How to Clear Other Storage on Mac: 6 Best Ways

Written by

Ojash

Reviewed by

Hashir Ibrahim

Last updated: September 24, 2024

Expert verified

Ever wonder why your Mac’s storage seems to fill up out of nowhere? I’ve had the same problem, and it turns out those hidden Other files were taking up a huge chunk of space. Here’s how I cleared them out and freed up my storage.

What is Other in Mac Storage?

The “Other” storage category on Mac refers to files that don’t fit into any of the other categories, such as Applications, Documents, Movies, Music, and Photos. This category can include a variety of files, such as:

1. 🗄️ Cache files: These are temporary files created by apps to speed up your Mac performance.
2. 📊 System logs: These files track system events and errors.
3. 🗂️ Temporary files: These files are created by apps when they’re running.
4. ⬇️ Downloads: These are files that you’ve downloaded from the internet.
5. 💻 Installers: These include installers, like .dmg, .pkg, used to install apps.
6. 📂 Other miscellaneous files: This category can include any other files that don’t fit into any of the other categories.

How to Clear Other Storage on Mac

Here are the six best methods to clear other storage on Mac:

1. Clear the Cache on Your Mac

Clearing cache files is the safest and quickest method to free up space and improve performance on your Mac. Here are the steps on how to clear the cache on your Mac:

1. Open the Finder on your Mac.

2. Click Go in the menu bar and select Go to Folder.

2. Type the following path into the search bar and press Enter:

~/Library/Caches/

3. This will open the Caches folder. Select the folder for the system data you want to clear.
4. Right-click the files and select Move to Bin.

5. Permanently delete the cache from your Mac by right-clicking the Bin icon and selecting Empty Bin.

if you have Mackeeper, you can also use it to clear cache files on Mac. Here’s how to clean cache files on your Mac with MacKeeper:

1. Download and install MacKeeper on your Mac.
2. Open MacKeeper and click Safe Cleanup in the left sidebar.

3. Click Start Scan.

4. Wait for the scan to complete, and select the junk files you want to delete. You can also click Check All to select all.

5. Click Clean Junk Files.

6. A Cleaning Completed notification will appear with the size of junk files removed. Click Rescan to run the scan again.

2. Delete System Logs on Mac

System logs can occupy storage, and deleting them is a good way to free up space. You can manually delete system log files on your Mac by following these steps:

1. Open Finder from your Dock.

2. Click Go in the menu bar and select Go to Folder.

3. Type the following path in the search bar and press Enter:

~/Library/Logs

4. You’ll see a list of log files. To remove a file, select and delete the folder contents instead of dragging the folder to the Bin.

5. After moving the files to the Bin, right-click the Bin icon in your Dock and click Empty Bin to delete the log files permanently.

3. Remove Extensions from Other Storage  

Unnecessary extensions and plugins can consume storage, and removing them can free up space. To remove browser extensions, you should follow instructions specific to your browser. Here are the most common ones:

a. Remove Extensions from Safari

You can remove browser extensions on Mac from Safari by following these steps:

1. Open Safari on your Mac, click Safari in the menu bar and select Settings from the drop-down menu.

2. Click the Extensions tab to view all the installed extensions.

3. Find the extension you want to remove and click it.

4. Click the Uninstall button to confirm you want to remove the extension.

b. Remove Extensions from Chrome

Here’s how to remove extensions from Google Chrome on your Mac: 

1. Click the Google Chrome icon in your Dock or search for it in the Applications folder.

2. Click the three-dot icon in the top right corner of the Chrome window. Hover your mouse over More Tools and select Extensions from the submenu.

3. Find the extension you want to remove from the list. You can also use the search bar to find it quickly.
4. Click the Remove button next to the extension you want to uninstall. Confirm the removal when prompted.

c. Remove Extensions from Firefox

Follow these steps to remove extensions on Firefox:

1. Open Firefox on your Mac by clicking its icon in your Dock or Applications folder.

2. Click Firefox in the menu bar and select Settings from the drop-down menu.

4. Click Extensions & Themes in the left-hand menu to view all the extensions installed in Firefox.

5. Find the extension you want to remove and click the three dots icon. Tap Remove in the drop-down menu.

6. Click Remove again to confirm that you want to remove the extension.

4. Delete Application Support Files

Deleting leftover application support files can free up space after uninstalling apps on your Mac. You can delete application support files manually by following these steps:

1. Open the Finder.

2. Click the Go menu and select Go to Folder.

3. Type the following path and press Enter:

~/Library/Application Support

4. This will open the Application Support folder. Select the files you want to delete.

5. Right-click the selected files and click Move to Bin.

6. Empty the Bin by right-clicking its icon and selecting Empty Bin.

5. Delete Disk Images

Here are the steps to delete disk images on a Mac: 

1. Open Finder from your Dock.

2. Click the small magnifying glass icon in the top right corner of the Finder window.
3. Type dmg in the search bar to show all files with the same extension in their name.

4. Select the .dmg files you no longer need, right-click them, and select Move to Bin.

5. Finally, empty the Bin by right-clicking it and selecting Empty Bin to remove the files from your Mac permanently.

6. Delete Old Time Machine Backups

One way to easily delete system data on a Mac to clear Other storage is by removing Time Machine backups. Follow these steps to delete old Time Machine backups on your Mac:

1. Open the Terminal application located in the Utilities folder within Applications.

2. In the Terminal window, enter the following command and press Enter:

sudo tmutil delete /path/to/backup

Replace /path/to/backup with the actual path to the Time Machine backup you want to delete. For instance, if the backup is stored on an external hard drive called BackupDrive, the command would become:

sudo tmutil delete /Volumes/BackupDrive/Backups.backupdb/ComputerName/YYYY-MM-DD-HHMMSS

Replace ComputerName with your Mac’s name and YYYY-MM-DD-HHMMSS with the specific backup date and time.

3. You will be prompted to enter your admin password. Type it in and press Enter.
4. Terminal will initiate the deletion of the Time Machine backup. The duration of this process will depend on the size of the backup and may take some time.

Clear Other Storage on Mac to Optimize Its Performance

Clearing other storage on Mac can be a great way to free up space and improve your Mac’s performance. If you’re interested in further optimizing your Mac’s performance, here are a few more tips for you:

• Regularly clean your Mac to prevent slowdowns and crashes from junk files.
• Delete junk files frequently to free up storage space on your Mac.
• The “Your Disk Is Almost Full” error means it’s time to clear your Mac’s hard drive.

Frequently Asked Questions