--- title: "Why Finder and Disk Utility show different free space" description: "Finder counts purgeable space as available, Terminal doesn’t, and GB vs GiB adds more gaps. Here’s what each number means and which one to trust on a Mac." url: https://tidymac.space/guides/finder-disk-utility-free-space-different/ updated: 2026-10-17 --- [Home](/) [Guides](/guides/) Why Finder and Disk Utility show different free space # Why Finder, System Settings, Disk Utility and Terminal show different free space on a Mac Finder counts purgeable space as available, Terminal doesn’t, and GB vs GiB adds more gaps. Here’s what each number means and which one to trust on a Mac. 5 min readUpdated October 16, 2026By the Tidy Mac team Short answer They measure different things. Finder and System Settings show “available” space, which includes purgeable space macOS promises to free later. Terminal’s df shows what’s free right now. Disk Utility lists used, other volumes and free separately. Terminal also uses binary units (GiB), so its numbers look about 7% smaller. The steps 1. Note Finder’s “available” number (Finder window status bar or Get Info on Macintosh HD). 2. Run df -h / in Terminal to see what’s free right now. 3. Open Disk Utility to see used, other volumes and free separately. 4. Convert GiB to GB before comparing. 5. Thin local snapshots and restart if “available” and free are far apart. ## Four numbers, four meanings Where What it shows Includes purgeable? Units Finder (status bar, Get Info) Available Yes GB (decimal) System Settings › General › Storage Used by category, available Yes GB (decimal) Disk Utility Used, Other Volumes, Free Shown separately GB (decimal) Terminal `df -h /` Free right now No GiB (binary) ## Purgeable space: the biggest gap macOS counts some space as **purgeable**: Time Machine local snapshots, iCloud files it can remove, and caches. Finder adds that to "available" because macOS promises to free it when an app needs room. Until it does, the space isn't really free, which is why installers can fail while Finder says there's room. [Purgeable space explained](/guides/purgeable-space-mac/) ## GB vs GiB Finder and System Settings count 1 GB as 1,000,000,000 bytes. Terminal's `df -h` and `du -h` count 1 GiB as 1,073,741,824 bytes and print it as "Gi". 500 GB is about 466 GiB. [Convert them](/tools/storage-unit-converter/) ![](/img/brand/tidy-128.png) ### Let Tidy Mac do this for you See every part of your storage explained, and clear junk to the Trash with Undo. $9.99 once, 2 Macs. [Download](/download/TidyMac.dmg) [Buy for $9.99 once](/buy/) ## Snapshots hold deleted files When you delete a file, a Time Machine local snapshot may still reference it. The space returns only when that snapshot is removed, usually within 24 hours, or right away if you thin snapshots yourself. [Local snapshots](/learn/time-machine-local-snapshots/) ## Clones and shared space On APFS, copies made in Finder are clones that share blocks. Tools that add up file sizes (including `du` on folders with clones) can count the same space twice, so folder totals can exceed what's used on the disk. ## Which number to trust For "can I install this?", trust `df -h /` or Disk Utility's Free. For "how much could I get back?", Finder's available is fair, once purgeable space is released. To release it now: ``` sudo tmutil thinlocalsnapshots / 999999999999 4 ``` Then restart. ## Where Tidy Mac fits Tidy Mac's sizes count APFS clones once and iCloud-only files as zero, and its Home screen shows purgeable space and local snapshots on their own lines, so its totals match Disk Utility and you can see exactly why Finder's number is different. [Pricing](/#pricing) ## Frequently asked questions Why does my Mac say it has space but won’t install an update? Finder counts purgeable space as available. The installer needs space that’s free right now. Thin local snapshots and restart. [Fix it](/guides/not-enough-space-for-macos-update/) Which is more accurate, Finder or Disk Utility? Both are accurate for what they measure. Disk Utility separates free space from other volumes, so it’s closer to what you can use right now. Finder adds purgeable space. Why is my free space smaller in Terminal? Terminal uses GiB (1,073,741,824 bytes) and excludes purgeable space. Finder uses GB (1,000,000,000 bytes) and includes it. I emptied the Trash but free space didn’t change. Why? A local snapshot may still hold those files, or Finder hasn’t refreshed yet. Thinning snapshots and restarting usually makes the space show up. ## Keep reading [Purgeable space on Mac: why you get “not enough space” when Finder says there’s room](/guides/purgeable-space-mac/)[GB to GiB converter](/tools/storage-unit-converter/)[Time Machine local snapshots on Mac](/learn/time-machine-local-snapshots/)[How to check disk space on a Mac in Terminal](/guides/check-disk-space-mac-terminal/)[Free disk space analyzers for Mac: GrandPerspective, OmniDiskSweeper, Disk Inventory X and macOS’s own](/guides/free-disk-space-analyzer-mac/)[Screenshots taking up space on your Mac: where they go and how to clean them up](/guides/screenshots-taking-up-space-mac/) Share:[X](https://x.com/intent/post?text=Why%20Finder%2C%20System%20Settings%2C%20Disk%20Utility%20and%20Terminal%20show%20different%20free%20space%20on%20a%20Mac&url=https%3A%2F%2Ftidymac.space%2Fguides%2Ffinder-disk-utility-free-space-different%2F)[Reddit](https://www.reddit.com/submit?url=https%3A%2F%2Ftidymac.space%2Fguides%2Ffinder-disk-utility-free-space-different%2F&title=Why%20Finder%2C%20System%20Settings%2C%20Disk%20Utility%20and%20Terminal%20show%20different%20free%20space%20on%20a%20Mac)[Hacker News](https://news.ycombinator.com/submitlink?u=https%3A%2F%2Ftidymac.space%2Fguides%2Ffinder-disk-utility-free-space-different%2F&t=Why%20Finder%2C%20System%20Settings%2C%20Disk%20Utility%20and%20Terminal%20show%20different%20free%20space%20on%20a%20Mac)[LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/sharing/share-offsite/?url=https%3A%2F%2Ftidymac.space%2Fguides%2Ffinder-disk-utility-free-space-different%2F) #### On this page [Four numbers, four meanings](#four-numbers-four-meanings)[Purgeable space: the biggest gap](#purgeable-space-the-biggest-gap)[GB vs GiB](#gb-vs-gib)[Snapshots hold deleted files](#snapshots-hold-deleted-files)[Clones and shared space](#clones-and-shared-space)[Which number to trust](#which-number-to-trust)[Where Tidy Mac fits](#where-tidy-mac-fits)[FAQ](#faq) **Tidy Mac** See this on your own Mac in under a minute. $9.99 once, 2 Macs. 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