Mac storage management "bug"

[DaTree]

Hi, I'm having some problems with my mac lately, and I'd appreciate any help.
I was noticing over the course of a few days my Macbook Air 2019 was being pretty slow, and so I checked my storage by clicking the Apple logo on the upper top left and clicked "Storage". And from the last time i checked, it lost a few GBs, but I didn't recall doing anything that would decrease my storage. Then I clicked the little "Manage" button above the storage usage calculations and saw that the "Documents" category was taking some space, so went and saw what the cause was. And for a split second, I saw a lot of files there and they just disappeared after that, I couldn't get a good glimpse of what those were. Like, I'm not even joking, the files literally just vanished, but the Documents category was still "taking up" the same amount of my storage. I managed to take a screenshot before the files disappeared, and they looked like files that I deleted before, for example, a software installer was there although I remember clearly that I deleted it (and emptied the bin) . I know that wasn't much information but I've included everything that I could think of. Thanks for your time.

 

[MacInWin]

Welcome to the forum. What Mac? What version of macOS? Can you post the screenshot you took?

And from the last time i checked, it lost a few GBs, but I didn't recall doing anything that would decrease my storage.

That does that mean? What do you mean "lost?" Is the drive smaller, or has the free space decreased?

Do you use TimeMachine? Is it turned on? TM makes snapshots of the system if the backup drive is not attached and it is turned on.

What does Disk Utility report for space on the drive? The "Storage" tab is notoriously inaccurate.

 

[ferrarr]

TM makes snapshots of the system if the backup drive is not attached and it is turned on.

I have my TM drive connected at all times (except reboot, or startup) to my Mini. I still have Snapshots stored on my internal SSD.

 

[MacInWin]

Bob,there is usually one from just around the time the backup happens. But if you disconnect the backup drive, the number goes up every hour. If you have more than that, something is wrong with your system.

 

[chscag]

Just for info: Time Machine will make snapshots whether or not your drive is attached. You can not turn it off as it's automatic. The only way to not make snapshots is to turn Time Machine off.

By the way, CCC likewise will make snapshots unless you turn that option off. Snapshots can be removed from the terminal or by using a utility such as the "TinkerTool System.app".

 

[DaTree]

Welcome to the forum. What Mac? What version of macOS? Can you post the screenshot you took?

That does that mean? What do you mean "lost?" Is the drive smaller, or has the free space decreased?

Do you use TimeMachine? Is it turned on? TM makes snapshots of the system if the backup drive is not attached and it is turned on.

What does Disk Utility report for space on the drive? The "Storage" tab is notoriously inaccurate.

Thanks for the reply. Mine is Mojave version 10.14.6. I do play Minecraft and I think some of them are game files, but there are some that I don't know . I never used TM because I wanted to re-delete some of the files, or at least the ones that I know can be deleted. I didn't want to get the files back, I was just frustrated because I didn't know why they just disappeared. You can see in the screenshot, I even managed to click on one of the files and hoped I could capture the file location, but I couldn't. On the "Storage" tab, it reported that I had 47GB left, while Disk Utility reported 45GB. I know I still had a lot, but I'd still love to know why this is happening, or how I could find these files. Thanks again

 

[MacInWin]

OK, based on your screenshot, I went to the  in the upper left corner, then About This Mac, Storage and when I clicked on "Documents" I got a list that appeared and then shifted as the files were sorted by size because the "Size" column had the sort caret showing, as in your image. I don't think anything "disappeared" but got sorted and the display shifted. So, I think that may be what you are seeing, too.

A better tool to find the large file is "Daisy Disk." It's in the Mac App Store, also accessed through the .

And I would not delete anything, even if it is possible, on the screen you imaged. Use Finder, or even DaisyDisk, to get to the files you want to remove.

I asked about TM because you said you "lost" space and one of the possible causes is TM. That was all.

 

[DaTree]

OK, based on your screenshot, I went to the  in the upper left corner, then About This Mac, Storage and when I clicked on "Documents" I got a list that appeared and then shifted as the files were sorted by size because the "Size" column had the sort caret showing, as in your image. I don't think anything "disappeared" but got sorted and the display shifted. So, I think that may be what you are seeing, too.

A better tool to find the large file is "Daisy Disk." It's in the Mac App Store, also accessed through the .

And I would not delete anything, even if it is possible, on the screen you imaged. Use Finder, or even DaisyDisk, to get to the files you want to remove.

I asked about TM because you said you "lost" space and one of the possible causes is TM. That was all.

Hi again, I think I've worded my sentence a bit wrong, my bad. What I meant by "disappearing" was that the screenshot I took was in a split second, those files didn't show up on that list anymore after I took the ss. The video i recorded below was exactly what I saw every time I went to check my storage and clicked on "Documents". My past attempts to record it failed, as if those files were trying to "hide" or something.

tps://files.fm/f/3xtbvnynh (bad link removed)

 

[ferrarr]

When I click on the Documents, in the sidebar of System Information > Storage > Manage, it shows files that are not actually documents, then those disappear and only documents are left.

 

[DaTree]

When I click on the Documents, in the sidebar of System Information > Storage > Manage, it shows files that are not actually documents, then those disappear and only documents are left.

Yeah, I think that's what happened to me too, do you have any idea why it is like that? After the files disappeared, the ones that were left still didn't add up to the calculations. It says Documents is taking up about 800 mb, but what showed only took up 100.

 

[MacInWin]

I think the problem is definition. You think of "Documents" as everything in the Documents folder, but the list seems to be just files that are not otherwise classified. Here is the sidebar from my machine:


You can see that I have a lot of other categories than just Documents, but at first all of them appear, then disappear to be displayed in the other categories. I think that display puts all files together at first, then sorts them out to the categories, making it look like they are disappearing. But they are still there, in the category assigned. Again, that view is NOT one to be doing this kind of analysis. Get a better tool, like DaisyDisk.