"What is system data on Mac? Everything you should know"

What is system data on a Mac?

Imagine you're trying to free up space on your Mac because it's showing that a significant amount of memory is taken up by "Other Data."

Mac System Data consists of many file types that aren't considered photos, videos, or text; typically, it takes up about 10 GB of space on your Mac. But sometimes, System Storage can use 80 GB or more.

You can view system storage through System Settings.

Step 1: Choose Apple menu > System Preferences > General > Storage, and you'll see a rainbow of bars, each representing a category.

And if you hover over one of those colors, you see the category it represents and the percentage that makes up.

Hover over each category to learn its type and size; typically, the dark gray areas represent system data.

System data takes up quite a bit of space

For example, in this image, the system data is 143.32 GB.

What file types are included in the Mac data?

To better manage your storage, macOS provides an easy way to track how space is being used and identify which documents are taking up the most room. A mysterious “Other” or system data can appear in your Mac storage.

The “Other” storage category on a Mac is made up of various types of files that don't fit into specific categories like Photos, Videos, Mail, or Messages. Apple represents them as system data.

Other data encompass multiple file formats.

In macOS Big Sur and earlier, you see System above Other. In macOS Monterey and later, System is renamed macOS, and Other is renamed System Data.

Mac data includes the following files:

• Old backups.
• macOS system files.
• Temporary files.
• App extensions/plugins.
• Disk images and archives, including .DMG, .ZIP, and more.
• Cached files like system cache, browser cache, and user cache.

The size of system data depends on the health of your Mac. Since some of these files are redundant, securely deleting system data can reduce their impact on your Mac's storage.

How to Access System Data on a Mac

Apple likes to keep these folders hidden to protect them from potential viruses and cyberattacks. However, you may need access to system data for full control, to modify settings, or clear cache files.

In addition to what we've mentioned earlier about checking storage from system preferences, you can also view it through the Terminal. Follow these steps to access your Mac's system data:

Step 1: Go to Applications/Utilities and open Terminal.

Step 2: Enter the following command in Terminal: chflags nohidden ~/System.

Step 3: Press Return to run the command. Make sure it runs.

Step 4. Close Terminal. The “System” folder should now appear in Finder > Go.

If you don't want to see System data, enter the command chflags hidden ~/System in Terminal.

And if you hit Return, it goes back to the way it was.

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How to Clear System Data on a Mac

If your Mac is showing low on space, we recommend that you clear system data on your Mac. Here's a video on how to do that.

• 00:01 What is system data?
• 01:13 Optimizing storage space
• 02:03 Manually cleaning app cache files
• 03:33 System cleanup tools
• 05:15 Other tips

While full control over the data is necessary, there are ways to make it smaller.

Optimize Mac Storage Space

You can optimize your Mac's system data storage by following the suggestions in the Storage Management pane.

Note: These suggestions apply only to volumes that contain a user's Home folder.

Clear the Cache on a Mac

The "Library" folder contains cache files generated when running the Mac OS and apps. You can free up more space on your Mac by manually deleting unneeded cache files. Follow these steps:

Step 1: In Finder, choose Go > Go to Folder.

Step 2. Paste the following file path into the search box:

The path ~/Library/Caches/ refers to the Caches folder within the user's personal Library folder in the macOS system. In Chinese, it's "~/Library/缓存/".

/Library/Caches/ This is a path in the Mac operating system that points to the "Caches" subfolder within the "Library" folder. This location typically stores cache files from applications, which help them load information quickly, but might not contain sensitive data.

/System/Library/Caches/ This is a path to the system cache folder on a Mac operating system.

Step 3: Press the Return key.

4. Drag any files you want to remove to the Trash.

Step 5: Empty the Recycle Bin.

Be careful not to delete important data which may lead to system breakdown. If you accidentally delete crucial data from Mac Trash, you can use third-party software to recover data from Mac Trash.

Delete Log Files on a Mac

Log files, as part of system data, can be deleted following these steps:

Step 1: From the Finder, choose Go to the menu, then choose Go to Folder.

Step 2: Paste ~/Library/Logs/ into the blank bar and press "Return."

Step 3: Select the log file you want to delete, then press Command + Backspace.

Step 4: Remove log files from the /Library/Logs/ folder.

Delete local snapshot of Time Machine

Your Mac keeps local backups of your Mac with Time Machine in case the external drive isn't available. You can manually clean these up by:

Step 1: Launch Terminal via Launchpad or Spotlight.

Step 2: Type tmutil listlocalsnapshotdates in the Terminal window, and press Return. This lists available backups by date.

Step 3. In Terminal, enter the following command: If prompted, enter your user account password and press Return, then use the command tmutil deletelocalsnapshots "xxxxxxx" to delete the backup. Note that "xxxxxxx" represents the date of the backup you want to remove.

Delete old iOS backups

The “System Data” folder also contains iOS backups, which can take up a lot of storage space on your Mac. It's a good idea to delete old iOS backups from your Mac to free up space.

If connecting your iPhone to your computer is inconvenient, you can search for and delete iOS backups manually.

Here are the steps:

Step 1. Press Shift+Command+G to open the “Go to Folder” window on your desktop.

Step 2: Paste /Library/Application Support/MobileSync/Backup/ into the search field and press Return.

Step 3: Find the backups you don't want to keep, and drag them to the Trash.

Empty the download folder

Your Mac stores downloaded files in the “Downloads” folder. Over time, this folder can become quite large with system data. It's a good idea to empty it periodically.

Once Finder opens, click “Downloads” in the sidebar. Sort your files by size and delete those you no longer need.

Restart your Mac

Some issues can be resolved simply by restarting your Mac. If it's been a while, choose Apple menu > Restart.

## Recover Deleted System Data on a Mac

If you accidentally deleted system files, or some Mac programs are running incorrectly, it is recommended to use a third-party recovery tool – Data Recovery Wizard for Mac to get your system data back.

It is a professional Mac data recovery software that can recover data from emptied Trash, and save unlimited amount of data in 3 simple steps:

Step 1: Select the hard drive or partition

Step 2: Scan for the deleted files.

Step 3: Preview all the recoverable files and select the ones that you want to restore.

Mac data recovery software helps address many challenging cases of data loss, such as recovering an SD card on a Mac. Apple users can download it to restore deleted files from the Mac Trash without a Time Machine backup.

Conclusions

System Data includes many categories of files that can't be identified as a specific file type, like photos, videos, emails, or messages. Apple refers to them as System Data; typically, System Data takes up about 10 GB of space on your Mac. However, in some cases, it can be large, over 80 GB.

You can check your storage space through System Preferences or the terminal. To free up space on your Mac, you can optimize your Mac's storage, clear your Mac's cache, delete log files, remove local Time Machine snapshots, delete old iOS backups, empty the Downloads folder, or restart your Mac.