The mystery of the "Other" storage category on Mac š
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Weāve all been there: You check your storage, and thereās a massive yellow bar labeled 'Other' or 'System Data' taking up 50GB+.
In OptiClear, I built the Large & Aging Files analyzer specifically to hunt these down. It's often forgotten .dmg installers from 2 years ago or massive log files that serve no purpose.
Yesterday, a user told me they found 12GB of old screen recordings they forgot they ever made! š¤Æ
Question for the community: What was the weirdest or largest 'forgotten' file you ever found while cleaning your drive?
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@orhan_kilic Which type of file usually take up the most space for you?
OptiClear
@johnny_ishakĀ Great question, Johnny! From what Iāve seen with OptiClear users (and my own Mac), itās usually a battle between these three:
Forgotten Video Projects/Recordings: Like that 12GB screen recording I mentionedā4K videos are silent space killers.
Caches & Logs: Especially if you use creative tools or dev environments (looking at you, Xcode!), these can grow to 20GB+ without notice.
Duplicate Media: We often import photos multiple times or save the same file in different folders.
For me personally, it's always old .dmg installers hiding in the Downloads folder. I download them, install the app, and forget the installer is still eating up 500MB each!
What about you? Does your 'System Data' bar look suspiciously large right now? :)
@orhan_kilicĀ @johnny_ishakĀ From my experience, itās definitely game files. I download a few modern games and suddenly my storage is almost full.
OptiClear
@aarav_krishnaĀ Thatās so true! Modern games are massive. š® Even after uninstalling them, some leftover files often stay hidden in your 'Application Support' folders, contributing to that mysterious 'System Data.'
OptiClear is great for finding those leftover folders and massive assets that shouldn't be there anymore. Itās crazy how one game can take up more space than a thousand photos!
Whatās the biggest game currently sitting on your drive? 50GB+?
@orhan_kilicĀ @johnny_ishakĀ @aarav_krishnaĀ Same here modern games are basically storage hogs in disguise š
OptiClear
@johnny_ishakĀ @aarav_krishnaĀ @prince__kumarĀ Haha, 'storage hogs in disguise' is the perfect way to describe them! š Itās all fun and games until that 'Disk Almost Full' notification pops up in the middle of a boss fight.
That's why I made sure OptiClear can sniff out those massive hidden assets. Sometimes we delete the game icon, but the 40GB 'hogs' are still hiding in the system folders!
Do you usually clear them out manually, or do you just hope for the best? :)
@orhan_kilicĀ @johnny_ishakĀ It made me realize how blindly macOS keeps accumulating things unlesss I actively check. Since then, Iāve made it a habit to review backups monthly
OptiClear
@johnny_ishakĀ @alex_j_jemmyĀ Thatās a great habit to have, Alex! š§ macOS is powerful, but it definitely tends to 'hoard' data in the background if you donāt keep an eye on it.
Most users don't realize that those monthly reviews are what keep a Mac running like new for years. My main goal with OptiClear was to take that 'manual review' processāwhich usually takes quite a bit of diggingāand turn it into a quick 30-second scan.
Since youāre already doing monthly checks, Iād love for you to see how OptiClear compares to your manual routine. If you get a chance to run it, let me know if it catches any hidden files that even your monthly review missed! š
@orhan_kilic Have you noticed system data growing without a clear reasons?
OptiClear
@sanjau_sanjayĀ Absolutely, Zachary! That 'System Data' ghost is exactly why I felt OptiClear was necessary. š»
In many cases, itās not one single giant file, but thousands of tiny ones:
Local Time Machine snapshots: If your backup disk isn't connected, macOS creates local ones that stay in System Data.
App Support & Containers: Some apps (especially browsers and Slack) cache massive amounts of data deep in your Library.
Partial Updates: Interrupted macOS or app updates can leave bulky temporary files behind.
Thatās why I built the 'Deep Scan' logic in OptiClearāto look into those hidden folders and actually categorize whatās inside, so itās no longer a 'mystery.'
Have you checked how much your System Data is currently taking up? Sometimes a quick cache flush can reclaim 10GB+ instantly! :)
Iāve definitely been there. For me, it was a bunch of old app installers piling up silently. I didnāt realize how much space they were eating until I actually checked.
OptiClear
@aarav_krishnaĀ Spot on, Aarav! šÆ Those old .dmg and .pkg files are like digital dustāthey just sit there taking up space because we assume they're small.
When I was testing OptiClear, I found app installers from years ago that I didn't even remember downloading! Thatās exactly why I prioritized the 'Large & Aging Files' scanner. Itās so satisfying to see that 'Other' bar shrink after a quick cleanup.
Have you had a chance to try out the app yet? Iād love to know if it helped you find any of those hidden 'dead weights' on your Mac!
This hits way too close š I once found a 20GB folder of duplicated video exports I didnāt even realize existed.
OptiClear
@blake_raymond1Ā 20GB is a massive win! š Itās crazy how those video exports just hide in the shadows.
Thatās exactly why I built the 'Duplicate Finder' into OptiClear. We often export a video, move it, and forget the original or the duplicate is still eating up the SSD. Finding 20GB in one go must have felt like getting a brand-new Mac! š
Were those old projects, or just things that got lost in the shuffle? :D
Hello Aria
The "Other" storage category is genuinely one of the most frustrating UX problems on macOS. Apple gives you a pie chart but no drill-down, so you are left poking around in Finder manually trying to figure out why you have 40GB of mystery data.
Interesting that system caches, local backups, and app support files can accumulate so quietly. Reminds me of a similar problem we see with AI assistants ā invisible background processes (syncing, logging, model files) that users never know about until storage is gone. With Hello Aria, our WhatsApp/Telegram AI day manager, we were very intentional about keeping the app footprint lean precisely because we knew users would be sensitive to unexplained resource usage.
Good explainer post. The more people understand what is actually in that "Other" bucket, the less anxious they will be about it.
OptiClear
@sai_tharun_kakiralaĀ Spot on, Sai! šÆ You nailed the core frustrationāApple tells you what is happening but never where itās happening. That āpoking around in Finderā is exactly the manual pain I wanted to eliminate with OptiClear.
I love the parallel you drew with AI assistants. As background processes become more complex, storage transparency becomes even more vital. Itās great to hear that you kept Hello Aria lean from day oneāusers definitely appreciate apps that respect their resources!
Since youāve dealt with these invisible background processes, Iād love to know: whatās the most stubborn āmystery fileā youāve encountered while keeping your own app footprint small?