macOS Big Sur was officially released for all users in November last year, and since then Apple has released updates with bug fixes and overall improvements. However, as reported by Mr. Macintosh, Big Sur still has a serious issue that can result in data loss when users try to upgrade a Mac to the latest version of the operating system without enough space available.
All Mac models and devices from 2009 like Mac Book, iMac, and Mac Book Retina and 2010 models such as Mac Mini, Mac Pro, Mac Book Air, and Mac Book Pro are compatible with the MacOS High Sierra. However, if you are unsure which mac os version you’re using, you can find it by going to the device information of your Mac, to do this, open the. Use CleanMyMac X to free up space on your Mac and tune it for maximum speed. The new version effectively blocks adware, browser pop-ups, and virus extensions. Download free edition 2021. MacOS Big Sur elevates the most advanced desktop operating system in the world to a new level of power and beauty. Experience Mac to the fullest with a refined new design. Enjoy the biggest Safari update ever. Discover new features for Maps and Messages. And get even more transparency around your privacy. Empty your Mac OS X trash bin. When you delete an item on a Mac, it is placed in the 'Trash' in your Mac OS X dock. However, it still takes up hard drive space until you clean out the Mac hard drive by emptying the trash. In the 'Finder', click 'Finder' in the top menu bar and select 'Empty Trash' from the drop-down menu.
After noticing several reports from users on the web, Mr. Macintosh found out that the macOS Big Sur installer isn’t checking whether the Mac’s internal storage has enough free space. As the system initiates the update process, the Mac becomes unresponsive, and data can be permanently corrupted.
Apple says upgrading to macOS Big Sur for the first time requires at least 35.5 GB of available storage — and this doesn’t include the 13 GB macOS Big Sur installer. Unfortunately, even if your Mac does not have 35.5 GB of storage available, macOS will try to install the Big Sur update, and that’s when users may lose all their data.
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The update process seems to run perfectly, but users get the following message near the end of the installation:
An error occurred preparing the software update.
From that point on, the Mac will no longer boot. Mr. Macintosh was able to confirm that this bug affects macOS Big Sur 11.2 installer and even macOS Big Sur 11.3 beta installer. At the same time, this doesn’t affect OTA updates from one Big Sur installation to another (such as updating from macOS 11.1 to macOS 11.2).
If you have a backup of your data, you can simply erase the entire disk and reinstall macOS. However, recovering data without a backup can be very difficult.
With FileVault enabled, you have to connect your Mac to another Mac via Target Disk Mode in order to recover your files. If FileVault wasn’t enabled on your Mac, you can try to delete some files using the Terminal app in macOS Recovery, which will allow macOS to complete the update process successfully.
Apple hasn’t commented on this bug so far, but hopefully it will be fixed with the final release of macOS Big Sur 11.3. You can read more details about this problem on the Mr. Macintosh blog.
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It's probably Filevault—Apple's encryption system. Encrypting data on your computer uses additional storage, and it can go down rapidly in minutes, as you experienced. This is because each and every system file, cache, log, etc. is encrypted, essentially doubling the amount of used space.
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On my MacBook Pro 2015, I had this enabled without my knowledge, and my storage was also rapidly decreasing. I didn't know what to do. I discovered the problem when I plugged in power, which is required for Filevault to encrypt data. I wanted to turn it off, but decryption was required—a process that takes hours to complete.
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In the end, I reset my Mac to factory settings with a backup of my drive, meaning I could disable this in the setup next time. If this is the problem, try decrypting your drive, and hopefully, you will gain easy storage.
If you don't know how:
*Go to System Preferences
* Go to Security and Privacy
*Click on File Vault, press the lock at the bottom of the window to authenticate, then turn it off to begin encryption.
All Filevault does is encrypt the contents of your disk and make one administrator password required to access your files if unaccessible. So if your computer glitches and your password can't log you in, or you forget that password, you cannot access your files at all.
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Alternatively, to protect my files, I back up to an external hard drive either manually or through Time Machine. It works great. Apple's Filevault doesn't suit me since I don't have a large hard drive (128 GB) and I am not in a business, so my files do not need to protected in this manner.
I will write a follow up to this if you have any questions. But this should help you. If Filevault isn't enabled, I advise you book an appointment at the Genius Bar to run their diagnostics, because this should not be happening!