How to find large files on your Mac

Find large files with Finder search

Finder can search the whole Mac by file size. It's the quickest built-in way to see the big single files, and it works the same in macOS 15 Sequoia, macOS 26 Tahoe and macOS 27 Golden Gate.

1. 1

   Start a Finder search

   In Finder, choose File > Find, or press Command-F.

2. 2

   Search the whole Mac

   Click This Mac in the bar under the search field, so the search isn't limited to the folder you were in.

3. 3

   Add the File Size criterion

   Click the first pop-up menu in the criteria row (it usually says Kind), choose Other, select File Size in the list, and click OK.

4. 4

   Set a size

   Choose is greater than, type 1, and choose GB. If nothing turns up, try 500 MB.

5. 5

   Sort by size

   Choose View > as List and click the Size column header. If there's no Size column, Control-click any column header and choose Size.

6. 6

   Check each file before it goes

   Select a file and press the Space bar to preview it, or choose File > Show in Enclosing Folder to see where it lives.

To keep the search, click Save under the search field. Finder saves it as a Smart Folder, and you can add it to the sidebar so it updates every time you open it (Apple).

Add a date to find files you've forgotten

Big files you use every day aren't the problem. To narrow the list to ones you haven't touched in a while, click the Add button (+) at the end of the File Size row, set the new row to Last opened date, and choose a date a year or more ago. The same menu also offers Last modified date and Created date.

Finder search has two blind spots worth knowing:

• It finds files, not folders. A folder that holds thousands of small files, like an app's cache or a project's node_modules, never shows up, however big it is. To compare folders, see what's taking up space on your Mac.
• It skips hidden folders. Finder search runs on Spotlight's index, which leaves out folders whose names start with a dot. Developer tools keep a lot there, such as Android emulators in ~/.android or package caches in ~/.npm. Terminal, below, sees them.

Use the Large Files list in Storage settings

Storage settings has its own list of large files:

Apple menu, then System Settings, then General, then Storage

Click the Info button next to Documents, then choose Large Files. You can sort by name, kind, last accessed date or size. The Downloads tab lists what's in your Downloads folder the same way, and File Browser shows how much each folder uses (Apple).

Find large files in Terminal

Terminal sees every folder, hidden ones included, and lists exact sizes. Every command in this section only reads.

Every file over 1 GB in your home folder

find ~ -type f -size +1G -exec du -h {} + 2>/dev/null | sort -rh | head -20

• find ~ -type f -size +1G finds files over 1 GB anywhere in your home folder. Use +500M for 500 MB.
• -exec du -h {} + prints the space each file takes on disk.
• 2>/dev/null hides the "Operation not permitted" lines for folders macOS protects.
• sort -rh | head -20 lists the 20 largest first.

On a large home folder this takes a few minutes, because it reads every folder.

The whole startup disk

Your files and apps live on the Data volume, at /System/Volumes/Data. This searches all of it and asks for your administrator password:

sudo find /System/Volumes/Data -xdev -type f -size +1G -exec du -h {} + 2>/dev/null | sort -rh | head -20

-xdev keeps it on that one volume, so it won't wander into external drives. You'll see files inside apps (paths containing .app/) in the results. Leave those alone; an app is removed as a whole.

Large files you haven't changed in a year

Add -mtime +365 to keep only files last modified more than 365 days ago. This finds files over 500 MB that haven't changed in a year:

find ~ -type f -size +500M -mtime +365 -exec du -h {} + 2>/dev/null | sort -rh | head -20

A faster search with Spotlight

mdfind asks the Spotlight index instead of reading the disk, so it answers in seconds. Like Finder, it misses hidden folders. The size is in bytes, so this means over 1 GB:

mdfind -onlyin ~ 'kMDItemFSSize > 1000000000'

List one folder's files by size

ls -lhS ~/Downloads | head -20

-S sorts by size, largest first. Put any folder in place of ~/Downloads.

Moving a file to the Trash from Terminal

If you decide a file can go, skip rm. It removes files permanently, without the Trash, and can't be undone. macOS 15 and later include a trash command that moves files to the Trash instead (replace the example path with your own):

trash ~/Downloads/old-installer.dmg

Or reveal it in Finder with open -R and the file's path, and drag it to the Trash there.

Where large files tend to hide

Some big files sit where few people look. These are worth checking by hand:

• Downloads. Installers, archives and videos you opened once. Sort it by size in list view.
• Movies. The iMovie library lives here, and so do many video exports.
• Applications. Old "Install macOS" apps stay here after an upgrade, and each one is large.
• Device backups, in ~/Library/Application Support/MobileSync/Backup. Storage settings lists them under iOS Files.
• Virtual machines. Parallels keeps them in a Parallels folder in your home folder by default, and UTM keeps them inside its folder in ~/Library/Containers.
• Messages attachments, in ~/Library/Messages/Attachments. Terminal can read this folder only with Full Disk Access.

What's safe to remove and what isn't

A large file isn't automatically a wasted one. Look at what it is and where it lives first.

Usually fine, after a look:

• Disk images (.dmg) and installer packages (.pkg) for apps you've already installed.
• Archives (.zip) you've already expanded.
• Screen recordings and video exports you've shared or saved somewhere else.
• Old "Install macOS" apps. You can download the installer again from Apple when you need it.

Manage these in their own apps, not in Finder:

• Anything inside a Photos, Music, iMovie or Final Cut library.
• iPhone and iPad backups, which appear as many files in a MobileSync folder. See delete old iPhone backups.
• Virtual machine disks, and Docker's Docker.raw. See Docker disk space on a Mac.
• Time Machine backups and growing disk images (.sparsebundle).

Leave alone: files inside apps, anything under /System, and files in iCloud Drive you only want gone from this Mac, because removing them there removes them everywhere. If you can't tell what something is, look it up in the field guide.

How MacClearings' Find does it

Find in MacClearings searches everything MacClearings scanned, as you type, and lists matches largest first. Typos are forgiven. Press ⌘F from anywhere in the app to jump to it.

For large files, leave the search box empty and use the filters on their own:

• Size: Over 10 MB, Over 100 MB, Over 1 GB or Over 10 GB.
• Date: Past week, Past month, Past year or Older than a year, by when the item was last modified.
• Kind: Folders, Apps, Images, Videos, Audio, Documents, Archives, Disk images and Code.

Choose Over 1 GB and Older than a year, and you get every big item you haven't touched in a year, folders included, which Finder can't show. Hidden folders it scanned are included too. Known folders carry a field guide label, so you can tell a simulator from a cache at a glance.

Press the Space bar to preview a result, double-click to reveal it in Finder, or right-click to Quick Look, Copy Path or Add to Cleanup. Select several rows to add them together.

Suggestions has a rule for the same job, and it starts unchecked because only you know whether those files still matter:

Suggestions rule · Large old files

Large files untouched for a year

Files over 500 MB you haven't opened or changed in a year. Only you know if they still matter, so they start unchecked.

Listed, but you decide whether to check it.

Whatever you add goes to the Cleanup tray. Review & Clean Up lists every item before anything moves, Move to Trash moves them, and History can undo the whole cleanup or put back a single file. MacClearings never empties the Trash, so the space comes back when you empty it yourself.