Mac System Data Large After macOS Ventura Update? (Fix?)

iPhone Tricks > TILs

Posted in TILs by Tyrone on November 1, 2022

Mac System Data large

Mac System Data takes up a large amount of storage space after macOS Ventura Update? You’ve recently upgraded to macOS 13 and are seeing high or huge values between 30 GB and up to 80 GB of storage blocked by the system?

System Data Large in macOS Ventura?

This issue has been reported by Jose:

“System data takes up way too much space after ventura update! almost 40gigs. is it normal?”

We’re seeing values of 10-15 GB on our own devices but have found similar complaints on Reddit:

“System Data is absurdly large after Ventura update…74GB”

How To Fix macOS Ventura System Data

There’s not much that you can do about this. First of all be patient and allow the update to sync in for a couple of days. After everything gets properly indexed System Data storage values might drop.

According to this thread on Apple’s Discussion Forums any time macOS is updated, the process starts by making a copy of the APFS system volume (Macintosh HD) to a snapshot!

The snapshot is then updated, and when completed, it’s signed & sealed to become the “new” Macintosh HD in the new OS version.

macOS Ventura should eventually purge unnecessary System Data usage as more storage space is needed. This happens naturally over time or you can achieve it manually by using a third-party Mac cleaning software and get the appearance that you’re actually having more space on your computer.

Is System Data still taking up too much storage after macOS Ventura update? How much? Do you have a better solution or other problems to report? Share your feedback in the comments!

Related: For more macOS 13 issues and their available workarounds please check our extended review.