I tried to download Big Sur. Got the error message. I spent 20 minutes on the phone to Apple Support to be told theres nothing I can do and need to erase my MacBook and start again. Found your video and it worked! Data is saved. Thank you so much.
You really saved my life here. Had the exact same problem, went to the Mac store and they told me there was a high chance I would lose my files. I had my important files on iCloud, but I really did not feel like setting my Macbook up again or losing some other files which I did not really want to lose. I bought an external hard drive on which I installed Catalina, and from there I was able to view and move/delete files on my internal drive. I had to open the data drive through the disk utility application, but it still worked (the data section of my internal drive did not show in finder). I also did not have the option to boot the installer through the disk selection startup (could only choose my internal and external hard drive), so I had to do this through recovery mode since I had no other choice - but thank god it worked. Once again, thank you so much. Your explanation was very clear, really well done!
I ran into the same issue with Monterey update. I’ve tried everything else I can find online and Apple told me that I will have to erase my data, nothing worked until I came across your video. Thank you for saving my life!
You are a life saver, this kept me from losing 990GB of data because Apple’s stupid update installer does not check your disk space before starting the process. Thank you !
Was looking through the comments and saw all the “bot” looking comments that said “wow this is amazing!” And stuff like that so I didn’t think this would work. But I can confirm this worked for me and saved all my schoolwork just in time for my school exams. You literally saved me mate. Thank you so much 👍🏼❤️
I ran into this problem here's all the steps solution: 1) Reset Computer in Recover mode (Hold Power Command + R) 2) Backup your Files using this guys method (using an external hd) 3) Perform a Factory Reset (this will delete everything that's why you backup everything). 4) After that reinstall Catalina using the recovery wizard Hope that works this problem gave me a headache for 2 days, but glad it's fixed.
I was really hoping that this worked. Instead I’ve wasted about 4 hours of my day and it still says that I don’t have enough space after I moved about 54 GB onto my external drive.Oh and now I get to log into all of my apps again so add another couple of hours. Thank you for this demonstration, I’m glad it helped some folks but Apple REALLY needs to fix this. Cause this process is long and super annoying
Hey there! I have the same issue, bought an external HDD, installed the Big Sur but it says my mac doesn't have permission for an external. So as they said I went to my Startup Security Utility but it says no adminstrator found. please help
For a product that cost a lot saying it is because our software is great. Why would they even allow you to start the upgrade if you don't even have the required space? Worst is because of this oversight, you might lose all your files.. LOL
Great guide BUT! You are incorrect at 2:10 when you say selecting your main drive while reinstalling the OS will delete all your data on that drive. All it will do is reset and reinstall the current OS, but leave all your data and setting as they were before, which was crucial in fixing my issue in the end once I had made extra room on my drive using your external drive boot up method. This guide did help me through about 50% of my very similar problem though and I would have been lost without it, so you have my gratitude for that. My issue at the end was that when I followed your instructions and I selected my main drive after holding the options key, it would just constantly cycle through restarts and the bar would never get past 25%. The final fix was to boot up recovery mode and then select reinstall OS then select my main drive which was the only option. I was slightly nervous it would erase the whole drive, but it didn’t and now I have everything back but with a fresh Big Sur OS! I actually kinda like it too, for all the hate it’s getting 🤷🏻♂️
Thanks for the video. I am still doing it but i am confident it will work. I don't use a mac and hence, never dealt with it. GF laptop problems became mine. Tried using your method earlier but my drive was not formatted correctly until i did the show all option. Else, was killing myself trying to delete files via terminal
I want to add a solution that is really simple and might work for you guys! I was recently in a similair situation too where my 1tb iMac was to full too actually boot, despite having 13gb left of space. I tried all the different boot shortcuts etc and nothing worked - as you all probably have experienced too. I then read about target disc mode which turns your mac into an external hardrive. At first this solution seemed too good to be true. Could I just connect my iMac into my macbook and delete files? Well, yes, you can. With a thunderbolt 2 connection I turned on my iMac, held down the letter T until I got a thunderbolt icon on my iMac and then it popped up as an external drive in finder. I backed up files and I deleted files until I had 50gb of free space. I turned the iMac on and off and voila, back to normal. I will add that at first it didn't seem like my iMac got any more free space from the deleting files. I went through the process again, but this time I deleted a lot more and suddenly I got the space.
All the bests for youuuuuuuuuu.....you are saved my life, three years PhD files and works....thank you very much...I wish to you all the hopes 💓💓💓💓💜💜💜💜
Thanks so much, unfortunately when I go to Users, I only see a "Shared" folder instead of the user I have all the files on. Anyway to fix this? My mac asks for a password to unlock the SSD, which I input correctly
It didn’t boot for me to recover mode. Instead recover assistant showed up and asked me to choose my mac user and type a pssword and once i typed my correct mac password it told me it is the wrong one. It was the right one.
Wow thank u!! This was a life saver! Also another tip if you drives won't show up after holding option make sure to plug it in to the computer, that worked for me.
When i start from my new os on externalHD, it doesnt show my fusion internaldrive. It does show up in diskutility. Anybody got some advice on other options?
I can not open xcode without updating it and when I go in app store to update that then it is showing "Not Enough Disk Space" but in about mac-storage section it is showing that 34.8 GB are left.
Please help I have done almost every step but when I finally install Catalina X on my external hard drive my internal hard drive does not show up at all. I cannot move/copy/delete files. However I can still use my passcode and get stuck on a boot loop on the internal hard drive as before so I’m assuming it’s still mounted. Have no idea what to do. . .
PLEASE HELP! I have the problem where the hard drive did not have enough space to complete the installation if OS Catalina, so it damaged the disk somehow (it's an SSD) and I can only type in my password, and mid log in the computer shuts down again. Things I have tried after hours with apple care on the phone: 1. Install OS Catalina on an external hard drive and boot the computer from there 2. Try to access the files by going to Finder -> Macintosh HD -> Users 3. There is only a folder called "Shared", but not the one where all my content form the HD are. 4. Tried to use Migration Assistant to move the files from "Macintosh HD Data", did not work 5. Tried to mount and unmount the "Macintosh HD" and "Macintosh HD Data" multiple times, in order to try to see the "Macintosh HD Data" disk in the finder, but did not work. I have 92 GB worth of pictures and important documents on my MacBook, can anyone please help me out here? :(
In this case, I think you have a corrupted drive. I would recommend getting a data recovery software. This can deep scan your drive and recover the files. I would recommend Disk Drill since I used this to fix your situation on another Mac. Be sure to back up your recovered files on an external drive. Hope this helps!
Hi. I did everything on the video, but when I restarted my laptop to start Macinstosh HD, it showed a stop/null sign. Not sure what's the problem because I successfully reinstalled the macOS on an external hard rive.
Recently ran into this issue with Big Sur. (Started installing but not enough disk space so I’m stuck)…. I’m in the process of doing as you instructed. I put Big Sur on an flash and now I’m back at the black screen with apple logo and progress bar but it seems to be stuck here also. Any help?
Wish I would’ve seen this video prior to moving forward in downloading the Catalina update onto an external hard drive that contained important data (as there wasn’t enough space on internal drive). Do you think that the data on the external hard drive is recoverable? It did not ask to format or erase data when accepting to download Catalina. Any thoughts/advice would be greatly appreciated!! Apple support says the internal hard drive needs to be wiped. The external has all of the backup on it. Quite the pickle! Thank you
Hello dear I jst install Catalina upgrade from mac os highsierra and my Mac respond very slow and even a "UnforgivenUpd" from unidentified developer appears again and again after cancelling it or not even move to bin 😒 plz give any suggestion or video how do i fix this problem
I’m using a late 2013 MBP and I’m here bcoz update got stuck and says I don’t have enough space. I already emptied almost 30gb of space but then when I tried to install the mac OS, it says “installer resources were not found” 🥺 so mac OS could not be installed
hi buddy We have macbook air 2020 500GB and disc space error coming after few weeks of use. nothing much downloaded on computer. I have no clue what to do. do i have to make partition for operating system and personal use? if yes tell me how? this is our first ever apple computer. TIA
If I understand correctly, your macbook is working fine except from the error message? You should run by an Apple store to ask them if they can fix it. You can also quickly check your storage by clicking on the Apple logo in the top-right of the screen and then clicking on 'About this mac'. Then click on Storage and you should be able to see a visualization of your hard drive. I also recommend Daisy disk to really figure out what is eating your space if your drive seems to be full.
Hey, so i couldn't updated my OS bcs of the consuming failed update OS. The things is when my download was failed, the downloaded failed update has consumed/taken several gigabytes of my storage, so I don't have enough spaces left bcs of the failed downloaded OS. Do you know how to remove/erase the downloaded failed update? Bcs i took me tons of effort to free up some spaces for the update, but now I couldn't do anything bcs of this consuming failed update :(
Please help! I followed your steps, I installed new system on my external drive, tried to delete files on internal drive, but I found no file folders under Macintosh HD, however I can see it is full under info, please let me know why this happened and how to fix, many thanks
I've been going through the same thing all afternoon...followed the steps and now I'm stuck in the SAME situation as you are. I see my HD is full but none of my specific files come up (not even a user file to get to specific locations). :(
Amigo please help!, Everything worked for me until deleting files to make space, it just doesn't let me delete any files, I can copy them, but not deleting Thanks in advance !
Need help folders don’t show up to delete I already have Catalina on my flash drive I’m on the home screen when I click Macintosh HD it doesn’t show everything what should I do
I got all the way to the end , deleted files had plenty of room but my computer still won't download Catalina . When my external hard drive is plugged in I can see all my files and get on the internet , use my computer like before . I unplugged the external hard drive and restart is stuck. My question is are my files on my hard drive ? Can I just get a new computer and start over ? I'm tired . I would appreciate any help thanks
Your Mac still seems to work. My bet is that there is still not plenty of space available on your internal hard drive. I don't think it has anything to do with the hardware, so if you get a new Mac it won't fix it. If you move all your files to your external drive, you can always decide to reset your Mac and transfer the files to your internal drive afterwards.
When I try to erase my external hard drive I am unable to see the options shown in your video. I only see a few formats such as NTFS, MS-DOS, ExFAT, MAC OS Extended. So I am wondering what to do.
thank you. Once I am up and running off the external hard drive, can I then delete Mojave off the internal HD? Where are those files kept and is there anything else I should watch out for and/or not delete?
1 Compliments of Alan Heartfield on Super User In my case Catalina was saving a copy of the default desktop mage about once per second. Overnight this used up 300GB or so. I changed the default desktop image to one of my own photos and problem disappeared. The images were being written to a folder /private/var/folders/II/n85fg70121zgxw........../T deleting this T folder freed up all the disc space. Daisy disk helped me find the folder that was 300GB or more.
1:36 I'm updating from Mojave to Big Sur, here it does not show apple logo right away, it shows a lock icon (where I enter my admin password) then it accepts the password and shows this apple logo, then macOS Recovery loads, "Examining volumes..." for a bit then it only shows my admin account icon where I enter the same password but it says incorrect. There's nothing else in there to do :(
So I'm trying this "spinning world icon" method ibhuman.com/an-error-occurred-preparing-the-software-update-macbook-pro/ and following some of the comments 😂 hope this works out. Edit: it seems to get stuck at 24 hours next to the clock icon, what ever that is... Edit 2: down to 5 mins now, so it's the time to download recovery tools from Apple's server, because it looks like most of the old OS has been uninstalled, even the recovery utilities have been uninstalled, while the new OS hasn't been installed yet. Edit 3: now stuck at this stage where the old Macintosh HD isn't recognized in recovery mode anymore (password not recognized even after SMC reset attempt), and normal boot (that recognizes the password) will throw it in the loop again (not enough space). Edit 4: developer.apple.com/forums/thread/667487 looks like some people have the same issue. Original OS (before High Sierra) doesn't support APFS, so no Macintosh HD is seen under Apple SSD in recovery disk utility, and this also explains how all correct passwords aren't recognized, because the original OS cannot access the internal HD that has already been encrypted in the new file system. Edit 5: holding Option at startup to boot into original "Macintosh HD" instead of "macOS installer" but this leads to a prohibitory symbol. www.reddit.com/r/macsysadmin/comments/kj27ar/big_sir_failed_update_filevault_out_of_sync/ www.ifixit.com/Answers/View/567380/Mac+seems+bricked.+Internet+Recovery+and+Recovery+USB+not+working. Holding T at startup will boot into Target Disk Mode which requires a second Mac, and turning off firmware password first... which might or might still not work. Edit 6: blog.kylekukshtel.com/big-sur-update-failing-diskutil-apfs-filevault-sync-users this might be useful if only I knew how to "fail" the external drive boot to go to the proper recovery mode that can see the Macintosh HD partitions like that... And making a Catalina boot drive would also require a second Mac which means the Target Disk Mode method would also work (section 13 of this mrmacintosh.com/big-sur-upgrade-not-enough-hd-space-serious-issue-possible-data-loss/ apparently I have FireVault enabled, also Target Disk Mode requires a non-Apple-silicon mac so a new one doesn't work, yikes. Edit 7: the only thing left for me to try is to install the original OS to a USB drive and try updating it to the current OS before the bs update to see if it can access the internal HD and clean it up. Will update in a week, bc I need to clean up a USB drive or SD card using my Android phone first 😑 Luckily I can use Samsung Dex or my iPad in the meantime. Seriously considering ditching Apple for good... bs is such an apt name.
@@zaxele Thanks for the update. There are so many different issues, it's hard to keep up. I will make a forum post on my website so people can help each other! Back in a couple hours.
@@felixkruip omg I did it! Here's how I fixed it without a second Mac. I had FV enabled, original OS was El Capitan, OS before update was Mojave, the recovery mode didn't see the HD because it's in APFS, so I had to use an SD card (64GB) to install El Capitan, then update El Capitan to Mojave (downloaded the installer from app store). After the install and initial restart, it automatically asked for the password to Macintosh HD data and everything is accessible. Now I just need to use an external HD to backup the data. Big Sur is very buggy so I'll just install Catalina and stop updating.
Bro I did this and now all my shit is gone, I went back in and there was nothing for me to move on the new drive and I restarted my Mac and it’s new like there was nothing ever on it
I did everything was said here, I have to say that, it worked, but now I can only see that I have an internal drive but, I can not open it. I have to say that, the update was for montery. Anybody can help here?
@@felixkruip I don’t remember Having it encrypted myself when I bought it. Does that mean I’ve lost my data? I can see the drive and that it has content and also what space is available, but I can not open it.
SO, I have done all that - and removed around 200GB of data off my internal HD, restarted, selected the Internal HD to boot from and it is stuck on the apple logo with a FULL load bar ??? now what ?
Hi! Thank you so much for your solution. But after i deleting item from internal drive then restart and hold option. No internal mac hd available to boot, just recovery. Could you please help?
Yes, you will lose those files if you decide to format the external drive. So you can choose to move the files or delete the files, or use a different empty hard drive
Hi I just tried it and for the external hard drive format I only have this option OS X extended (journaled) OS X Extended (Case-sensitive, Journaled) MS-DOS (FAT), exFAT which one to choose?
@@slymastera sadly no it doesn’t work I have to go repair to the IT shop and get my hard drive fix because it was automatically formatted all the data was gone
@@felixkruip Thanks it’s now installing, wish me luck!! 😬 Do I have to sign in using my Apple ID when starting up with the external drive? Or can I just skip through most the options on startup?
Hi Absolute noob here. Same problem. Can I do this with an empty 128gb SD card instead of HD? This shows as internal when I insert? Like I said. I'm an absolute novice. Thanks in advance 👍
When I click on Macintosh HD I’m only seeing system , I’m not seeing where to delete files or anything. And I did everything according, can I get some help please
This might be since the update changed your drive to read only. Is this the only drive you can see, or is there also a Macintosh HD - Data drive visible?
If your machine does not even recognize your drive it might be disconnected from the device itself; meaning you would have to physically reconnect it. Did you check the 'disk utility' feature?
@@rosiexwu I used a Thunderbolt 2 Cable to export my data onto an external hard drive but all else failed to get me out of the boot loop. I had to reset my MacBook then updated to Big Sur.
Ok I need help. I get to recovery mode but it asks me to pick a user & it won’t take my password. I try to log in with my iCloud account & it won’t allow me to use that either. I’ve been on the phone with apple for a total of 6 hours between yesterday and today and I’ve had no such luck with anything. I can’t get back to disk utility mode at all.. I had it once and then another freaking advisor told me that using an external hard drive wouldn’t work. Ugh please help
@@felixkruip I did yes. It was not working. I had to go to another RU-vid video to try to figure it out. I had to do the combo... shift, option, command, ‘r’ . That combo got me to disk utility, bypassing the user login.
Thank you for posting this. Unfortunately, Apple Support had me ERASE my hard drive and go through the set up. Of course, they didn't want to wait on the phone for this to happen, so again, I couldn't install Catalina. Now I'm stuck with an erased hard drive and Apple Support still doesn't know how to fix the problem. I'm sending emails back and forth to the *senior* tech support person. I sent your youtube link, so maybe you will teach them? They really fight setting up a service call, too, because $$$ I guess. Is this something an Apple tech repair person could figure out? I'm also worried that I will have no room for *my* apps after this. How can their systems be incapable of handling their own updates with insufficient memory to run other programs. I love my computer but at this point, it's a giant paperweight. I will try this on my own if they can't figure it out. Again, thank you. The community, once again, appears to be better able to serve than Apple Support.
And I’m still waiting on Apple… I’m probably going to have to take this into an authorized Mac repair person. How is Apple knows about this problem and does nothing about it? How is it that they put buggy software out and customers have to pay to fix the problems associated with it? Horrible customer service. Nothing like it used to be…
That is so shitty! I feel they don't really care about our files as long as the system is working again. You might have a chance getting some of your files back if you did not overwrite your hard-drive completely. You can try getting a recovery software that might be able to retrieve some of your files.
Where does it show it is empty, in finder? You can check the disk properties to see more details about the disk. It might be that you just cannot see what is on the drive in the UI.
@@felixkruip thank you for taking the time to reply ! So basically I did all the preceding you talked about in your video. I took a hard drive, formatted it, installed os on it, booted the MacBook with the sais external hard drive. Then when I am loggin in the session, I open the internal disk in finder and the disk appears empty, even tho it has 95% of its space used
@@felixkruip i even tried to access the drive from another MacBook by connecting it with thunderbolt and starting it by pressing « T » and the disk is empty in finder
@@Jeannemarre absolutely! Let's see, your internal disk might be encrypted. If it's not encrypted you can try to repair the drive, just double check that it won't delete your files.
The idea is great and the best of the whole ideas out there. however, there seems to be a problem you didn’t come accross. Everything you say worked fine until the point i tried to access my macintosh hd. The drive appears locked. I can see info shows me there is 990GB data but when i open its folder only some system / other type of files will show up. Im certain the data is there but somehow the sistem does not show it nor let me access to it. These are tons of sacred music for me i just can’t give up and format the whole thing but i feel so frustrated i think i will format it. If you can help me solve this i will be so grateful. Thanks again. by the way, this is the most stupid thing apple has ever done to get you into a stupid mac os updating boot loop. i think their coding quality is decreasing over the years.... wake up apple!!!! - sorry just to clarify that everything worked until the point i could finally re enter my mac desktop using external hd for catalina, but then again, when i went into macintosh hd to free some space i cant see my files as they appear as hidden because disk is read only or locked. Pls help!!
External HD might be different file system. Edit: Now I read it again, it sounds like you encrypted your Mac's internal harddrive when you first set it up. Meaning it's locked and you won't be able to access it because it is encrypted. Edit2: found this on Apple blog: "While creating the two separate volumes during the upgrade process, files and data that couldn’t be moved to their new location are placed in a Relocated Items folder. The Relocated Items folder is in the Shared folder within the User folder (/Users/Shared/Relocated Items)."
Eventhough it is hard for me to fix on a distance, if you reply with detailed information people who had the same issue that resolved it might be able to help you!
I hope you could reaad my comment... i just need help.. after installing the big sur to my external hard drive it was somehow stuck to “less than a minute remianing” but luckily it went pass that. It restarted and now im back in the never-ending loop huhuhu pls help.
I booted it using the external now, but its still stuck at 30% in the start up. moreover, i got so frustrated and just decided to erase the macintosh hd disk in the disk utility and opted to reinstall the big sur but still it is stuck on the start up after all the reinstallation... i domt know what to do now anymore. Surely there is already a lot of space available in the internal drive right?
I’m so angry about this, literally had to delete ALL because apparently I have over 90GB of space wasted on system and like a dime available for my apps, is ridiculous like what the hell is just IOS not NASAOS
Has it already been resolved? If not, what I found is that it might be that you do not have good internet or that the installer failed to partition your disk.