “bigger text” in browsers to dee if this happens? NO, you do not.
plse correct this.
thx- grampaBigAL…

By: Sam

Sam — Wed, 18 Jul 2007 20:49:34 +0000

Comeon. Not all of us are on beautiful MBPs. Im going to go cry now.

By: Matt Radel

Matt Radel — Wed, 18 Jul 2007 20:13:56 +0000

@ Nerg:

I’ve got the 120 gig HD in mine. Space goes quickly when you put CS3, Parallels and Boot Camp partition on it (to name a few). I’m using about half my space right now, but I’m always trying to keep my disk as free as possible.

By: CoSTa

CoSTa — Wed, 18 Jul 2007 19:42:18 +0000

eee… and what the helle are all those colours mean? :)

for some oldschool text information lovers – grab this: http://www.id-design.com/software/whatsize/ – also free, does the job quite well, i liked it a lot. drop an eye and find your lost gigabytes :)

By: Nerg

Nerg — Wed, 18 Jul 2007 19:35:39 +0000

So what is eating your disk space? I have a MacBook with a 160 Gig HD and I’ve only used 40 Gig. Get it off your machine into an archive or an external. If you don’t access it at least once a month remove the file/app whatever. OSX thrives on ram and Disk space