Storage Crunch? How to Free Up Space on Your Mac

If your Mac’s drive is running low on space, you can’t install applications and store files. A drive with limited free space also starts to slow down your system, so it’s in your best interest to perform some house cleaning. But how? You could scour your drive for unnecessary files to manually delete, but your Mac can also steer you in the right direction to find stuff to remove. Here are a few ways to free up space on your Mac.

Check Available Storage Space

First, you want to know how much space is being used. On a Mac with macOS Monterey or earlier, click the Apple icon, select About this Mac, and then click the Storage tab. Your Mac will tell you how much space is being used, and by what. Hover over different segments of the bar graph to see how much space is used by specific content, such as files or apps.

If you have a Mac running macOS Ventura or later, open System Settings and choose the General tab. You can then see how much space is available under the Storage section.

You can also open Finder and navigate to Go > Computer. Right-click your hard drive and select Get Info to see your drive’s total capacity, available space, and used space.

Clear Space With Apple's Recommendations

You can now start freeing up some space. On a Mac with macOS Monterey or earlier, click the Manage button. This brings you to a screen with recommendations on how to gain more storage.

For those on macOS Ventura, open Storage Settings to see a screen with a bar chart of your hard drive and recommendations on removing certain content.

Send Files to iCloud Storage

Regardless of your current OS, the first recommendation will be to store more files in iCloud. Click Store in iCloud to store your computer's Desktop and Documents folders, photos, and messages on Apple's cloud storage service.

Enable which options you prefer, then click Store in iCloud. Confirm your action by clicking the next Store in iCloud button. Once stored, the content will be downloaded to your Mac only when you try to access it.

Remove Watched Media

Another choice you have is to optimize your storage by automatically removing TV shows and movies that you have already watched on your Mac. To take this advice, click the Optimize button. Confirm this choice by clicking the next Optimize button.

Automatically Empty the Trash

Apple also recommends setting macOS to automatically empty the trash after 30 days. Click the Turn On button to enable the setting, then confirm by clicking Turn On again.

Delete Files

Those still on macOS Monterey or earlier have another option called Reduce Clutter, which helps you sort through content on your Mac to determine what can be deleted. Click Review Files to start looking at files.

At the top of the window are tabs for Large Files, Downloads, Unsupported Apps, Containers, and File Browser, which may help you narrow down what to delete. On the left are different categories for Applications, Documents, iCloud Drive, Mail, and Messages. If you spot a file you think is expendable, right-click on it and select Show in Finder to see the file in its regular folder. Select Delete to remove the file.

Those with macOS Ventura can do the same, but the categories of content—including Applications, Documents, iOS Files, Mail, Messages, Photos, and more—are set below the list of recommendations. Double-click a category to see related files. Tabs for Large Files, Downloads, Unsupported Apps, and File Browser are available at the top of the new window.

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You can right-click on an item you want to remove and select Delete. Otherwise, select an item and choose Show in Finder to see where it is located on your computer. You can then remove that item from its folder by right-clicking it and selecting Move to Trash.

After moving items to the trash, you should then review the trash itself. Double-click the Trash category at the bottom of the window. To remove a specific item from the trash, right-click it and select Delete. Otherwise, click Empty Trash to remove all items.

Other Ways to Free Up Space

Delete Downloaded Files

Even after following your Mac’s recommendations, there are other steps you can take to free up space. For instance, if you download a lot of programs and files, you may forget to remove them after you no longer need them.

Click the Downloads folder on the Dock and click X More in Finder up top. From your Downloads folder, select the files you no longer need, right-click them, and select Move to Trash.

Erase Junk Mail

If you use Apple Mail, you can remove unnecessary messages. Open Mail and right-click a mailbox such as your Inbox or Sent folder. Select Erase Deleted Items > Erase Junk Mail.

You could also turn to a third-party tool, such as MacKeeper, to help you free up space. The free app is more limited than the paid version, but it can still be of assistance. Open the program and run a scan. MacKeeper offers three options of use here:

• Safe Cleanup looks for unneeded files to remove.

• Duplicates Finder hunts for duplicates of files.

• Smart Uninstaller checks for applications to cleanly be removed.