You can see how much space is being used and its free space, as well as the type of files that have taken up the space. With this diagram, you can customize your own solution. We will explain in the following section. How do I clean up Start up Disk on Mac? Let’s start with the easier and the more obvious choice. This is just a rough estimation, but the more free space you have, the faster your Mac works. A computer magazine once performed a test on this, which concluded that the difference in speed can reach as much as 35%. If you work with heavy graphics or video rendering, even more free space is recommended. How to have more free space? Remove extensions from Other storage. Extension files, such as plugins, installation files, screensavers and web browser extensions, can take up unnecessary disk space on your Mac. There’s also the factor that some extensions may have a negative effect on your system, noticeably slowing things down. If you need more space — whether it’s to upgrade to the new Mac OS Catalina or to download more apps — we’re here to help you out. With Apple’s recent Mac mo. Specifically, Disk Drill offers these free tools that can help clean your Mac: Duplicate finder to identify unnecessary files; Clean up which creates a data map so you can analyze your disk usage; Erase free space and data shredder to securely delete extra data.
Have you ever gotten a notification that you're running low on disk space on your Mac? Or have you checked your storage only to find that your Photos are taking up an appalling 84GB?
If you've had one of these experiences and now need to clean up your Mac, this is the guide for you.
First, check what's taking up so much space
Click the little Apple icon in the upper left corner of your screen. Select the first option, 'About this Mac', so you can see what's going on.
Once you're there, select the Storage option (in the middle) and check out what's taking up space. You can hover over unnamed sections to see what they are and how much space they're taking up.
If you click the 'Manage' button, you can see what Apple recommends to help you clean up your Mac. So let's dig into those options a bit more now.
Manage your storage
The first important task is to manage your storage properly and efficiently. There are several ways to do this, and Apple recommends a few:
Store your content on the cloud
Instead of storing all your old photos, college papers, and projects on your actual computer, move that stuff to the cloud. That's why it exists.
And you know what's great? You can access anything in the Cloud, from any device, just by signing in with your Apple ID. It's like magic!
Just click 'Optimize' next to the 'Store in Cloud' option when you're managing your storage.
Optimize your storage
Say you've downloaded a movie but you've already watched it. Like 5 times (no judgement).
But do you really still need it on your Mac? No! Five times is enough, even for gems like Princess Bride and Star Wars (ok, no it's not). But still, get rid of it. You can just download it again if you really need to rewatch.
You'll find the 'Optimize Storage' option right below the 'Store in iCloud' option - just click that 'Optimize' button on the right.
Clean Up Free Space Mac Download
Empty trash automatically
Make sure you move any unneeded files (especially large ones) to the trash - and then empty that trash often.
If you leave items in the trash, they're still taking up space. If you set your trash to empty automatically it'll delete items (as in, remove them from your computer) after 30 days.
Just go back to your storage management recommendations (Apple logo -> About this Mac -> Storage -> Manage and then look at 'Recommendations', the top left tab) and click the button next to 'Empty trash automatically.'
Reduce clutter
There are bound to be old documents and other clutter on your Mac that you no longer need. And some of these items might take up quite a bit of space. So you can sort through and remove the chaff.
It'll sort by file size and will tell you the date you last accessed that file. This should make it easier to decide what can go.
You can delete some files directly. Others require you to go into the app and delete the files there. Either way, you can get rid of them.
Move files to an external drive
Here's a little bonus option not listed above. You can also remove large items (like movies) and store them on an external hard drive.
Remove duplicate files
You probably have a ton of duplicate files on your computer and don't even realize it.
Trouble is, it can be really time-consuming to search through manually and find them all.
So find an app to help you do it. Some commonly recommended options are Duplicate Sweeper, Gemini 2 (the free trial should do it), or CleanMyMacX.
Uninstall unused apps
Would it surprise you to learn that your apps take up quite a bit of space? Some of those files can be pretty large.
But I bet you don't use every app on your computer. Which means you can probably go through and delete those that are just wasting space.
Open Finder and select the Apps tab in the left sidebar menu. View the apps as a list by clicking the four little horizontal lines at the top. Then sort the apps by size by clicking on the 'Size' tab towards the right.
Then you can scroll through and delete those apps that you don't use (and hopefully some of them are pretty big!). Simply drag the app to the trash to get rid of it.
And then empty your trash :)
Delete iTunes backups
iTunes backups are useful - you certainly don't want to lose all that angsty 90s music you've been collecting since, well, the 90s. Oh, just me...? Ok.
Regardless, it's valuable stuff. But you can back it all up to iCloud instead of keeping those massive backups of your device on your computer.
How to enable iCloud backup
To set your phone to back up to iCloud automatically, just go to Settings, select your name, and scroll down to 'iCloud Backup'. Just turn it on, and your precious songs/photos/etc will be backed up to the Cloud.
Then you can go into your Mac and delete any backups you have stored there. Just open iTunes, go to Preferences, select Devices, and delete those backups you no longer need.
Delete temporary files (clear cache/cookies)
You might be aware of caching. It allows sites to load faster because resource-intensive files, like images, are stored locally on your machine. That way if you visit a site often you don't have to sit around waiting each time for hefty image files to load. They're already there.
But if you don't clean these up every now and then they can really build up and slow your machine down. Just be aware: even if you remove them now they'll get re-added the next time you visit that site or use that app.
How to clear the cache
Open Finder, and from the menu along the top of your screen select 'Go.' Scroll down to 'Go to Folder', select it, and then enter ~/Library/Caches in the dialogue box.
From there you can clear out any cached files you don't need.
Clean Space On Mac
Still need more space? Here are additional things to try:
- Delete unneeded email
- Delete downloads
- Remove logs
- Remove language resources
- Compress files
- Restart your Mac
Now go forth and clean up that Mac!
A slow Mac is no fun for anyone. It happens to the best of us — which is why everyone should know how to declutter and free up disk space on their Mac. Not only will this speed up your computer, it’s also a great opportunity to organize your files.
Clearing disk space on a Mac can make your computer feel like new. Over time, most Macs, especially those that experience regular use, get full of documents, files, apps, images, videos, and other junk and clutter.
In this article, we’ll show you how to free up space on Mac computers, and highlight some apps that make maintenance of your computer’s file system much simpler.
What's taking up space
Have you ever seen this pop up on your Mac?
It’s frustrating! This occurs because the memory your Mac has is full. It may be saved movies, large documents, mail attachments, or just plain cached items from apps like iMessage that are taking up space on your Mac.
Not only is the popup message annoying, diminished disk space on your Mac can prevent you from being productive. Mail attachments or other files may not save to your Mac, all because you’ve got a bunch of old stuff cluttering your memory system. It can even cause apps to quit, or fail to load.
Low disk space isn’t always an 'old Mac' problem, either. While it’s true older Macs typically have less memory available to them, even modern Macs can get cluttered. That’s why it’s important to know how to clear space on Mac hard drives.
How to check storage on Mac
Here’s how to check the storage on your Mac using Apple’s method:
- From the menu bar on your Mac, click the Apple logo on the top left
- Select 'About this Mac'
- Select the 'Storage' option in the new window
This is a basic way to check how much storage is being occupied on your Mac. Another good tip is to check your disk usage with iStat Menus. It’s an app that allows you to monitor – in real time – how your Mac is performing. iStat Menus lives in your Mac’s menu bar, running in the background until you need it. Each of its monitoring services has a menu bar icon, including one for memory.
When you click on the iStat Menus icon, it shows you exactly what’s happening with your disk space. When your Mac is running slowly, it’s possible an app is taking up more resources than you would like. iStat Menus shows you which app is to blame.
How to optimize storage using macOS
If you’re using macOS Sierra or later, you can benefit from Apple’s Optimize Storage functionality. It allows you to store files in iCloud, renewing your access to these files whenever you need. Here’s how to use the Apple way of managing storage on Mac:
- Repeat the steps above to check the available and used storage on your Mac
- Click on 'Manage' to access the storage management window
- Enable the 'Empty Trash Automatically' and 'Reduce Clutter' options to remove files you deleted, and large files you might no longer need.
- Select 'Store in iCloud' to move your desktop file and docs, photos, and messages to iCloud. You can choose what file types to transfer.
Go to the Optimize Storage menu and choose from three options that help you use storage more cleverly. You can select to remove watched files from your Apple TV app (or iTunes if you use macOS Mojave and earlier), download only recent attachments, or not to delete attachments at all. Also, read an article about how to clear scratch disk.
Move Files to the Cloud
iCloud is Apple’s preferred method for storing files and folders in the cloud. It makes your data available across devices, and is now the default service for system backups.
Apple gives you 5GB free iCloud storage, but it’s just enough for an iPhone backup and a few gigabytes of pictures. It’s almost never enough for the average user.
Activating it on your Mac will help save room in your system memory, though. It moves the actual storage of files to the cloud, and ann image of those files on your Mac. It also compresses images for optimized storage on the Mac, but keeps them available in the Photos app.
If you have a different cloud storage system you prefer, CloudMounter makes it easy to back your Mac’s files up to Google Drive, Dropbox, OneDrive, Mega, Amazon S3, and other services. It lives in your Mac’s Finder app and menu bar, and makes moving files from your Mac to the cloud as easy as dragging and dropping them into CloudMounter, and directly into your connected cloud account.
Manage large files and archive data
You can find and delete large files on your Mac directly. Here’s how:
- From the menu bar on your Mac, click the Apple logo on the top left
- Select 'About this Mac'
- Select the 'Storage' option in the new window
- Select 'Manage'
- Select 'Documents'
- On the right side of the window, click the 'Size' column header to show the largest files first
We prefer using CleanMyMac X’s file system manager. Here’s how to use it:
- Open CleanMyMac X on your Mac
- Select the 'Large & Old Files' module on the right side of the window
- Select 'Scan'
This is a smarter way of discerning which files are taking up space on your Mac – especially if you don’t need access to those files often. It shows you which types of files they are, how old they are, and lets you delete batches of files by size.
Find and delete duplicate files
When you download an app, it usually has associated files it stores on your Mac. That’s normal; duplicates of those files aren’t. Downloading an app more than once, or even updating an app, can cause it to duplicate existing files on your Mac.
You may also download files more than once. Your Mac is smart, but doesn’t bother checking to see if you already have a file before downloading it again. There’s no clean way to check for duplicates on your Mac. Apple would ask that you look for duplicated filenames in your storage, and delete one of them.
A better way is to use Gemini, an innovative cleanup app built to help you find and eliminate duplicate files on your hard drive. Even better, it can identify near-identical files as well, giving you an easy way to delete the slightly shaky versions of your vacation snaps in one convenient window.
Here’s how to detect and delete duplicate files with Gemini:
- Open Gemini on your Mac
- Click the ‘plus’ icon, or drag a folder to the app
- Select 'Review Results' to delete files manually, or 'Smart Cleanup' to allow Gemini to delete all duplicates
Remove temporary files
Your macOS, your apps, and your browser all use a shortcut called 'caching' to run faster. But over time, those caches fill up with useless information that bogs down your computer.
Why is it important to clear the cache? The short answer is that caches litter and bloat Macs. They aren't just a byproduct of browser history — most systems and apps, such as Pages, Numbers, Keynote, Mail and Photos, create huge amounts of temporary files that linger in the background. These caches of data are essentially just junk files, and they can be safely deleted to free up storage space.
When it comes to cleaning a Mac, you have two options: delete files manually or get a cleaner app to help you. Clearing your cache files with CleanMyMac is the quickest, safest way we know.
Get rid of hidden trash
Another source of system-slowing junk is email and text attachments. Even if you don’t download an attachment, your desktop mail client holds onto a version so that it can show you previews and access the file more easily. 'But I deleted that email!' you say. Often that’s not enough—these downloads can hang around long after the original email is gone.
It’s possible to clean them out manually. You can use the macOS Optimize Storage feature we’ve described above. Choose what exactly you want to be removed — mail attachments, watched video, or both. Still, CleanMyMac X is a much faster option to clean up the trash on Mac. Here’s how to use CleanMyMac X to empty all trash folders on your Mac:
- Open CleanMyMac X on your Mac
- Select 'Trash Bins' from the left hand side
- Select 'Scan' at the bottom of the window
- Select 'Review Details' to see what CleanMyMac X found, or 'Empty' to delete all trash files on your Mac
Here’s a little trick for you: If you want to be sure you keep the needed files and attachments at your fingertips, use Trickster app to remember them for you. Configure your file tracking inside the app and make sure you’re never confused about what’s stored on your Mac. The important stuff is always in Trickster.
If you want a clutter-free email client, Canary Mail is your perfect choice. The app not only automatically clear away the trash, but also allows to automatically unsubscribe from tons of mailing lists — so that you stop receiving the clutter.
Empty downloads and trash bin
Your Mac’s ‘download’ folder is where most apps, like Safari or Chrome, dump files. It’s also the default folder for email downloads. And it can get really full.
Many of us simply download a file, access it, then forget about it once we’re done with it. The downloads folder can get chock full of files we no longer need, or want. It’s smart to comb through it ever so often and delete files you don’t want, or move them to cloud storage containers using CloudMounter.
Some downloads are hidden, taking up even more space. And the further back you go the more useless these documents are. Do you really need to keep a text file labelled 'Christmas shopping list 2015' or 'Dream holiday Summer 2016?' Probably not. Free up some much-needed space on your Mac and delete as many of these old download files as possible, and remember to come back and tidy it up every few months.
CleanMyMac can help for sure. But also, consider switching your email client to Unibox, which automatically reduces excessive downloads.
AppleInsider described Unibox as 'the best client we tried,' and Macworld said it is 'A welcome, fresh new approach to email on the Mac.' Unibox groups emails by sender and includes an attachment list, so you can quickly find what you need, then delete those documents out of the Downloads folder.
Uninstall unused apps
Have you ever downloaded an app, then stopped using it? We all have! Those apps occupy memory on your Mac – sometimes a lot of space, too.
CleanMyMac X has a handy 'Uninstaller' module which makes it easy to identify and remove all unwanted apps from your Mac. It even deletes associated files, so all traces of an unused app are taken away.
Get rid of old backups
Something else that comes as a surprise to most Mac users is just how many backups your system carries at any given time. Copying and pasting, and the duplicate feature make it too easy to replicate your work in different folders.
At the same time, you’ve probably got dozens of cached backups of files and documents that are invisible but taking up more space than you’d want. Like Time Machine backups. Every time you use Apple’s built-in backup utility, it creates local snapshots that are stored locally on your Mac. This may result in up to 100 GB Time Machine clutter on your hard drive.
CleanMyMac will find old backups for you and remove them in a click. In its 'Maintenance' module, you can select 'Time Machine Snapshot Thinning' to automatically remove older Time Machine backups you no longer need.
But also, switch your backup client to Get Backup Pro to backup only those units you want (for Mac). If you need to quickly transfer files or folders to another server, use a backup sync app ChronoSync Express.
If you want to quickly backup your iOS device on Mac — for instance, before hard resetting or factory resetting iPhone — you can use AnyTrans. You can even schedule instant backups to never worry about losing data when syncing your iOS device with Mac.
Get rid of desktop clutter
Organizing your Mac desktop doesn’t directly help your memory woes, but it can help you find files faster and avoid multiple downloads of the same file.
Apple’s chosen method is called Stacks. A simple right-click on your desktop brings up a menu; selecting 'Use Stacks' puts your files into folders by type. Images, screenshots, and other files will be held in expandable folders, decluttering your desktop for good. Future downloads will all fall into those categories, too.
You may prefer Spotless, an app that affords you far more control over how your desktop is organized. You can set rules for organization, and tuck files into other folders on your Mac by dragging and dropping into one location. Spotless takes care of the hard work for you!
You deserve a faster Mac
By eliminating both hard disk and desktop clutter, you’ll improve your Mac’s performance as well as your own workflow. Plus, Setapp’s decluttering, disk cleanup, and analysis apps help you complete what would be a tedious chore in just a few clicks. There’s no telling how much time and effort you’ll save by giving yourself (and your Mac) a break.
There are plenty of great ways to manage your Mac’s memory without rushing out to buy a new computer. We’ve shown you the best ways here!
All the apps we mentioned in this article are available for free during a seven day trial of Setapp, the world’s best suite of productivity apps for the Mac. In addition to ClanMyMac X, Spotless, Gemini, CloudMounter, Get Backup Pro, and ChronoSync Express, you’ll have unlimited access to Setapp’s full catalog of nearly 200 Mac apps. When your free trial is over, Setapp is only $9.99 per month. Give it a try today!