"Not enough free space" when trying to install XCode even though there's ~7x more free space than required

Developer Tools & Services Xcode
errata OP
Created Nov ’18
Replies 99
Boosts 1
Views 188k
Participants 98

The title says it all...

I am trying to install XCode, constantly getting that message, no matter what I try. Currently I have 41+ GB free space, XCode requires 6.1 according to App Store.


Please suggest how to solve this issue.


Thanks a lot in advance!

Replies  99
Boosts  1
Views  188k
Participants  98
vihlayew.alex OP
Sep ’20
I have 99,64GB of free space and it says "not enough space". How many space do I need? 200GB? 300GB? Or maybe 1TB? Looks like a real garbage..
Don't know what to do with it.
Seems like I'll need to download Xcode from some torrent
2
111111111111 OP
Sep ’20
APPLE where is answer????????? *** GUYS 2 years you have this stupid problem.
0
MrTheStarChild OP
Sep ’20
I started with ~30 gigs on my machine. After trying all of the solutions posted here, I ended up having to first purge my drive of unused applications (mostly pre-installed applications ) which got me to ~40 gigs. The update still didn't work. I then uninstalled and reinstalled Xcode to get the latest version (Xcode 12). I only have 3 non built-in applications installed and a few code bases that I use to develop all under ~10 gigs total. It feels like Apple just wants you to buy their iCloud storage out of frustration.
0
roc3n OP
Sep ’20
Same issue here. I have 39Gb free and it says there's not enough space :(
0
DiegoRA OP
Sep ’20
I had to free 44gb to install Xcode, I used onyx to clean up cache files. Search for it on google and look from the url titanium-software.fr/en/onyx.html there is a specific version for catalina, be sure to check it
0
Iurii_Logosha OP
Sep ’20
I was needed 40Gb. Macbook 13, 2015, 8Gb, 128SSD

  • it could be an issue with RAM memory swapping.

1
siva2sk OP
Sep ’20
I have 33GB of free space in my mac. But it is not allowing to install the xcode which is of 11GB. Actually how much space required to install xcode.
0
ajax8732 OP
Sep ’20 
Code Block 
~/Library/Developer
rm -rf Xcode/


Now try downloading Xcode from app store or expanding your Xcode .xip archive.
8
grepler OP
Sep ’20
After using the suggestion from @ajax8732 I was able to clear enough to have 48GB free. Only then would Xcode install for me.
0
CJStudio OP
Sep ’20
The answer provided by ilkod below worked for me!
Worked the following: sign out from AppStore -> Restart Mac -> Sign in to AppStore -> Download Xcode
1
ludwigfriborg OP
Sep ’20
I got it to work with ~25 GB free storage space, by not updating but instead uninstalling Xcode and then reinstalling it through App Store.
0
Brittcowan2020 OP
Sep ’20
Encountered this issue on September 19th 2020. My MacBook air showed about 33GB of free storage, but would not let me download XCode; I probably tried 10 times and received the same error message of "not enough storage." I called Apple for help. We went through everything, the logging in and logging out of my Apple account, restarting the computer, logging into the computer in safe mode. Only after I freed up some more space and hit 40 GB of free space would the download start. Have no idea why this is, as XCode is only about 11GB.
2
waelio OP
Sep ’20
I am having the same issue. This is Apple's walk of shame for creating a mediocre SSD's for their OSX.
128GB? Really? Fire whom ever decided that 128GB SSD is enough for anything ...

My solution is/was relocating/removing Applications and Items from your OSX Hard drive just long enough to download XCode, then move XCode to an external HDD and update the Path. Return all the Items you relocated or removed.
This Worked for me before, now I am having to redo the whole thing again. :(
0
mattycas OP
Sep ’20
In my case Docker Desktop seemed to have a hold on the FS. After quitting Docker Desktop I was able to unarchive.
0
diarmuidmcg OP
Sep ’20
21 sept 2020
I had to clean out some storage and had 43gb free before it would download.
1
BartoszMaciejewicz OP
Sep ’20
Hey, I found a working solution

After update macOS to the 10.15.6 I noticed that Xcode throws info that is not enough space on disk to update app, so I tried to run old Xcode and I noticed a popup about missing requirements, after click "install" the problem about updating Xcode in AppStore gone.

There was no needed steps to uninstall Xcode so I'm happy of that :)

I hope that this will help you too
1
aminedge OP
Sep ’20
I have MacBook Pro 13 inch 256gb 2017 running MacOS Big Sur beta and had the same error until I free my storage up to 40gb and now Xcode 12 is installing from AppStore :)
1
muriloksantos OP
Sep ’20
The answer provided by ilkod below worked for me!
Worked the following: sign out from AppStore -> Restart Mac -> Sign in to AppStore -> Download Xcode
1
arashmanpreet OP
Sep ’20
I encountered the same issue on September 24 2020. Apple needs to fix this error. You need at least 40gb+ of free space in order to download Xcode which is only 11gb.
1
bob1993 OP
Sep ’20 
Code Block language
cd ~/Library/Developer
rm -rf Xcode

this worked for me, thanks @ajax8732 
3
Nazza OP
Sep ’20
This solution did not work for me:
sign out from AppStore -> Restart Mac -> Sign in to AppStore -> Download Xcode

What DID work was simply deleting files and making sure I have at least 40GBs of space.
1
dermutzh OP
Sep ’20
Had the same issue when trying to update to Xcode 12.0.1. Had 30GB free, but still not enough.

Solution was:

  1. Deleting Xcode 11.x from my Applications. (then I had 41GB free)

  2. Rebooting my Mac so the App Store notices that Xcode is not installed anymore.

  3. Downloading new Xcode Version.

2
jtompl OP
Oct ’20
Had the same issue. (MacBook Air late 2013, 256 GB SSD, only 40 gb of free disk space).

Solution: Remove Xcode from Applications (just go to Apps and delete it as you'd normally do with an app), and then download and install it from https://developer.apple.com/download/more/ .

Easy, quite quick and no problems.

P.S. XCode download weights 10 GB, and XCode itself weights 30 GB. So if you've already have XCode installed, then after removing it you'll have a lot of free disk space - which luckily should be no less than ~40GB that you'll need.
2
sirmong2 OP
Oct ’20
This is a real shame. Every xcode update is a maximum pain. I always postpone that process till the end. Apple! Do something with it!
0
emho OP
Oct ’20
I have this problem whenever there is a new version of Xcode. Such a horrible experience, Apple!
1
"Not enough free space" when trying to install XCode even though there's ~7x more free space than required
First post date Last post date
 
 
Q