How to do something like "Treesize" on Windows, but on a MacBook

[mikemyers]

I have an excellent utility to quickly show where my space is going on my Windows computer, "Tree Size Professional". Is there any way to replicate this using the software that comes with a Mac?

If not, what are the better programs to do this?

 

[Raz0rEdge]

DaisyDisk (paid) - https://daisydiskapp.com/
Disk Inventory X (free) - http://www.derlien.com/
GrandPerspective (free) - http://grandperspectiv.sourceforge.net/
DiskWave (free) - https://diskwave.barthe.ph/
OmniDiskSweeper (free) - https://www.omnigroup.com/more/

 

[mikemyers]

Do all of those produce the "pie chart" that helps you find out where the majority of the space is being used? Forgetting "free" vs. paid, is one of them superior to the others?

 

[pm-r]

Do all of those produce the "pie chart" that helps you find out where the majority of the space is being used? Forgetting "free" vs. paid, is one of them superior to the others?

Have a look here or at the developers sites to see what they look like, or do, or read some of the user comments and it's easy to check the others using the "Similar Software… Open Comparison" option:
https://www.macupdate.com/app/mac/14393/disk-inventory-x




- Patrick
======

 

[Raz0rEdge]

They all do what you want, how they represent the info is irrelevant. I've used DaisyDisk, GrandPerspective and Disk Inventory X and they are all fine for the occasional need. I doubt this is something you'd be using all the time, so stick with the free versions (the added bonus is that you can install ALL of them and see which one you like best).

 

[mikemyers]

Absolutely, "occasional use". I used software like this ages ago, which made life so much easier for me than using "du". The "pie chart" made it so simple to find the most effective place to free up space. My MacBook Pro has 512 gigs, with 50 gigs free space. I'm pretty sure photographs occupy a huge part of that (for use with Lightroom), and ditto for video (which now will be with Final Cut Pro). What is probably a smart thing to do, is to move both to an external drive.

Whether it's free or purchased doesn't matter to me. How quickly I can free up space is what counts most, and "Tree Size Professional" on Windows was the best utility I could find, for what I want to do. I will follow your advice suggested up above.

 

[chscag]

You might want to give "Daisy Disk" a good look if you like the Pie Chart display. It's probably the closest "Tree App" to the one that you remember from your Windows days. I use Daisy Disk quite often.

 

[mikemyers]

Strange, what I thought was free, costs $ from the App Store.

Downloaded Grand Perspective - I think once I figure it out, it may be useful, but...

Downloaded Daisy Disk - perfect. Provides exactly the kind of information I was hoping to get, and in less than two minutes, it solved my current problem - what I can off-load from my 512 GB SS drive. I guess now I can move a 150 GB folder I rarely use.

To avoid having multiple external drives with me when I travel, can I share my Time Machine drive with large folders such as this? I assume everything will be fine, but the Time Machine drive will store fewer "versions".

 

[ferrarr]

To avoid having multiple external drives with me when I travel, can I share my Time Machine drive with large folders such as this? I assume everything will be fine, but the Time Machine drive will store fewer "versions".

Yes, you can do that, but remember, have a backup of that folder somewhere else. Any drive can and will fail, and recovering your data will be important if there is no backup. You can't have Time Machine back up that individual file, since it will be on your excluded Time Machine drive.

 

[pm-r]

To avoid having multiple external drives with me when I travel, can I share my Time Machine drive with large folders such as this? I assume everything will be fine, but the Time Machine drive will store fewer "versions".

You may want to seriously consider using CCC (or SD! ) for such backups:
https://bombich.com
and
https://www.shirt-pocket.com/SuperDuper/SuperDuperDescription.html

No, not free, but much easier to use and control and they don't use any TM type aliasing etc.




- Patrick
======

 

[mikemyers]

Won't this accomplish the same thing?

(How do I attach a pdf file to this message, so the formatting doesn't get lost....??)

How to create a bootable installer for macOS
You can use an external drive or secondary partition as a startup disk from which to install the Mac operating system.
A bootable installer can be useful when you want to install macOS on multiple computers without downloading the installer each time. When your Mac starts up from a bootable installer, it starts up directly to the macOS installer, and doesn't require an Internet connection to complete the installation.
Download macOS from the App Store
1. DownloadmacOSfromtheAppStore.Todownload,useaMacthatiscompatiblewiththeversionof macOS you're downloading.
If you're downloading macOS High Sierra, use a Mac with High Sierra, Sierra 10.12.5 or later, or El Capitan 10.11.6. Enterprise administrators: Please download from Apple, not a locally hosted software-update server.
2. WhenthemacOSinstalleropens,quititwithoutcontinuinginstallation.
3. FindtheinstallerinyourApplicationsfolderasasingle”Install”file,suchasInstallmacOSHighSierra.
Use the 'createinstallmedia' command in Terminal
1. Afterdownloadingtheinstaller,connectyourMactotheUSBflashdriveorothervolumethatwillbe used as the bootable installer. Make sure that it has at least 12GB of available storage.
2. OpenTerminal,whichisintheUtilitiesfolderofyourApplicationsfolder.
3. TypeorpasteoneofthefollowingcommandsinTerminal.Theseassumethattheinstallerisstillinyour Applications folder, and the name of your volume is MyVolume. If it's named differently,
replace MyVolume accordingly.
High Sierra:
Sierra:
edia --volum
-volume /Vol

These advanced steps are primarily for system administrators and others who are familiar with the command line. It isn't necessary to create a bootable installer to install macOS.
sudo /Applications/Install\ macOS\ High\ Sierra.app/Contents/Resources/createinstallm
sudo /Applications/Install\ macOS\ Sierra.app/Contents/Resources/createinstallmedia -
El Capitan:
dia --volume
sudo /Applications/Install\ OS\ X\ El\ Capitan.app/Contents/Resources/createinstallme

e
u
Yosemite:
sudo /Applications/Install\ OS\ X\ Yosemite.app/Contents/Resources/createinstallmedia
--volume /V
Mavericks:
4. PressReturnaftertypingthecommand.
5. Whenprompted,typeyouradministratorpasswordandpressReturnagain.Terminaldoesn'tshowany characters as you type your password.
6. When prompted, type Y to confirm that you want to erase the volume, then press Return. Terminal shows the progress as the bootable installer is created.
7. QuitTerminalwhendone.ThebootableinstallerisnowreadytouseonacompatibleMac.Learnhowto choose it as your startup disk.
Use the bootable installer
1. ConnectthevolumecontainingthebootableinstallertoacompatibleMac.
2. UseStartupDiskpreferencesorStartupManagertoselectthatvolumeasthestartupdisk.Learn
about selecting a startup disk, including what to do if your Mac doesn't start up from it.
3. YourMacthenstartsupdirectlytothemacOSinstaller.Followtheonscreeninstructionstoinstall
macOS.