How to Free Up Space on Your Mac Hard Drive: 12 Best Ways

Written by

Ojash

Reviewed by

Hashir Ibrahim

Last updated: December 14, 2024

Expert verified

Is your Mac running low on storage and slowing down? With just a few easy steps, you can clear out unnecessary files and get it running smoothly again. Here’s how.

12 Best Ways to Free Up Space on Your Mac Hard Drive

Here are the best ways to declutter and optimize your Mac’s hard drive:

1. Optimize Storage With Built-in Tools

Here’s how to use Apple’s built-in tools to optimize your Mac’s storage:

1. Click the Apple icon and select System Settings.

2. Within System Settings, click General and select Storage.

3. Here, you can view a breakdown of what’s hoarding your hard drive space, organized by categories.

4. To see more details and management options for each category, click the i button next to them.

5. In the storage management options window, select an app you want to remove and click the Delete button.

2. Remove Unused Apps and Leftovers

Here’s how to uninstall apps on your Mac and remove their leftover files:

1. Open the Finder on your Mac.

2. Click Applications in the left sidebar.

3. Locate the application you want to delete.
4. Right-click the application and select Move to Bin or drag it to the Bin.

Now, to remove the app’s associated files, follow these steps:

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

2. A pop-up will appear.

3. Type the following paths in the search bar one by one:

/Library/Application Support

/Library/Preferences

/Library/Caches

~/Library/Application Support

~/Library/Preferences

~/Library/Caches

After deleting the unnecessary apps, empty your bin to permanently remove them from your Mac and free up storage space.

3. Move Your Files to the Cloud

Storing your files in iCloud can help clear space on your Mac. Here’s how to move your files to the iCloud:

1. Click the Apple logo and select System Settings.

2. Click Apple ID and select iCloud.

3. In iCloud, click Photos or Documents.

4. Toggle on the Sync this Mac option.

Now, you can store your photos and documents in iCloud.

4. Empty the Downloads Folder

Here’s how to delete downloads on your Mac:

1. Open the Finder application on your Mac.

2. Click the Downloads tab in the left sidebar.

3. Select the files or folders you want to delete and move them to the Bin by right-clicking the selected files and selecting Move to Bin.

4. Once you have deleted the items, empty the Bin by right-clicking the Bin icon and selecting Empty Bin.

5. Delete Large and Old Files

Over time, your Mac can collect big or old files you forgot about. Follow these steps to delete large and old files on your Mac:

1. Open a new Finder window and navigate to your desired location (e.g., Documents, Downloads, or specific folders).
2. From the View menu, select as List to display the files in a list format.

3. Click the Size column to sort the files in descending order, allowing you to identify the largest files at a glance.

4. Review the largest files and consider whether you still need them. Look especially videos, large photos, disk images, and heavy apps that take up a lot of space.
5. Select the files you want to delete, right-click them, and choose Move to Bin or drag them to the Bin.
6. To empty the Bin, right-click the Bin icon in your Dock and select Empty Bin.

6. Clear the Cache and Junk Files

Over time, your Mac stores cache files that can slow things down and take up space. Cleaning out these and other junk files can help your Mac run smoother.

Here’s how to clear the cache files on your Mac:

1. Open Finder, click Go in the menu bar, and select Go to Folder.

2. Type in the following path and press Enter:

~/Library/Caches

3. Select the cache files you want to delete or select all cache files. Right-click the selected files and select Move to Bin.

4. Right-click the Bin icon in Dock and select Empty Bin to delete junk files from your Mac permanently.

7. Declutter Your Mac Desktop

A cluttered desktop not only makes it hard to find files but can also slow down your Mac. Here’s how to declutter your desktop on Mac:

1. 🗑️ Tidy Up Icons: Look over your desktop icons. Find any files, folders, or shortcuts you don’t use often or don’t need anymore. Move them to the right folders or trash them.
2. 📂 Make Organizing Folders: Put alike files into folders on your desktop. Name folders by what’s inside, like projects, kinds of files, or topics.
3. 📚 Try Out Stacks: Mac has a cool tool called Stacks that sorts your desktop files for you. Just right-click the desktop, pick Use Stacks, and choose how you want them sorted, like by date or type of file.
4. ☁️ Turn On iCloud for Desktop: Consider using the iCloud Desktop and Documents tool. It puts your desktop files and other documents in iCloud, clearing up space on your Mac, and you can get to your files on any device.

8. Empty the Bin Automatically

Follow these steps to empty the Bin automatically on your Mac:

1. Click the Apple menu and select System Settings.

2. Click General and select Storage.

3. Tap the Turn On… button next to Empty Bin automatically.

4. Click Turn On on the pop-up to confirm deleting the items left in the Bin for more than 30 days.

9. Clear Temporary Files

Your Mac stores short-term files that it doesn’t always need later. Follow these steps to manually clear temporary files on your Mac:

1. Click the Finder icon in the Dock to open a Finder window.

2. In the menu bar, click Go and then Go to Folder.

3. In the Go to Folder window, type the following path and press Enter:

~/Library/Caches

4. Locate the folder for the app you want to clear the cache for.
5. Right-click the folder and select Move to Bin.

6. Click Empty Bin to delete the folder permanently.

10. Clear Browser Cache and Cookies

By clearing the browser cache on your Mac, you can free up space on your system and reduce resource usage.

Here is my detailed guide to clear browser cache on Mac for Safari, Chrome, and Firefox.

11. Find and Remove Duplicate Files

Here’s how to remove duplicate files on Mac using MacKeeper’s Duplicate Finder:

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

3. Click Start Scan.

4. Select a folder in the left menu to review duplicate files before deletion.

5. Alternatively, you can click Check All and tap the Remove Selected button to remove all duplicate files at once.

6. Tap the Remove button on the pop-up to confirm the deletion.

7. This will remove the selected files, and you’ll get a Removal Completed message. Click Finish to end the process.

12. Delete Old Time Machine Backups

Time Machine is a fantastic tool for backing up your Mac, but over time, these backups can accumulate and consume a lot of storage. It’s a good idea to manage and remove old backups occasionally.

Here’s how to delete old Time Machine backups on your Mac.

How to Check the Storage Space on Your Mac

Checking your Mac’s storage regularly helps it work better. By checking the storage space, you can see how much space is used and where you can clean up. Here’s how to check storage space on your Mac:

1. Click the Apple menu and select About This Mac.

2. Click More Info on the window.

3. Navigate to the Storage section in the About window and click the Storage Settings button.

4. Here, you’ll see a detailed view of storage allocation, like apps, documents, and photos.

Now that you know how to check storage, let’s dive in to some proven strategies to enhance your Mac’s storage.

Free Up Space on Your Mac Hard Drive

Keeping your Mac running smoothly and efficiently is all about regular maintenance and decluttering. Remember, a tidy Mac isn’t just about freeing up space; it’s about optimizing your entire computing experience.

Here are a few more tips to enhance your Mac experience:

• Find, merge, and delete duplicate photos on Mac to prevent unnecessary clutter on your hard drive.
• Clearing Other storage on Mac can help free up space on your system.
• If nothing else works, it may be time to add storage to your Mac.

Frequently Asked Questions