---
id: troubleshooting.snapshot-size-not-reported
url: https://storagestudio.us/faq/troubleshooting/snapshot-size-not-reported
category: "Troubleshooting & messages"
subcategory: "Free space and clean-up messages"
question: "Why does a local snapshot say its size isn't reported?"
alt_questions:
  - "size held not reported by macos for a single snapshot"
  - "local snapshot size unknown"
  - "how big is a local snapshot mac"
  - "snapshot size blank storage studio"
short_answer: "macOS doesn't reliably report one snapshot's size because snapshots share data, so Storage Studio won't show a misleading number. The total for all snapshots is shown instead."
tags: ["local snapshots", "size"]
related: ["https://storagestudio.us/faq/troubleshooting/space-held-in-automatic-backups", "https://storagestudio.us/faq/troubleshooting/snapshot-required-by-macos"]
applies_to: "all"
last_reviewed: 2026-10-01
---

# Why does a local snapshot say its size isn't reported?

macOS reports how much space local snapshots hold together, but not reliably for each one on its own — snapshots share data with each other and with your current files. So Storage Studio says the single-snapshot size isn't reported rather than show a misleading number.

The total held by all snapshots is shown separately, and that's the figure that comes back when they're released.