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.
Clean up your Mac Mail files. For users who often use the built-it Mail application in MacOS, there is one useful tip. All attachments on your account may take up space of your hard drive. Some of those files have an enormous size. Check your Mail app and delete old files to clean up space. Oct 12, 2020 No matter which drive your Mac has, let’s look at how to erase your Mac’s free space. Erase your free space. One way to securely erase free space on your Mac hard drive is to use the CleanMyMac X Shredder module. Though the main app is paid, this particular tool is 100% free to use.
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!
Summary
How to clear storage on Mac? Delete trash from trash bin folder; delete useless apps from Mac; store a large number of videos and photos to an external hard drive to get more space on Mac; erase app cache on Mac regularly, but if you want to free up space on Macbook in one step, use EelPhone Mac Master.
“I bought one Macbook two years ago, the Mac runs so slowly now, I deleted all trash on trash bin folder, and uninstall some apps from Mac at the same time also, but the hard drive is still almost full, how to free up space on Mac hard drive thoroughly?”
free up space on Macbook is easy, and we can free up space on Macbook air in different ways, or we can also use the tool to free up space on Mac with one click.
Tip 1: How to Free Space on Mac With One Click
Different from all tips below, EelPhone Mac Master will make space on Mac with one click, and according to your needs to clear up storage on Mac.
First of all, download EelPhone Mac Master on Mac, and then launch it after the installation. From the left side of the master, different type to free up storage on Mac.
Clean Up Junk
It's useless if we only remove app from Mac home page, and even we remove apps from Mac settings, junk files are still on Mac, EelPhone Mac Master will clean up junk files on Mac deeply to clear space on Macbook.
Step 1: The Mac will scan all junk files on Mac, from the scanning result, select the junk files that you want to erase.
Step 2: Once junk files were selected, click on Clean button on the upper right corner.
Note: The Full Disk Access permission only required for MacOS 10.14 and later versions. So if your Macos is 10.14 or later, go to Mac's System Preferences through Apple menu, on the home page of System Preferences, click on Security & Privacy, switch to Privacy menu, scroll down to the Full Disk Access from the left side, tap on it, then at the right side, click on +icon to locate and add EelPhone Mac Master form the app list. Don't forget to add EelPhone Mac Master to Full Disk Access list to allow the Mac cleaner to scan full disk on Mac.
Delete Large File
Large file on Mac occupy large space on Mac, use EelPhone Mac Master to scan out the large file on Mac, check the scanning result, and select the useless large file to clean from Mac.
Step 1: Switch to the second feather on the left side of the Mac master, then the master will scan all large files on Mac over 50 GB on Mac by clicking on Scan button.
Step 2: From the scanning result, select the useless large files, then click on Delete button on the right upper side.
Note: But we should be careful before deleting large files on Mac, don't delete system files! If you aren't sure if the large files are useful or not, you can turn to another type on the left side to free up space in Mac.
Delete Duplicate Files
We always re-install app on Mac but are you sure that you have deleted previous app files on Mac, or you have duplicate files of the same app on Mac? Use the Mac master to detect all duplicate files on Mac to clear hard drive space Mac.
Step 1: Switch to the third feather on the left side of the Mac master, then select the location of the scanning, click on Scan button to start to scan duplicate files on the Mac.
Step 2: The scanning result will present the original file and the duplicates at the same time. Select the duplicates files from the result, and then click on Delete button to remove useless duplicate files from Mac.
Erase Private Data
Cache data, mail attachment, online traces, chat history..large number of private data on Mac, we can also use Mac master to erase private data to free up space on Mac.
Step 1: Switch to the fourth feather on the left side of the master, and then click on the Scan button to start scan out all private data on Mac.
Step 2: From the scanning result, select the privacy data to delete from Mac.
Like privacy data on chrome, keep it if you are the Mac owner, otherwise you will take more time to enter personal account and information.
Manage Apps & Extensions
We installed so many apps on Mac, but some of them are used one time a year, why not uninstall it to get more space on your Mac, when need, re-install it again, it's easy also.
Step 1: Switch to the last feather of the Mac master, and Uninstall APPS or Remove Extension, select one to scan.
Step 2: Whichever you selected, the Mac master will scan apps or extensions from the scanning result, select the items to remove.
All feathers above will free up space on Mac, it's better to clear hard drive space Mac from time to time, so many apps useless for you will be attached to one app you want to download, app cache will increase over time, so if we want to free up space on Mac, use EelPhone Mac Master regularly. Or use the free tips below to clear up space on Mac.
Tip 2: How to Free Up Storage on Mac-Uninstall Useless Apps
From the Finder on Mac, we can locate app save folder and then erase app from Mac permanently, but the attached cache and data can be moved but still stored on Mac.
Go to Finder, from the home page of Finder, on the left side, find out Applications, tap on it, all apps on Mac will appear on the right side.
Select the app you want to erase, then right-click on it, tap on Move to Trash.
Return to the Trash icon on the home page of Mac, right-click on it and click on Empty Trash to remove app from trash folder.
Tip 3: How to Clear Space on Macbook by Erasing Cache Data on Mac
Cache is one large part of Mac, internet browsing history, chat history data including messages/videos/photos/audios, email account attachment, personal account data like gmail account on chrome, and we can also locate cache data on Mac, and then we can delete cache data form Mac to free up storage on Mac.
Close up all apps on Mac you have opened, and then run Finder, from the top of Finder, click on Go menu to locate Library.
From library, we can find cache folder from the top, log in cache folder, all cache data of Mac are in the folder, select useless cache data, then right-click, tap on Move to Trash, don't forget to go to Trash folder on Home page to Empty Trash.Don't erase useful data on cache, check it carefully before erasing cache data from Mac Finder.
Tip 4: How to Create Space on Mac by Moving Data to External Hard Drive
If you don't want to erase cache data or uninstall apps from Mac, to clear space on Mac, if you have stored so many videos and photos on Mac, considering to move videos and photos to external hard drive or USB storage to backup large videos and photos.
Bought one external hard drive with large capacity, then insert the hard drive to Mac.
Find out all videos and photos on Mac you want to backup, Ctrl+C to copy videos and photos on Mac, then go to the hard drive, create a folder to save videos and photos from Mac, Ctrl+V to paste copied videos and photos to external hard drive.
It's a nice method to clear disk space Mac, no need of erasing any data from Mac, just change the room for videos and photos on Mac.
From all tips above, select the preferable way to free up space on Mac, the quickest method is EelPhone Mac Master, the free methods are also available, clear up space on Mac from time to time to make Mac run faster.
Alex Scott
Clean My Mac Free Download
This article was updated on 29 December, 2020