What Does Other Users & Shared Mean in Mac Storage?

Other Users & Shared in macOS Storage is a category, not a folder you can empty. It is an estimate that can include other accounts, shared data, and files macOS cannot classify more clearly. A large number is a reason to find the owner, not to delete /Users by hand.

An old user account, the /Users/Shared folder, and the Storage label are different things. They can contribute to the same number, but one does not make the others safe to remove.

What the label can include

The Storage view groups data by classification rather than by one physical directory. Other Users & Shared can reflect home folders for accounts that still exist, homes left behind by deleted accounts, items deliberately shared between local users, and app data whose owner is not obvious from the summary.

Start with Apple's Storage guide and treat the category as a prompt to measure real folders. It does not tell you whether a folder contains photos, a project, a virtual machine, a download cache, or the only copy of somebody else's work. Storage can also take time to reclassify after a change, so the displayed total is not a reliable before-and-after receipt.

If the Mac still has enough available space for normal work and updates, do not chase the label. If space is genuinely low, first identify the large account or folder and ask whether its owner still needs it.

Separate accounts from the Shared folder

Open System Settings > Users & Groups before opening Finder. The account list tells you which people can still sign in. An account that appears there has a home folder that may contain documents, Desktop files, Photos libraries, developer work, browser profiles, and app data. Do not remove that home folder because its name looks unfamiliar.

/Users/Shared is different. It is one specific folder intended for files that more than one local account can use. It is not a synonym for the Other Users & Shared Storage label. A large file in Shared may be a deliberate handoff, an installer, a game library, or a working file another account still expects. Check its name, owner, and whether anyone uses it before moving it to the Trash.

Use account controls, not Finder deletion

When an account is genuinely no longer needed, use Users & Groups and follow Apple's account-removal choices. macOS can save the home folder as a disk image in /Users/Deleted Users, leave the home folder in place, or remove it with the account. Those options make the recovery decision visible before storage is released.

Do not drag /Users/<name> to the Trash as a substitute. It can leave an account record pointing at missing data, destroy a home folder without an archive, or remove files from a person who still uses the Mac. An administrator also cannot delete an account that is currently logged in, which is a useful safeguard rather than an obstacle to work around.

If the account belongs to somebody else, ask them to sign in and copy what they need first. If it is an old account of your own, open the home folder or archive it before choosing the irreversible option.

Reclaim space in a safe order

Work from clear ownership toward uncertainty:

1. Remove downloads, installers, exports, or duplicate files whose owner and recovery path you can name.
2. Ask the owner of an active account to clean their own large files or use the app that owns them.
3. Archive a retired account first when there is any chance its documents are needed.
4. Remove the account through Users & Groups only after the archive or backup has been checked.
5. Leave unknown Shared items, app containers, and folders belonging to another account alone until their purpose is clear.

For a broader disk investigation, start with how to free up space without losing files and what System Data means. Both help distinguish a large real folder from a changing Storage category.

Verify the owner, the backup, and the space you recovered

Before deleting an account, note the size of its home folder and open the backup you plan to keep. A disk image that exists but cannot be mounted is not a usable archive. Check a few irreplaceable folders inside it, such as Documents, Desktop, Pictures, and any project directory, while the original account still exists. If FileVault or another encrypted backup is involved, confirm that the password and recovery information are available too.

After macOS removes the account, check the actual free space on the disk rather than waiting for the Storage chart to redraw. The chart is a classification view and may lag behind a completed deletion. A smaller Other Users & Shared number is useful confirmation, but the more reliable result is that the intended account is gone, its chosen archive is readable, /Users/Shared still contains the files people expect, and available disk space has increased by roughly the amount you meant to remove.

If the number barely changes, stop before deleting more. The space may belong to a different account, a separate volume, a virtual machine, or data macOS has not reclassified yet. Repeatedly removing unfamiliar folders does not make the category more accurate; it only makes recovery harder.

FAQ

Is Other Users & Shared the same as /Users/Shared?

No. /Users/Shared is one folder. Other Users & Shared is a Storage classification that can include data from several accounts and locations. Inspect the actual folder and owner before treating either one as disposable.

Can I delete another user's home folder to free space?

Not by hand. If the account is no longer needed, use Users & Groups so macOS can offer to archive or remove its home folder deliberately. If the account is active or belongs to someone else, deleting it can remove their only local files.

Why did the number remain after I removed an account?

macOS may need time to reindex and reclassify storage. An archived home folder can also remain under /Users/Deleted Users, and other shared or account-related folders may still exist. Check available capacity and named folders instead of repeating deletions until the label changes.