--- title: "What is “Other Volumes in Container” on a Mac?" description: "“Other Volumes in Container” is the space used by macOS’s helper volumes: Preboot, Recovery, VM (swap) and Update. Here’s what’s normal and when it’s too big." url: https://tidymac.space/guides/other-volumes-in-container-mac/ updated: 2026-10-17 --- [Home](/) [Guides](/guides/) What is “Other Volumes in Container” on a Mac? # What is “Other Volumes in Container” on a Mac, and can you delete it? “Other Volumes in Container” is the space used by macOS’s helper volumes: Preboot, Recovery, VM (swap) and Update. Here’s what’s normal and when it’s too big. 5 min readUpdated October 16, 2026By the Tidy Mac team Short answer “Other Volumes in Container” is the space used by the other APFS volumes that share your disk with Macintosh HD: Preboot, Recovery, VM (swap and sleep image) and Update. It’s normally a few gigabytes to about 20 GB and you shouldn’t delete it. If it’s much bigger, look for an extra volume left by an old macOS install or a large swap file. The steps 1. Open Disk Utility and choose View › Show All Devices. 2. Select the container (the line above Macintosh HD) to see every volume in it and its size. 3. In Terminal, run diskutil apfs list for exact sizes per volume. 4. Restart to shrink a large VM (swap) volume. 5. Only delete a volume you created yourself, after a backup. Never delete Preboot, Recovery, VM or Update. ## Why your disk has more than one volume A Mac's internal drive is one **APFS container** split into several volumes that share the same free space. [What an APFS container is](/glossary/apfs-container/). You normally see one, Macintosh HD, but macOS keeps several others next to it: Volume What it holds Typical size Macintosh HD The sealed, read-only macOS system 10–20 GB Macintosh HD - Data Your apps, files and settings Everything else Preboot Files the Mac needs before macOS starts, including FileVault unlock 1–8 GB Recovery macOS Recovery, used to repair or reinstall 1–3 GB VM Swap files and the sleep image 0–20 GB+ Update Staging area for macOS updates Usually small "Other Volumes in Container" is the total of everything except Macintosh HD and its Data volume. It's part of the storage picture alongside [System Data](/learn/what-is-system-data-on-mac/), but it's a different number. ## See each volume's size 1. Open **Disk Utility** (Applications › Utilities). 2. Choose **View › Show All Devices**. 3. Click each volume under the container in the sidebar. The bar at the top shows Used, Other Volumes and Free. For exact numbers, in Terminal: ``` diskutil apfs list ``` Each volume shows its role (System, Data, Preboot, Recovery, VM, Update) and "Capacity Consumed". ![](/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/) ## When it's too big - **A large VM volume**: macOS has been swapping memory to disk. A restart clears the swap files. [What swap is](/glossary/swap/) - **An extra Data or System volume**: left over from a second macOS install, a beta, or an interrupted reinstall. It shows up in Disk Utility with its own name. - **A volume you made**: for a test macOS install or a project. It counts here too. ## Deleting an extra volume Back up first. Never delete Preboot, Recovery, VM or Update: your Mac may not start or update without them. Only delete a volume you can name and know you don't need. In Disk Utility, select the extra volume, then click the **−** button in the toolbar (Delete APFS Volume). The space returns to the shared container at once. ## Where Tidy Mac fits Tidy Mac's Home screen splits your disk into named parts and shows the macOS share as one tile, so the totals add up to what Disk Utility reports. It never deletes volumes. To see where the rest of your space went, Space Map draws every folder at its real size. [See pricing](/#pricing) ## Frequently asked questions Is it safe to delete Other Volumes in Container? No, not as a whole. It’s Preboot, Recovery, VM and Update, which macOS needs to start, repair and update. The only part you might remove is an extra volume you created or one left by an old macOS install, after a backup. How big should Other Volumes in Container be? Usually a few gigabytes up to about 20 GB. The VM volume grows when macOS swaps memory to disk, and shrinks again after a restart. Why did Other Volumes get bigger after an update? Updates stage files in the Update volume and refresh Preboot. Most of that is cleared after the update finishes and the Mac restarts once or twice. Is Other Volumes the same as System Data? No. System Data is part of your Data volume: caches, snapshots, backups and app data. Other Volumes are separate volumes in the same container. [What System Data is](/learn/what-is-system-data-on-mac/) ## Keep reading [What is APFS container?](/glossary/apfs-container/)[What is Swap (virtual memory)?](/glossary/swap/)[What is “System Data” on a Mac, and why is it so big?](/learn/what-is-system-data-on-mac/)[Why Finder, System Settings, Disk Utility and Terminal show different free space on a Mac](/guides/finder-disk-utility-free-space-different/)[Mac storage stuck on “Calculating…”: why it happens and how to fix it](/guides/mac-storage-stuck-calculating/)[What is “Other” storage on a Mac, and where did it go?](/guides/what-is-other-storage-on-mac/) Share:[X](https://x.com/intent/post?text=What%20is%20%E2%80%9COther%20Volumes%20in%20Container%E2%80%9D%20on%20a%20Mac%2C%20and%20can%20you%20delete%20it%3F&url=https%3A%2F%2Ftidymac.space%2Fguides%2Fother-volumes-in-container-mac%2F)[Reddit](https://www.reddit.com/submit?url=https%3A%2F%2Ftidymac.space%2Fguides%2Fother-volumes-in-container-mac%2F&title=What%20is%20%E2%80%9COther%20Volumes%20in%20Container%E2%80%9D%20on%20a%20Mac%2C%20and%20can%20you%20delete%20it%3F)[Hacker News](https://news.ycombinator.com/submitlink?u=https%3A%2F%2Ftidymac.space%2Fguides%2Fother-volumes-in-container-mac%2F&t=What%20is%20%E2%80%9COther%20Volumes%20in%20Container%E2%80%9D%20on%20a%20Mac%2C%20and%20can%20you%20delete%20it%3F)[LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/sharing/share-offsite/?url=https%3A%2F%2Ftidymac.space%2Fguides%2Fother-volumes-in-container-mac%2F) #### On this page [Why your disk has more than one volume](#why-your-disk-has-more-than-one-volume)[See each volume's size](#see-each-volume-s-size)[When it's too big](#when-it-s-too-big)[Deleting an extra volume](#deleting-an-extra-volume)[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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