Running low on Mac storage can be stressful, especially when you’re worried about losing important documents, photos, or projects. Fortunately, macOS offers numerous ways to reclaim significant disk space without permanently deleting your valuable data. By offloading files to the cloud, removing hidden system junk, and cleverly managing existing files, you can breathe new life into your Mac’s storage. Below is a detailed guide on how to achieve this, structured for clarity and ease of action.
Understanding Your Storage Landscape
Before diving into cleanup, it’s crucial to understand what is consuming your disk space. This first step ensures you target the right areas without guesswork.
How to Check Storage: Click the Apple logo in the top-left corner of your screen, select “About This Mac,” then click the “Storage” tab (on newer macOS versions, you may need to click “More Info” and then “Storage Settings”) . You will see a color-coded bar graph that breaks down your storage into categories like Applications, Documents, iCloud Drive, Photos, System Data, and more . Pay special attention to the “System Data” (sometimes called “Other” in older macOS versions) and “Documents” categories, as these are often the biggest—and most manageable—culprits .
Leverage Built-in macOS Optimization Tools
Apple provides a suite of built-in tools designed to automate storage management. These are your first and easiest line of defense.
From the Storage settings window, click the “Manage” button or the “i” (info) icons next to each category to access personalized recommendations . Key features to enable here include:
- Store in iCloud: This feature moves your files, photos, and messages to the cloud. For photos, you can choose “Optimize Mac Storage,” which keeps smaller, device-friendly versions on your Mac while the full-resolution originals are safely stored in iCloud . Similarly, you can enable iCloud Drive for your Desktop and Documents folders, making them accessible on demand without taking up local space .
- Optimize Storage: This automatically removes movies and TV shows you’ve already watched from your Mac, freeing up space used by iTunes/Apple TV purchases .
- Empty Trash Automatically: Enable this setting to have your Mac automatically and permanently erase items that have been in the Trash for over 30 days .
Offload Large Files to the Cloud and External Drives
For files you want to keep but don’t need immediate, local access to, offloading is the perfect solution. This is perhaps the most effective way to free up space without deleting anything important.
Cloud Storage Services: Beyond iCloud, services like Google Drive, Dropbox, and OneDrive offer similar functionalities . Most have a feature that allows you to make files “online-only.” You can see them in your Finder, but they are not actually stored on your Mac until you click to open them . This is ideal for large archives, project files you aren’t currently working on, or old photos.
External Hard Drives and SD Cards: For a one-time cost, external storage provides massive space . Transfer your largest and least-frequently accessed files—such as your photo library archives, completed video projects, or old work documents—to an external drive . Some Macs also support SD cards for easily expandable storage . Once the transfer is verified, you can safely delete the local copies from your Mac.
Tame the “System Data” Beast
The “System Data” category is often a mysterious storage hog, containing caches, logs, temporary files, and Time Machine snapshots . While macOS manages most of this, you can safely trim it.
Clear Cache Files: Caches help apps run faster but can grow uncontrollably over time .
- Manual Method: Open Finder, click “Go” in the menu bar, and select “Go to Folder.” Enter
~/Library/Cachesand press Return . You’ll see folders for various apps. You can sort these by size and safely delete the contents of folders for apps you no longer use or for caches you know are large (like those from Spotify or Adobe) . The same can be done for system-wide caches at/Library/Caches, though this requires more caution . - Browser Caches: Your web browser is a major offender. In Safari, go to Settings > Advanced and check “Show features for web developers,” then go to the Develop menu and select “Empty Caches” . In Chrome, go to Settings > Privacy and security > Clear browsing data, and ensure “Cached images and files” is selected .
Delete Old Device Backups and Time Machine Snapshots:
- iOS Backups: If you’ve been backing up your iPhone or iPad to your Mac for years, you likely have several large, outdated backups. Connect your device, open Finder, select your device under “Locations,” and click “Manage Backups.” You can then delete older backups, keeping only the most recent one .
- Local Time Machine Snapshots: If you use Time Machine, your Mac creates local snapshots when your backup drive isn’t connected. These can consume significant space. You can delete them via Terminal. Open Terminal and type
tmutil listlocalsnapshots /to see them. Then, delete them usingsudo tmutil deletelocalsnapshots /(you will need to enter your administrator password) .
Clean Up Application Data and Mail
Applications themselves and the data they accumulate are another prime target for recovery.
Uninstall Unused Apps and Orphaned Files: Simply dragging an app to the Trash often leaves behind support files . For a thorough clean, use a dedicated uninstaller. For manual cleaning, you can check the ~/Library/Application Support folder for folders belonging to apps you’ve already deleted and move those to the Trash . Free tools like Pearcleaner can help you identify apps you haven’t used in a while and also find leftover “orphaned” files from already-deleted programs .
Manage Mail Attachments: The Mail app can quietly hoard gigabytes of attachments.
- Manual Cleanup: In the Mail app, you can use the conversation view to find messages with large attachments. You can also navigate manually via Finder. Go to
~/Library/Mail/, search for “Attachments,” and delete files from this folder. However, be aware this may remove them from your emails . - Prevention: In Mail > Settings > Accounts, select your account and set the “Download Attachments” option to “None” or “Recent” to prevent automatic downloads of future emails .
Remove Duplicate Files and Photos: Over time, duplicate files can accumulate.
- Photos App: Apple has a built-in feature to find duplicates. Open the Photos app, scroll down in the sidebar, and look for a “Duplicates” album under Utilities. Here, you can review and merge duplicates, which keeps the best version and moves the others to the Recently Deleted folder .
- Other Files: For duplicates in other folders, you can use the Finder’s search with the “File Size” and “Name” attributes to find potential duplicates, or consider using a dedicated app for a more thorough scan .
Advanced Technique: Cloning Files Without Duplicating Them
A revolutionary approach to saving space without deleting anything comes from a new app called Hyperspace . It leverages a feature of the Apple File System (APFS) called “cloning.”
When you duplicate a file normally, the Finder creates a second, full-sized copy, taking up twice the space. However, APFS supports file cloning, where a “duplicate” is created almost instantly without using additional storage space; it only saves the changes made to the new copy. Hyperspace scans your drive for files that are actual, space-hogging duplicates and converts them into these efficient APFS clones . This process reclaims all the space that was being wasted by the duplicate copies, while leaving every single file perfectly intact and accessible . It’s a paid app with a free trial to see how much space you can save, offering a truly unique way to recover storage .
Final Steps and Preventative Maintenance
After you’ve worked through these steps, there are a few final actions to seal the deal and keep your Mac lean.
- Empty the Trash: This is a non-negotiable final step. Files you’ve moved to Trash still occupy space until it’s emptied . Right-click the Trash icon in your Dock and select “Empty Trash.”
- Restart Your Mac: A simple restart can clear out temporary system files and log caches, often leading to a noticeable drop in “System Data” .
Long-term Habits:
- Regular Audits: Set a monthly reminder to check your Downloads folder and empty the Trash .
- Be Cache-Aware: Periodically clear your browser caches, especially if you do a lot of streaming or web browsing .
- Use Streaming Services: Instead of downloading movies, music, or large files, rely on streaming services where possible to prevent local storage bloat .
By combining these strategies—from simple cloud offloading to advanced system cleanup—you can effectively free up a substantial amount of storage space on your Mac, ensuring it remains fast and functional without sacrificing a single important file.