How to free up space on your Mac

Look before you remove anything

Freeing space goes faster when you know where it went. A Mac that's full because of one big virtual machine needs a different fix from one that's full of iPhone backups, and the Storage bar alone won't always tell you which.

• For the totals, see how to check storage on a Mac.
• For the folders behind them, see what's taking up space on your Mac.

If you haven't backed up lately, do that first. Most of what follows can be reversed until you empty the Trash, but not all of it.

Use the Storage recommendations in System Settings

macOS has its own storage tools. In macOS 13 Ventura and later, including macOS 15 Sequoia, macOS 26 Tahoe and macOS 27 Golden Gate, they live here:

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

1. 1

   Open Storage settings

   Choose Apple menu > System Settings, click General in the sidebar, then click Storage.

2. 2

   Read the storage bar

   Wait for the bar to finish measuring, then move the pointer over each color to see how much space that category uses. Light gray is free space.

3. 3

   Review the recommendations

   Read Store in iCloud, Optimize Storage and Empty Trash Automatically, and turn on only the ones that fit how you use your Mac.

4. 4

   Open the biggest categories

   Click the Info button next to a large category, such as Documents, Applications or iOS Files, to see what's inside and sort it by size.

5. 5

   Move what you don't need to the Trash

   Select an item and click Show in Finder, then move it to the Trash there. Delete in Storage settings removes items right away, without the Trash.

6. 6

   Empty the Trash

   Look through the Trash, then Control-click its icon in the Dock and choose Empty Trash. The space is freed only then.

The recommendations at the top change how your Mac stores things, so read each one before you turn it on. Apple describes them in its optimize storage guide.

Store in iCloud

This keeps your Desktop and Documents folders in iCloud Drive, your photos and videos in iCloud Photos, and your messages and attachments in iCloud. When space is needed, only recently opened files stay fully on your Mac. The rest stay listed in Finder and download when you open them, so you need to be online to open them.

It uses your iCloud storage plan. If that plan is full, Apple's free up storage article points you to buying more or clearing space in iCloud. When it fits, this is the biggest way to free space without losing any files.

Optimize Storage

This removes Apple TV movies and shows you've already watched, and keeps only recent email attachments on your Mac when space is needed. Purchased items stay in your account and can be downloaded again.

Empty Trash Automatically

This erases items that have been in the Trash for more than 30 days. It's tidy, but it turns the Trash into a 30-day safety net instead of an open-ended one. To switch it off later, turn off "Remove items from the Trash after 30 days" here:

Finder, then Settings, then Advanced

Reduce Clutter, which is now the Info buttons

On macOS 12 Monterey and earlier, the fourth recommendation was called Reduce Clutter, and it led to lists of large files and downloads (Apple's Monterey guide). On macOS 13 and later, the same tools sit behind the Info button next to each category below the recommendations. Documents has Large Files, Downloads, Unsupported Apps and File Browser. Applications lists your apps and their sizes. iOS Files lists device backups.

You'll notice there's no button for System Data or caches. Apple says that when space is needed, macOS clears caches and logs that are safe to remove on its own, including temporary database files, interrupted downloads, staged updates and Safari website data (Apple). For what you can safely do by hand, see how to clear System Data and how to clear cache on a Mac.

Empty the Trash

Files in the Trash still take up space. Apple's article says it plainly: space from trashed files isn't freed until you empty the Trash.

Open the Trash first and look through it. Once it's emptied, Finder can't put anything back. Then Control-click the Trash in the Dock and choose Empty Trash.

The usual big items, and where to look

Most full Macs are full for a handful of reasons. Each has its own guide, so this page stays short.

Two more from Apple's list. In Mail, choose Mailbox > Erase Deleted Items and Mailbox > Erase Junk Mail. And if your Mac has user accounts nobody uses anymore, removing them, then checking the Users folder for files they left behind, can free a lot.

If your Mac says the disk is almost full right now and you need room for an update, start with what to do when Mac storage is full.

Free up space without deleting files

Not every fix means losing something. These keep your files:

• Store in iCloud, described above, if your iCloud plan has room.
• Move big libraries to an external drive. Apple suggests this for media such as your Photos or iMovie library. Use each app's own steps to move its library so the app still finds it.
• Compress what you rarely open. Control-click a folder in Finder and choose Compress. Documents and project folders shrink; photos and videos are already compressed and barely change.
• Stream instead of keeping copies. Music, movies and podcasts you can download again don't need to live on your disk.
• Let purgeable space go. Space macOS marks as purgeable is freed on its own when an app needs it. See purgeable space.

What's safe to remove and what isn't

Usually fine to remove:

• Installers (.dmg and .pkg files) for apps you've already installed.
• Downloads you could get again.
• Apps you no longer use, removed with the app's uninstaller or the steps in uninstall apps completely.
• Old iPhone and iPad backups, once you have a newer backup you trust.
• Xcode build data and package manager caches. The tools rebuild them when needed.

Leave alone:

• The System folder.
• The Library folders as a whole, yours and the one at the top of the disk. Some items inside them can go, but never the folders themselves.
• The inside of your Photos library. Remove photos in Photos, not in Finder.
• Anything in iCloud Drive you only want gone from this Mac. Removing it there removes it from every device.
• The data of apps you still use, in Application Support and Containers.
• Anything you can't identify. Look it up in the field guide first, and skip any advice that says to run sudo rm -rf on a folder.

How MacClearings does it

MacClearings starts with a scan, then the Suggestions section lists what's usually safe to move to the Trash, grouped by kind: developer files, caches, logs, old downloads, iPhone backups and Mail attachments. Its 28 rules each say in plain words why an item is safe and what happens without it.

A rule only checks items for you when they're safe to lose and don't come straight back, such as Xcode DerivedData, package manager caches and old logs. App and browser caches, old downloads, large old files and device backups start unchecked, so you decide. Groups are ordered by space that lasts: MacClearings measures each place again a day, a week and a month after a cleanup, and uses what stayed free to rank the next one.

Suggestions rule · Old downloads

Old downloads

Things in Downloads you haven't opened or changed in 90 days. Often installers and one-off files, but check before you confirm, so they start unchecked.

• ~/Downloads/*

Listed, but you decide whether to check it.

Checked items wait in the Cleanup tray. Review & Clean Up lists every item and its size before anything moves, and only Move to Trash in that sheet moves them. History keeps Undo for each cleanup and Put Back for each item.

MacClearings never empties the Trash. The space comes back when you empty it yourself, after you've had time to change your mind.