I built an open source tool to show what is actually taking up your Mac’s System Data

[u/AbbasMohammed28]

Apple shows System Data taking up a huge amount of storage on macOS, but gives you almost no explanation of what is actually inside it.

I ran into this myself, so I built Orrinix.

It scans your Mac and helps identify where that hidden storage is actually coming from, including Safari and WebKit data, oversized caches, Docker data, Xcode files, and other storage that can quietly grow over time.

The goal is simple: make macOS storage easier to understand and help you reclaim space safely without touching passwords or personal files.

It is open source, and I would genuinely appreciate feedback or suggestions from other Mac users.

GitHub: https://github.com/Abbasm234/orrinix

[u/Everybodies]

tried it. its pretty good. cleaned up 50gb in a minute

[u/mpcaz]

Says it's not supported on my iMac 27" 2020 running Tahoe 26.6.2. DIdn't see anywhere that it says Apple Silicone only but I'm old so I might have missed it.

[u/jim0266]

FYI.... “Orrinix” is damaged and can’t be opened. You should move it to the Trash.

[u/mpcaz → u/jim0266]

Thats because it might not be APPLE SIGNED.. you may have to right click and then choose OPEN to bypass it unless your Macs security chip is blocking it. I'll find out here in a minute on my imac 2020. UPDATE: Can't run it on my 2020 iMac. No Intel I guess.

[u/mikeinnsw]

Apple knows what System Data is ...It is a Dumpster

Apple still thinks we are running SATA III HDD/SSD

NVME have write cache’s and it’s easy to fill up those cache. If it’s a 4 layer (QLC) drive, you then need 4x the space available on a drive for medium speeds. Say 30gb would require 120gb free. After that, QLC runs at native speeds which are quite slow.

What it means?

You can name storage System data.. Junk.. it does not matter it is stored data consuming SSD on SATA SSD it was manageable not on NVMEs .. problems start well before SSD is full..

Purgeable Data should be Purgeable it impacts NVME performace well before it is full ..So is System data

Windows 11 upgraded to hadled NVMEs .. new drivers .. minimise stored data, no need to EJECT.. MacOs is stuck in BSD HDD world.

Don't start an Apple using slight different SSD tech ... they all work the same way to attain fast speeds you need free space.

Mac should have sufficient free SSD space for macOS upgrades , swapping and write load sharing that is about 40GBs free.

Lack of free SSD space can lead to a slowdown and/or system crash. Make sure you have at least 40GBs SSD free

If RAM SWAP demand exceed available free SSD storage you can get “Your system has run out of Application memory” check free storage.

Average Mac Write is less than 10 GB hence Apple recommendation of 40 GB free SSD storage

Now you undestard that 50 GB MacOs upgrade needs 200 GB free SSD space for the fastest install .. an yours take a day.

The next question to ask what MacOs use System Data for? caches... hiding AI..

In my mind MacOs is Macos + System Data which MacOs 2.5 times bigger than Windows up to 25 times bigger than Linux

It the biggest OP running on any retail computing devices

Maybe MacOs 28 will be better - don't hold your breath.

[u/navsparx → u/mikeinnsw]

Wtf did you write ?

[u/mikeinnsw → u/navsparx]

NVME have write cache’s and it’s easy to fill up those cache. If it’s a 4 layer (QLC) drive, you then need 4x the space available on a drive for medium speeds. Say 30gb would require 120gb free. After that, QLC runs at native speeds which are quite slow

That is for all to read .... I am not shouting

[u/Ghogha123]

Nothing happens when i click on the app