# How do I find out how much of my MacBook's memory I've used? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [May 18, 2008, 6:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-find-out-how-much-of-my-macbooks-memory-ive-used/449766 "2008-05-18T18:01:45Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2008, 6:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-find-out-how-much-of-my-macbooks-memory-ive-used/449766/1 "2008-05-18T18:01:45Z")
I’m trying to figure out how much memory space I’ve got left on my MacBook, but I can’t find it - where is it? ---
**Author:** ![Cleophus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a88e57/32.png) [@Cleophus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cleophus)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2008, 6:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-find-out-how-much-of-my-macbooks-memory-ive-used/449766/2 "2008-05-18T18:11:25Z")
Do you mean hard disk space or free RAM? ---
**Author:** ![beowulff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beowulff/32/542_2.png) [@beowulff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beowulff)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2008, 6:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-find-out-how-much-of-my-macbooks-memory-ive-used/449766/3 "2008-05-18T18:14:57Z")
Applications-\>Utilities-\>Activity Monitor shows both. ---
**Author:** ![Red\_Barchetta](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/da6949/32.png) [@Red\_Barchetta](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Red_Barchetta)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2008, 6:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-find-out-how-much-of-my-macbooks-memory-ive-used/449766/4 "2008-05-18T18:24:49Z")
Better yet, install the [iStat Pro](http://www.apple.com/downloads/dashboard/status/istatpro.html) (it’s free) widget to have a really easy and neat way of seeing a whole bunch of stats about your macbook (such as what tmp it’s running at, how much memory’s free, etc) ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2008, 6:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-find-out-how-much-of-my-macbooks-memory-ive-used/449766/5 "2008-05-18T18:27:51Z")
as always, **beowulff** comes through - thanks. Looks like I’m going to have to get a separate drive for my iPod library. ---
**Author:** ![beowulff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beowulff/32/542_2.png) [@beowulff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beowulff)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2008, 6:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-find-out-how-much-of-my-macbooks-memory-ive-used/449766/6 "2008-05-18T18:52:43Z")
[QUOTE=Northern Piper] as always, **beowulff** comes through - thanks. Looks like I’m going to have to get a separate drive for my iPod library. [/QUOTE] Frightening how much disk space audio and video takes, isn’t it? You might consider just replacing your current drive with a new, huge one. Drives have gotten dirt cheap, and adding an external case can double the price… ---
**Author:** ![Rocketeer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rocketeer/32/4437_2.png) [@Rocketeer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rocketeer)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2008, 3:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-find-out-how-much-of-my-macbooks-memory-ive-used/449766/7 "2008-05-19T15:52:00Z")
Doesn’t a number for hard drive still available appear at the bottom of every folder window? Sure does on our iMac. ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2008, 12:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-find-out-how-much-of-my-macbooks-memory-ive-used/449766/8 "2008-05-24T00:38:31Z")
[QUOTE=beowulff] Frightening how much disk space audio and video takes, isn’t it? You might consider just replacing your current drive with a new, huge one. Drives have gotten dirt cheap, and adding an external case can double the price… [/QUOTE] How big a drive can you put in a MacBook? ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2008, 12:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-find-out-how-much-of-my-macbooks-memory-ive-used/449766/9 "2008-05-24T00:43:28Z")
[QUOTE=Rocketeer] Doesn’t a number for hard drive still available appear at the bottom of every folder window? Sure does on our iMac. [/QUOTE] Only in Finder, and it doesn’t say “X left out of Y”. See, I’m old school. When I started, I just had a floppy internal drive (512 k) and an external floppy (another 512 k). A hard drive of 20 megs was huge, an unimaginable amount of memory (or, as my brother put it when I first got a Mac, “you could run the moon landing with 20 megs!”). So when I see a little thing on the bottom of a screen that says “757 megs free” I think, “wow, I’ve got a lot of drive space left.” Then I get a message saying the disk is nearly full, and I realise two things: 1. iPod stuff takes up a lot of space; :eek: and, 2. I’m old. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![beowulff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beowulff/32/542_2.png) [@beowulff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beowulff)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2008, 2:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-find-out-how-much-of-my-macbooks-memory-ive-used/449766/10 "2008-05-24T02:10:35Z")
[QUOTE=Northern Piper] How big a drive can you put in a MacBook? [/QUOTE] I think think the biggest 2.5" drive currently available is 500GB: [Hitachi Travelstar 5K500 - A Whopping 500GB Notebook Drive](http://www.slashgear.com/hitachi-travelstar-5k500-a-whopping-500gb-notebook-drive-039329.php) On preview, it appears that this drive is too tall for the MacBook, but I think there are 320GB ones that will fit (9.5mm). ---
**Author:** ![drewbert](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drewbert/32/15890_2.png) [@drewbert](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drewbert)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2008, 1:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-find-out-how-much-of-my-macbooks-memory-ive-used/449766/11 "2008-05-24T13:40:43Z")
[QUOTE=Northern Piper] Only in Finder, and it doesn’t say “X left out of Y”. [/QUOTE] Just click on the icon for the hard drive (Macintosh HD or whatever you’ve renamed it) and Get Info (command-I). You’ll see Capacity, Available, and Used. ---
**Author:** ![chaoticbear](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f07891/32.png) [@chaoticbear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chaoticbear)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2008, 6:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-find-out-how-much-of-my-macbooks-memory-ive-used/449766/12 "2008-05-24T18:02:30Z")
Hey, iStat Pro is pretty neat! I’d heard of it before, but of course, an SDMB recommendation always carries more weight. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2008, 5:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-find-out-how-much-of-my-macbooks-memory-ive-used/449766/13 "2008-05-29T05:22:48Z")
[QUOTE=beowulff] I think think the biggest 2.5" drive currently available is 500GB: [Hitachi Travelstar 5K500 - A Whopping 500GB Notebook Drive](http://www.slashgear.com/hitachi-travelstar-5k500-a-whopping-500gb-notebook-drive-039329.php) On preview, it appears that this drive is too tall for the MacBook, but I think there are 320GB ones that will fit (9.5mm). [/QUOTE] Thanks, **beowulff**. Think I’ll wander over to the Mac store and see what they can do for me. ---
**Author:** ![TimeWinder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bcef8e/32.png) [@TimeWinder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TimeWinder)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2008, 3:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-find-out-how-much-of-my-macbooks-memory-ive-used/449766/14 "2008-05-29T15:11:30Z")
[QUOTE=Northern Piper] Only in Finder, and it doesn’t say “X left out of Y”. [/QUOTE] In the finder, go to preferences. Under “Show these items on the Desktop,” select at least “Hard Disks” and “External Disks.” Every disk icon on your desktop will now say “Y GB, X GB free” right underneath it.