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Is your Mac out of storage space, or getting dangerously close? If so, there are lots of things you can do to free up some much-need disk space. In many cases, you don’t even have to remove personal files and media. From finding and removing duplicate photo libraries to learning how to better utilize some of Apple’s cloud services, we can help you figure out what’s eating your storage and, more importantly, how to fix it.
Clean your Mac of all junk files
Rid your Mac of all those unnecessary files in one fell swoop with CleanMyMac. It doesn’t matter how junked up your Mac is — this app can delete gigabytes of trash files in just two clicks. It’s a fast and easy way to speed up your Mac.
Though your Other storage might have been spread out across categories in macOS Sierra and higher, you can still follow the below steps to manually clean up your Mac and get rid of unnecessary files. How to check your storage space on your Mac. The Storage tab under “About This Mac” gives a quick review of your Mac and for the majority of the times, it shows a huge “Other storage” space occupying the disk. Easily optimize your hard drive storage with tools like Clean Drive, Find Duplicates, or Free Memory to free up extra disk space. Be in complete control of your privacy with system tools such as Airplane Mode, Disable Camera, Lock Screen, and Mute Microphone. Six ways to clean up your Mac. Check out the many other files that the program can delete to clear up space on your Mac. Weed out iTunes dupes. Macworld is your best source for all things. We have shared five ways how to clean up “Other Storage” and get more free space on Mac. Choose the method which suits you best, depending on which files occupy your disk. Let us know your cleanup results in the comments below.
1. Clear out your Downloads folder
The Downloads folder on my Mac is a constant wasteland of files I only needed temporarily. Then when I was done with them, they end up staying there for months on end.
Remember, almost everything you download from any web browser gets dumped into the general Downloads folder. In many cases this also includes files sent to you through other apps as well.
This is why I suggest going through that folder periodically to file away things you want to save and permanently trash things you don’t need. At one point, my Downloads folder swelled to over 50GB — and about 75 percent of it was crap I didn’t need.
If you’re getting out-of-storage messages on your Mac, the first place you should look at clearing out is absolutely your Downloads folder.
2. Delete apps you don’t use or need
These may seem obvious but to some people, it isn’t. Go through your applications folder (or LaunchPad) and delete any apps you haven’t opened recently.
As a general rule, I try and delete any apps I haven’t opened in 6 months or more. If you purchased them from the Mac App Store, you can re-download them whenever you’d like at no cost to you.
If you purchased them outside the Mac App Store, just be sure you’ll have a way to obtain them again in the future if you need to (or you can transfer them to an external drive if you’d like).
3. Check for duplicate iPhoto libraries
If you’re using the newer Photos app on your Mac, but you previously used iPhoto, the odds of you having duplicate iPhoto libraries floating around on your hard drive are pretty high.
I actually had two additional libraries on my iMac, and I have no idea why. I’m assuming at some point I did a restore and iPhoto didn’t know where to drop my photos for some reason, so it created an entirely new library. Whatever the reason, I definitely didn’t need extras, and clearing them off allotted me almost 100GB of extra storage space.
So before doing anything else, be sure you don’t have additional libraries on your Mac. If you aren’t sure how, you can follow our guide for deleting additional iPhoto libraries:
4. Use DaisyDisk, or a utility like it
Most of us have tons of files on our Macs that we don’t necessarily need and not only that, sometimes there are files there we don’t even know we have. This can be caused by apps that were deleted long ago, or even duplicates.
I had a friend discover tons of video on her hard drive she didn’t even know she had stored on her Mac. It had come over from several backups and they were already backed up to an external, leaving no need them to take up space.
While there are lots of utilities likeDaisyDisk, it’s my favorite because it’s simple to use and shows you exactly where your storage is being taken up. I’ve found it to be an indispensable tool when it comes to finding files and storage hungry apps I didn’t even know were there.
You can think of DaisyDisk as a pack of hounds with one job — sniffing out large files on your hard drive and drawing your attention to them. (And of course it can help you clean them up as well.)
- $9.99 – Download
5. Let AppCleaner help you clear out old, unnecessary files
Another app that’s like DaisyDisk, yet different, is AppCleaner. Service files and app remnants can eat up terrible amounts of disk space. This is bad if the files that are taking up tons of space are for apps you don’t even use anymore.
Sometimes I download apps with every intention of using them, and then I never do. Come to find out, they’ve been eating up huge amounts of hard drive space. This is where I end up deleting them. If I ever need them again, I can just re-install.
AppCleaner also lets you pick and choose what files you delete inside an app. I’d just advice you to be careful with this and not delete anything you aren’t familiar with. General rule of thumb is if you depend on the app, don’t delete files unless you’re absolutely sure you know what the repercussions will be.
That being said, AppCleaner does an excellent job of helping you clean up unused apps that are hogging unnecessary storage.
- Free w/ IAP – Download
6. Scan your photo library for duplicates
Photo duplicates are something it seems we’ve all been combatting since digital photos came into existence. And whenever you add another piece to your workflow, it seems the duplicates always love to come back in droves.
If you suspect you have duplicate photos floating around in your library, there are tons of apps available to help you clean them up. One of my favorites is PhotoSweeper. Not only can it scan your library for exact matches, you have tons of options for customizing your photo triaging.
For example, I can search for only photos of the exact same file type (great for photographers who only want to search for RAW files), or only files of the exact same size. Alternately, if metadata on your photos isn’t necessarily correct (iCloud Photo Library screwed mine up), you can set the time limit to unlimited so it matches any photos that look alike, regardless when they were taken.
If photos are creating an endless storage problem for you, PhotoSweeper is a must-have tool.
- PhotoSweeper for Mac – $9.99 – Download
7. Utilize iTunes in the Cloud for movies and TV
If you purchase movies and TV shows from iTunes, you may have them stored on your Mac’s hard drive. Instead, you can stream them using iTunes in the Cloud.
As you can see in the screenshot above, I have a cloud icon next to all of my movies. That means they aren’t physically downloaded on my Mac’s hard drive, but I have the ability to stream them over my internet connection. The only time I actually transfer movies to my Mac (or iPhone or iPad) is if I’m traveling and want to watch a few while offline.
To delete movies off your actual Mac hard drive, just right click the movie and remove it. It will still stay available for streaming via iTunes in the Cloud.
If you’re worried about iTunes ever pulling a movie from iTunes in the Cloud, you can always download and transfer all your files to an external or networked drive for safe-keeping too. It’s actually something I’d recommend doing, just in case, before deleting hard copies.
8. Transfer old photos and videos
If you have old photos and videos that you don’t look at, or need in your immediately accessible library, offload them to either an external drive, or even a storage service such as Dropbox.
This alone can free up tons of hard drive space. For example, I have lots of old photos and videos from college and high school. They aren’t necessarily photos or videos I need available to me across devices. For that reason, I’ve put them in a folder in Dropbox.
When I want to access them, I can simply log in to Dropbox from anywhere, or use the app on my iPhone or iPad.
9. Limit what Dropbox is storing on your hard drive
For the previous tip to actually work, you’ll also want to make sure that offloading to a service such as Dropbox isn’t just moving them somewhere else on your hard drive. On the Mac, you can dictate what folders sync from Dropbox and are stored locally on your Mac. By default, anything you put in Dropbox will be stored locally. We don’t want that if we are trying to save on space.
You can access selective sync settings by choosing Preferences and then hitting the Accounts button. Choose Selective Sync and don’t select your photo backup. As you can see in the photo above, I have my photo backup disabled from Dropbox on my Mac.
You should also go through and uncheck any other Dropbox folders you don’t need access to on your Mac directly (you can of course still log into the Dropbox website and view them if you need to).
10. Enable iCloud Photo Library
iCloud Photo Library gives you the ability to offload all your photos and videos to the “cloud”, instead of your Mac’s hard drive. If you don’t have enough space to store all of them locally and you don’t want to split them between local and cloud storage, iCloud Photo Library lets you keep them all.
My only advice would be to make sure you have a complete backup of your photo library before enabling iCloud Photo Library. I ended up with a lot of duplicates and some folks have reported albums going missing.
That being said, there are millions of happy iCloud Photo Library users out there. Just be sure to prepare, in the event that something does go awry.
To enable it, just launch the Photos app on your Mac, choose Photos in the top navigation and then Preferences. Under the iCloud section, simply check the box for iCloud Photo Library. Then just make sure the sub-option for Optimize Mac Storage is also selected.
Bonus tip: Empty your trash!
Hat tip to Eric in the comments who pointed out that remembering to empty your trash periodically is important. You won’t regain that space until the files are actually off your Mac, so be sure to right-click on your trash can icon every once in a while and choose the empty option.
This post was syndicated via The App Factor.
The solid-state drive that came in your MacBook is a double-edged sword. SSDs make computers incredibly fast. But because flash storage is expensive, most MacBooks still ship with a tiny 128 GB SSD by default. And upgrading to a bigger SSD costs hundreds of dollars.
If you’re stuck with with limited storage space, you’ll need to be proactive. Take a look at these steps you can take (and later automate) to free up valuable storage space on your Mac. This way, your Mac won’t throw up the scary Your disk is almost full banner next time you’re downloading a big file.
1. Empty the Trash
Did you know that macOS doesn’t automatically delete items from the Trash? There’s a chance that you’ve got a few gigabytes of data just sitting in it.
On your Dock, right-click on the Trash icon and select Empty Trash. Once the data is deleted, you won’t be able to access it again (though there are specialized apps for recovering data on MacThe Best Data Recovery Software for Mac to Find Lost Data & FilesThe Best Data Recovery Software for Mac to Find Lost Data & FilesDid your SSD happen to die? Digital camera SD card corrupted itself? Don't despair — here's what you can do to recover your files on your own.Read More).
2. Uninstall Apps You Don’t Use
If you’re the kind of person who reads technology websites, you might like trying new Mac apps just to see what they’re about. But it’s easy to forget to delete them when you’re done testing.
Start by taking stock of what’s on your machine. You’ll need to download an app called AppCleaner (yes, it’s ironic that you need to download an app for this, but trust me, it’s worth it). AppCleaner is the best way to uninstall apps on Mac because it automatically deletes all junk files related to the app.
Open AppCleaner, browse through the list, click on an app you don’t need, and press the Remove button.
If you’re on macOS Sierra and higher, you’ll be glad to know that macOS has a built-in storage management feature (which we’ll refer to multiple times in this guide).
Click on the Apple icon from the menu bar, select About This Mac, and go to the Storage section. From here, click on Manage.
You’ll see a couple of options. The first action you should take is to turn on the feature that automatically empties the Trash after 30 days.
Next, click on the Applications button. You’ll see a list of all apps, sorted by how much space they take up. Select one or multiple apps you want to uninstall and click on Delete.
The app and app data will be sent to the Trash. Empty the Trash, and you’ve just gained a significant chunk of space back.
3. Find and Delete Large Files
From the same Storage Management window, click on the Documents option from the sidebar. Here you’ll see a list of all your files, sorted from biggest to smallest.
The best way to reclaim a big chunk of storage space is to remove a couple of huge files. Weeding through hundreds of small files takes a lot longer. Take a look at the files at the top of the list and see if you can live without them. To delete a file, click on it and press the Delete button.
If you have space in your Dropbox or Google Drive account, you can move the file to your cloud storage to free up local storage.
Once the big files are out of the way, it’s time to drill down. A 1.5GB folder filled with photos you no longer need takes up just as much space as a 1.5GB video, but is much harder to find.
macOS makes this easier. On top of the Documents view, you’ll see two more options for sorting through files: Downloads and File Browser.
The Downloads section gives you a breakdown of files and folders that are older than three months, six months, or one year. So you can go through files that you haven’t accessed in a long time, and decide if you want to get rid of them.
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The File Browser section is basically a Finder view in the storage management tool. You can browse through your entire file storage system and find files or folders that you want to delete.
4. Delete iTunes Files and iOS Backups
If you back up your iPhone or iPad to your Mac, the backups could take up gigabytes of storage space. In the Storage Management window, click on the iOS Files section. Once you’re sure you want to delete your iOS device backup, click on it and press the Delete button.
In a similar fashion, you can delete data from the iTunes app from the iTunes section. Movies, TV shows, and audiobooks will show up here.
5. Take a Look at Cloud Storage Apps
If you’re using the Dropbox or Google Drive app to sync your Mac files to the cloud, take a look at what exactly is stored on the cloud, and what’s on your Mac. By default, the cloud syncing services have a tendency to download all data to your Mac.
If you’re using Dropbox, switch to the Selective Sync feature. It lets you choose which folders to download onto your Mac’s drive.
Go to Preferences > Sync and click on the Choose Folders to Sync button. Go through this list and remove any folders that you don’t absolutely need. Remember, you can always access your Dropbox data from the website or mobile app.
6. Optimize Storage in the Photos App
If you pay for a 50GB or 200GB iCloud Drive tier, considering using the Optimize Storage feature for the Photos app.
Optimize Storage feature in Photos works exactly as it does on iPhone. Instead of keeping your entire iCloud Photo Library on the device, it will only keep the most recent photos, along with low-resolution thumbnails of older photos.
When needed, your computer will download photos from iCloud. This little feature can help reduce your Photos library from tens of gigabytes to just a couple.
Open the Photos app, go to Preferences > iCloud > iCloud Photos, and select the Optimize Storage option to turn it on.
7. Store Desktop and Documents in iCloud
The Store in iCloud feature automatically backs up all the data from your Desktop and Documents folders, and only stores the most recent files locally. When needed, you can download the old files with the press of a button.
While this feature is neat, it’s not the most reliable option. If your important work files are stored in your Documents folder, we would recommend you don’t use this feature. But for most users, enabling this feature can free up a good amount of storage space.
To enable it, open the Storage Management screen, and click on Store in iCloud button from the Recommendations section.
8. Automate Using CleanMyMac X and Gemini 2
The manual cleanup method is effective (I was able to delete more than 30GB using the steps outlined above), but doing it repeatedly becomes time-consuming. And if you’re a Mac power user, you may need to do so every month.
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Thankfully, certain apps can help simplify some of these steps and automate Mac maintenance. CleanMyMac X is an all-in-one utility to keep your Mac in top shape. It helps you delete cache files, temporary files, and applications. It has an intelligent file browser that will help you get rid of old and unused files as well.
CleanMyMac X’s sister app, Gemini 2, specializes in finding duplicates. There’s a fair chance that you have two copies of the same photos (or three similar-looking photos), documents, or videos. Gemini 2 finds duplicate files on your Mac and helps you get rid of them. Both apps are available as part of the Setapp along with other premium Mac apps via the subscription service11 Premium Mac Apps That Make a SetApp Subscription Worthwhile11 Premium Mac Apps That Make a SetApp Subscription WorthwhileSetApp provides access to over 150 premium Mac apps for just $9.99/mo. Here are some of our favorite apps from the package.Read More.
Download: CleanMyMac X ($35 per year | $90 one-time purchase)
Download: Gemini 2 ($20 per year | $45 one-time purchase)
Make Everyday Life on Your Mac Easier
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Now that you’ve freed up some storage space, you can start using your Mac to get work done. Follow these steps once in a while, and you shouldn’t have to worry about low disk space any more.
There are more little changes you can make to improve your everyday experience of using a Mac11 Small Tips to Make Everyday Tasks Easier on Your Mac11 Small Tips to Make Everyday Tasks Easier on Your MacWant to work more efficiently on your Mac? Try implementing some of these small but useful changes to save you a few minutes.Read More. Find out how to put the Dock on the right edge, use Stacks to organize your desktop, and start using Spaces for a more organized desktop space.
Explore more about: Computer Maintenance, File Management, Hard Drive, Mac Tips, Solid State Drive, Storage.
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Very useful article! However, it is still a little complicated for me, a novice of computer. It did take me a long time to operate and I don't know if there is any easier method or tool to recommend.
The best trick that I've learned to save space on my Mac is to redirect the BackUp directory. If you have several Apple devices, the backup directory can increase dramatically.
I created a backup directory on an external drive and made a link pointed from the default system backup to the external drive.
You need to have connected the external drive for backup and restore tasks.Ciao
Maybe you can try uFlysoft Data Recovery for Mac, it can recover LOST DATA on Mac only in three steps:
Step 1. Launch the software to scan the device where your files deleted
Step 2: Preview the scan result files and make mark if it is the one you find
Step 3: Recover filesI think duplicate files and unused language files in apps are both huge space-hoggers, and I personally like to use the app MacClean to get rid of them and to clean caches or temp files. It's free and gathers basically all the cleaning tools in one app.
I'm getting ready to download onto a 250GB Flash drive, all my files from my '07 iMac to sell it with the original discs that came with it....Question: My hard drive has several apps-GarageBand,iMovie, etc. Does it make sense to download these, since they are Apple aps, and I'm going to buy a DELL desktop. (?)
One very helpful tip that you didn't include was removing unused OSX Language resources, using a tool such as Xslimmer or Monolingual. Almost all mac applications includes language resources so that they can be used in other languages, but you can safely remove the languages that you don't use without affecting the app's function, and save hundreds of MB of space easily.