Mac Storage Full? Free Up Space in This Order

When your startup disk is almost full, macOS starts warning you. Soon after, updates refuse to install, exports fail and apps slow down. The natural reaction is to delete the biggest folder you can find, which often removes something you still need while freeing less space than you hoped.

A calmer approach works better: find out what is using the space, start with the lowest-risk cleanups, and work down from there. The order below fits most Macs, and each step links to a more detailed guide.

#First, see where the space went

Choose Apple menu > System Settings, click General in the sidebar, then click Storage on the right. (In versions before macOS Ventura 13, choose Apple menu > About This Mac, then click Storage.) The bar at the top shows how much each category uses, and categories with an Info button open a list of the files inside.

Keep three things in mind while you look:

• Available isn't quite the same as free. Apple explains that available storage includes free space plus purgeable disk caches, which macOS can clear when it needs room.
• System Data is a catch-all. Anything that doesn't belong to another category is counted there. If it's your biggest bar, read Mac System Data too large?
• The recommendations are worth a look. Store in iCloud keeps your Desktop, Documents, photos and messages in iCloud and, when space is needed, keeps only recently opened files on your Mac; it uses your iCloud storage. Optimize Storage removes Apple TV movies and shows you've already watched and keeps only recent email attachments. Empty Trash automatically erases items that have been in the Trash for more than 30 days.

#Step 1: Empty the Trash and sort out Downloads

Files you drag to the Trash still take up space until you empty it. Click the Trash in the Dock, make sure there's nothing you want back, then click Empty in the upper-right corner. To remove just a few items, Control-click an item and choose Delete Immediately.

Next, open your Downloads folder, switch to list view and sort by Size. Disk images (.dmg) and installer packages (.pkg) for apps you've already installed, .zip archives you've already extracted, and videos you've saved elsewhere can usually go.

#Step 2: Clear caches that can be rebuilt

Caches are temporary data that apps keep so things load faster. Delete them and the apps rebuild them as needed; the only cost is a slower first launch. macOS also clears some caches and logs that are safe to delete when space runs low. If you clean by hand, remove the caches of specific apps rather than emptying your whole Library folder. How to clear cache on Mac explains what's safe to remove and what isn't.

#Step 3: Deal with large files

A few videos, a virtual machine image or an old iPhone backup can take more space than tens of thousands of documents. Once you find them, decide whether to delete them, move them to an external drive or keep them. See how to find the largest files on your Mac.

#Step 4: Remove duplicate copies

An installer downloaded twice, photos imported twice, a folder copied just in case: extra copies are easy to miss, but they add up. Spotting them reliably means comparing contents, not names. See how to find and delete duplicate files on Mac.

#Step 5: Uninstall apps you no longer use

In Storage, click the Info button next to Applications and sort by size. Look for large apps and games you haven't opened in months, and old macOS installers left over from upgrades (their names start with "Install macOS"). Apps also leave caches and settings elsewhere, so see how to completely uninstall apps on Mac.

#Do the same steps with WashBear

WashBear puts these steps in one app. Every feature works the same way: scan, review, then confirm. A scan never deletes anything.

1. See what's using space: in Disk Space Analysis, choose your system disk or a folder, click Start Analysis, then click into the largest block in the Treemap or Sunburst.
2. Clear caches: in Deep Cleanup, click Start Scan. Results are grouped by category, and Smart recommendation preselects only lower-risk items that can usually be recreated. Everything else is your call.
3. Find large files and copies: use Large File Cleanup to filter by size and type, and Duplicate Cleanup to find files with identical content. Both skip system folders, as well as /Applications and /Library at the root of the disk.
4. Uninstall apps: in App Uninstaller, expand an app to see its caches, logs and settings before you decide what to remove along with it.

Some locations protected by macOS only show up after you give WashBear Full Disk Access; see Getting Started. If you'd like to try it, get WashBear from the download page.

#Checklist before you clean

1. Back up photos, documents and projects with Time Machine or to an external drive.
2. Save your work and quit the apps you plan to clean.
3. If you don't recognize a file, check which folder and app it belongs to. When in doubt, leave it.
4. Don't delete anything inside /System, /Library or /private by hand, and don't paste sudo rm -rf commands from unknown sources.
5. After cleaning, go back to Storage and confirm that available space went up.

#Frequently asked questions

#I deleted a lot of files. Why didn't available space change much?

First make sure the Trash is empty. Storage settings also take a moment to update, so check again a little later. And on an APFS disk, a file copied on the same disk can share storage with the original, so deleting one of the copies frees much less space than its size suggests.

#Does starting up in safe mode free space?

A little, temporarily. Apple notes that when you start up in safe mode, your Mac clears certain system caches, which can help you finish a task that needs extra room only while it runs, such as installing a macOS update. Those caches are recreated as needed, so safe mode is no substitute for the steps above.