Without that space, the macOS update installer can’t complete all of its tasks, and the update fails. In fact, you often need as much as 20 GB of free storage on your Mac to update the operating software on it. But in fact, the macOS update installer needs extra room to work in.Īs the update installs, it copies files and expands folders, taking up much more space than it needed to download.

Especially after you already made enough space to download the update. It’s not immediately obvious why your Mac needs free space to update itself anyway. Why do I need free space to update macOS?

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How to create a macOS Catalina USB installer.

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How to use the new storage optimization features in macOS Sierra.

PSA: macOS Catalina will kill your 32-bit apps - here’s what you should know.

In this post, we’ve explained a few different ways to break out of the macOS update loop and make sure you have enough free space on your Mac. But if your update failed during installation, or if that alert failed to read your storage properly, you might find yourself with problems.

If there isn’t enough free space on your Mac, usually you get an alert before you start the update. Some users started the update but found themselves stuck in this “boot loop” after it failed, returning to the update installer page every time their Mac booted up again. Updating macOS can be a real chore sometimes, especially if you get stuck in an update loop because there isn’t enough free space.

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