System cleanup in one click
- How To Increase Laptop Storage
- How To Free Up Other Storage Space On Mac
- How To Free Up Other Storage On Mac
- How To Free Up Other Storage On Mac Os
Sep 28, 2021 The limitations of Mac storage often create a problem that prevents the Mac from running smoothly, which results in inconvenience to every user. With that said, we take a look at the four ways to free up the storage space on the device manually, according to Apple. How to Free Up Storage Space Manually on Your Mac 1. Downloads Folder. The Downloads folder is the default location on Mac that stores all the content.
Checking your storage on Mac isn't difficult – but managing it can be. One of the more curious storage compartments is the 'other' storage on Mac, which sounds like a catch-all for files that can't be labeled properly.
And that's sort of true! But the other volumes in container can get full, and reduce the Mac storage Other space for your Mac. And keep in mind there's no 'how to get rid of other on Mac' option; the partition isn't there to delete totally. Here we'll show you how to check your other space, and offer guidance on managing it.
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How to Check Storage on Mac
This will be quick! Just follow these directions:
- Click the Apple logo on the top left of the menu bar
- Select 'About This Mac'
- Choose 'Storage'
And there you go! That's the simple way to check the storage available on your Mac. Now, do you see that 'Manage…' button on the right-hand side of the window? Click it!
Depending on how you use your Mac and what apps you run, that 'other' category could be taking up quite a bit of space, and you could free it up very easily — potentially saving yourself from having to buy additional storage.
View and Manage the Other space on Mac
The next window you arrive at shows how Apple manages your system memory. In macOS Sierra, Apple added a default feature named 'Optimize' that helps balance the load between cloud storage and on-device memory use. As you can see in the window (below), 'System' and 'Other' are greyed-out.
This is because the other space is tricky to manage, and required digging into the Library on your Mac. As we cautioned in our article on deleting apps from your Mac, foraging through Library is a tad frightening, so proceed with caution.
But what is other on Mac? In essence, it's caches, plug-ins, and documents macOS wants to keep around. Here's how to open Library, so we can start to discover what 'other' is on Mac:
- Open Finder
- Select 'Go' from menu
- Hold down 'option' key on keyboard; you should see a new option for 'Library'
- While holding down the option key, select 'Library'
You'll see a Library folder in the list. Click it to see all your apps and associated files. There are also folders with names like 'Caches.'
We can't caution you enough: if you're not sure what it is you're looking for, don't delete it – and remember you can't delete Other on Mac entirely. There's a reason Apple hides the Library; small changes can have deep, lasting effects.
But, if you know what needs deleting, this is where you'll find it. If you're positive an app's files or plugins need to go, this is where you'll find them. Simply right-click the folder or file you want gone, and select 'move to trash.' Then empty the trash can, and you're done. This is how you remove files from the Other storage category. Check info about how to recover files from a hard drive on Mac.
But that's scary stuff. We have a better way
The Best Way to Reduce Other Storage on Mac
Apple's Optimize service is great for Macs with tons of on-board storage, mostly because those machines need very little interaction when it comes to managing files and storage space.
The best option is to find a file manager you can control. ForkLift is a really solid option that brands itself as a replacement for Finder – and it's not wrong. You can connect multiple servers (FTP, SFTP, Amazon S3, AFP, WebDAV, SMB, and NFS), and archive unnecessary files or folders. Like Finder, it has a preview for files you're accessing, and also lets you compare files so you can delete duplicates as needed.
A much more robust method is with CleanMyMacX. This app is almost a must-have for any Mac owner. It managed files, folders, apps, extensions, updates, mail attachments, and the trash bin. But it's core function is to make sure your Mac is optimized, and it does an amazing job.
Reduce storage with CMM X
Install CleanMyMac X and forget about manual storage cleaning. The app wipes away all junk from your Mac in seconds.
With CleanMyMacX, all you have to do is activate its Smart Scan feature. It discovers unnecessary files for you, and optimizes your Mac for speedier performance. It even makes sure your Mac has no malware!
Trusting CleanMyMacX to do its job correctly is never a question, but you can dig deeper if you like. Once a smart scan is complete, you can select 'review details' under the Cleanup task before you select 'run.' In this details log, you'll see two main categories: system junk, and trash bins.
System Junk is where those pesky cache files are, along with log files. You can choose 'show' to see which caches CleanMyMacX is getting rid of, too.
Conclusion
The one thing to remember about other storage on Mac is it's not always going to vanish. Your Mac stores all kinds of things there, like application support and font files. You need that stuff – and is again why we caution you not to simply clear out everything in your Library that doesn't immediately resonate.
But you don't always need caches, and cleaning your files manually can take a long time. When you're ready to clear 'Other' on Mac, it's almost always because you want it to run smoother, or stay running at optimal performance levels.
This is why we advocate for apps like ForkLift and CleanMyMacX. Even if you want the more manual controls ForkLift offers, its ease of use makes storage management faster and easier.
We think most will find value in CleanMyMacX, too. Its simple one-click optimization makes system maintenance a breeze!
Best of all, both ForkLift and CleanMyMacX are available free as part of a seven day trial of Setapp. In addition to these apps, you get access to dozens of other handy macOS apps!
Is your Mac dangerously close to running out of storage? Usually, you can go on a short disk cleaning spree and free up a lot of space quickly. But sometimes, it’s just not that simple.
A while back, we talked about the somewhat baffling “Other” storage that can end up consuming tens—if not hundreds—of gigabytes of disk space. This time, we shall focus on another perplexing issue: how to reduce a bloated “System” storage on the Mac.
What Is System Storage?
Whenever you go to Applemenu > About This Mac > Storage, the Mac’s internal storage indicator will display the amount of data related to the operating system as “System” storage.
Ideally, it should stay under 20 gigabytes, but you can expect it to keep growing slowly as you keep using your Mac. If it exceeds that by double or triple-digits, however, then here are the most common reasons why that happens:
- Local Time Machine snapshots.
- Large application log files.
- Bloated application or system cache.
- Broken Spotlight Search index.
If your Mac has a very large “System” storage allocation, the pointers that follow should you help reduce it. Don’t forget to clear the Trash and check the Storage screen frequently as you work your way through them.
Remove Local Time Machine Snapshots
If you have Time Machine enabled on your Mac, you may end up with a chunk of “System” storage well beyond the usual size limits. That happens when the operating system fails to clear older Time Machine snapshots from the internal storage. It’s best to check and get rid of them using Terminal.
Note: If possible, create a fresh Time Machine backup with your external backup drive connected before you go ahead.
1. Go to Finder > Applications > Utilities and open Terminal.
2. Type tmutil listlocalsnapshotdates and press Enter to bring up a list of all local Time Machine snapshots along with their relevant date tags.
3. You must delete the local Time Machine snapshots individually (starting with the oldest) and check if that reduces “System” within your Mac’s Storage screen.
Type tmutil deletelocalsnapshots followed by the date and name of the snapshot. Then, press Enter to delete it.
Repeat as needed, but avoid deleting the most recent snapshots. If you have your external backup drive around, however, you can safely delete all of them with the following command:
for snapshot in $(tmutil listlocalsnapshotdates | grep -v :); do sudo tmutil deletelocalsnapshots $snapshot; done
Delete Application Log Files
If you’ve used your Mac for some time, it may contain lots of application log files. In some cases, these files can end up consuming multiple gigabytes of storage. You can check and delete them by heading over to the Logs folder within the Mac’s user library.
How To Increase Laptop Storage
1. Open Finder. Then, select Go > Go to Folder.
2. Type ~/Library/Logs/ and press Enter.
3. Check for any oversized log files and delete them. To make things easier, you can switch to List view (from the top of the Finder window) and use the Size column to sort the log files by size.
Delete Connection Log Files
Application logs aside, your Mac may also contain massive connection log files related to the Mail app. It’s best to check and get rid of them.
1. Open Finder. Then, select Go > Go to Folder.
2. Type the following folder path and press Enter:
~/Library/Containers/com.apple.mail/Data/Library/Logs/Mail
3. Delete any large connection log files inside the directory.
Delete System and Application Cache
Both the operating system and the various applications that run on your Mac frequently cache lots of files. That helps speed things up, but sometimes, the application and the system caches can balloon out of control and ramp up the “System” reading. Try clearing out any large file caches.
Tip: For a complete walkthrough, check how to clear the Mac cache.
1. Open Finder. Then, select Go > Go to Folder.
2. Type ~/Library/Caches/ and press Enter to open the application cache.
3. Switch to List view and sort the files and folders using the Size column. Then, delete any oversized items within the directory.
Note: If Finder doesn’t display folder sizes in List view, open View on the menu bar, select Show View Options, check the box next to Calculate all sizes, and select Use as Defaults.
4. Restart your Mac. If everything looks good, clear the Trash.
5. Repeat steps 1–4, but use the path /Library/Caches/ (which opens the system cache) in step 2 instead.
Enter/Exit Safe Mode
Booting into Safe Mode can help remove redundant or obsolete system-related files on your Mac. To do that, start by turning off your Mac. Power it back on, but immediately press and hold the Shift key until you see the Apple logo.
After your Mac boots into Safe Mode, go to Apple menu > About This Mac > Storage. Wait for a couple of minutes until the storage indicator updates itself completely. Then, restart your Mac normally and see if that helped.
Rebuild Spotlight Index
Sometimes, your Mac may display an incorrect “System” storage reading due to a broken Spotlight Search index. Try rebuilding it to help reduce system storage on Mac.
How To Free Up Other Storage Space On Mac
1. Open the Apple menu, choose System Preferences, and select Spotlight.
2. Switch to the Privacy tab. Then, drag and drop the system drive from your desktop inside it.
How To Free Up Other Storage On Mac
Note: If the system drive is not visible on the desktop, open Finder, and select Preferences on the Finder menu. Then, check the box next to Hard disks.
How To Free Up Other Storage On Mac Os
3. Select OK to confirm that you want Spotlight Search to stop searching the system drive.
4. Wait for a moment. Then, select the system drive that you just added and remove it using the Delete ( — ) button.
That should prompt Spotlight Search to re-index the system drive.
Too Complicated? Use Onyx
If the methods above to reduce system storage on your Mac seem too tedious, try using Onyx. It’s a completely free application that can quickly delete local Time Machine snapshots, remove outdated log files, clear the application and system caches, and rebuild the Spotlight index.
Onyx also works as a junk removal tool. If you keep running into storage-related issues on your Mac regularly, we highly recommend that you use it. Here’s a complete Onyx walkthrough.