How To Free Up Space On Your Hard Drive Mac

| 04-10-2021
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FWIW never allow free space on the drive drop below about 20% of the drive's capacity. If you get down to that point then you will need to free up space: How to Free Up Space on The Hard Drive. You can remove data from your Home folder except for the /Home/Library/ folder. Visit The XLab FAQs and read the FAQ on freeing up space on your hard drive. Need to free up disk space? Now Google Drive lets you pick which folders to sync. Syncing files with Google Drive for Windows and Apple Mac users no longer means storing everything from the cloud.

What is taking up space on my hard drive?

Very often Mac OS users face the problem that there is not enough disk space available for an operation. It goes without saying, that you need to clean the hard drive and free up disk space. However, there is a question: what should be removed? As the rule, duplicate files take the biggest part of available memory. Sometimes such files are placed in different directories and generally it’s very difficult to find them. The second reason of out of memory problem is big files. When you are using your Mac sometimes it’s filling up with various large media files and documents. Very seldom it’s really difficult to find the directory of these files. So, Mac OS users decide to leave it as it is and after a while they face with our problem. That’s why we’ve prepared the detailed guide on how to free up disk space on Mac OS!

How to free up disk space on Mac OS

Here you have two options: use our automatic solution, which can help you to save your time and mental health, or you can use manual solution and built-in software.

How to free up disk space on Mac OS automatically?

We recommend you to use CleanMyMac X. This program allows you to keep your hard drive in a good state with the help of various applications such as junk files cleaner, shredder, system performance optimizer and etc. Download CleanMyMac X right now and clean your Mac hard drive easily and fast!


How to free up disk space on Mac OS manually?

There are a number of operations which you should proceed to fully free up disk space on Mac OS, or you can just take several steps in order to free a few.

Store in iCloud

Desktop and Documents
When storage space is needed, only the files you recently opened are kept on your Mac, so that you can easily work offline. Files stored only in iCloud show a download icon , which you can double-click to download the original file.
  • Mac OS Catalina: choose Apple menu > System Preferences, click Apple ID, then select iCloud in the sidebar: Store in iCloud turns on the Optimize Mac Storage setting on the right. Then click Options next to iCloud Drive: Store in iCloud turns on the Desktop & Documents Folders setting. To turn off iCloud Drive entirely, deselect iCloud Drive.
  • Mac OS Mojave or earlier: choose Apple menu > System Preferences, click iCloud, then click Options next to iCloud Drive. Store in iCloud turns on the Desktop & Documents Folders and Optimize Mac Storage settings.


    • Photos
    Store all original, full-resolution photos and videos in iCloud Photos. When storage space is needed, only space-saving (optimized) versions of photos are kept on your Mac. To download the original photo or video, just open it.
  • Photos: choose Photos > Preferences, then click iCloud. Store in iCloud selects iCloud Photos and Optimize Mac Storage.


    • Messages
    Store all messages and attachments in iCloud. When storage space is needed, only the messages and attachments you recently opened are kept on your Mac.
  • Messages: choose Messages > Preferences, then click iMessage. Store in iCloud selects Enable Messages in iCloud.

    • Optimize device Storage

    Automatically remove watched movies and TV shows
    When storage space is needed, movies or TV shows that you purchased from the iTunes Store and already watched are removed from your Mac. Click the download icon next to a movie or TV show to download it again.
  • Mac OS Catalina: open the Apple TV app, choose TV > Preferences from the menu bar, then click Files. Optimize Storage selects “Automatically delete watched movies and TV shows.”
  • Mac OS Mojave or earlier: open iTunes, choose iTunes > Preferences from the menu bar, then click Advanced. Optimize Storage selects “Automatically delete watched movies and TV shows.”


    • Download only recent attachments
    Mail automatically downloads only the attachments that you recently received. You can manually download any attachments at any time by opening the email or attachment, or saving the attachment to your Mac.
  • Don’t automatically download attachments: Mail downloads an attachment only when you open the email or attachment, or save the attachment to your Mac.
    In Mail, choose Mail > Preferences from the menu bar, then click Accounts. In the Account Information section on the right, Optimize Storage sets the Download Attachments menu to either Recent or None.


    • Empty Trash Automatically
    Permanently deletes files that have been in the Trash for more than 30 days.
  • Empty Trash Automatically: From the Finder, choose Finder > Preferences, then click Advanced. Empty Trash Automatically selects “Remove items from the Trash after 30 days.”


    • Reduce Clutter
    This option helps you to identify large files and files you might no longer need. Click the Review Files button, then choose any of the file categories in the sidebar, such as Applications, Documents, Music Creation, or Trash. You can delete the files in some categories directly from this window. Other categories show the total storage space used by the files in each app. You can then open the app and decide whether to delete files from within it.
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    Freeing space on your Mac OS X startup disk

    This extract from a chapter of our book Troubleshooting Mac® OS X describes several ways to free-up space on your Mac OS X startup disk, also known as your Mac OS X boot volume.

    While you could replace your current hard drive with a larger model, or install a second internal hard drive if your Mac will support such, the following tips will help you to free some space without changing your hardware. Additional tips are provided for saving more space if you have a second internal hard drive or an available partition.

    Determining available space on your startup disk

    To check how much free space is available on your startup disk:

    1. In Finder®, select your startup disk's icon. For most users, this is Macintosh HD.
    2. Press the Command-I keyboard combination.
    3. The Get Info window for your startup disk will open. In the General pane, the Capacity, Available (free space), and space Used on your startup disk will be displayed, as seen in the following screen shot:

    Simple ways to free space

    You can employ any of the following tips to increase the free space available on your Mac OS X startup disk without altering your hardware.

    Empty the Trash

    As obvious as it may sound, some folks regularly Trash files but neglect to periodically empty the Trash. In Finder, select Finder > Empty Trash or, under Mac OS X 10.3 or later, you can also select Finder > Secure Empty Trash.

    How To Free Up Space On Your Hard Drive Mac

    Do not use the Trash as a temporary storage area: only put an object in the Trash if you are sure it is no longer needed.

    Some applications, such as iPhoto® and Mail, have their own Trash, spearate from the Trash seen in the Dock. Emptying the application’s Trash may delete its contents immediately or move its contents to your personal Trash, which you can then empty as noted above.

    Archive old files

    Archive — move, copy and delete, or backup and remove — files you do not use regularly to CD or another backup medium.

    If you have not done so already, this is an excellent time to consider implementing a comprehensive backup and recovery solution.

    Mac OS X 10.3 Panther® and later include a built-in function for creating compressed archives of files or folders. These archives are generally far smaller than the original files they contain, provided the original is not already in a compressed format. To use this function, see the following AppleCare® Knowledge Base document corresponding to the version of Mac OS X you are using:

    Clean up system logs and temporary files

    Follow the advice in our 'Running Mac OS X Maintenance Scripts' FAQ to regularly execute the Mac OS X maintenance routines that clean up System logs and temporary files created as part of the UNIX® underpinnings of Mac OS X.

    Remove unused localization files

    If you selected the Easy Install option when installing Mac OS X, localization files for over a dozen languages are installed. These files enable the Mac OS X interface to appear in a variety of languages. You can save roughly 200MB of disk space by removing unneeded localization files using the freeware utility Monolingual.

    Warning:

    Be sure to thoroughly read the instructions before using Monolingual. Only use a version that is compatible with the version of Mac OS X you have installed.

    Never remove English localization files. Many applications require English and will not open if English is removed.

    Delete the Previous Systems folder from a prior Archive and Install

    If you have performed an Archive and Install of Mac OS X, a Previous Systems folder was created containing your prior Mac OS X System folder. Once you are satisfied that your Mac is functioning properly after an Archive and Install, you can delete the Previous Systems folder as follows:

    • Mac OS X 10.3 Panther® or later:
    1. Using your Admin account, drag the Previous Systems folder to the Trash.
    2. Type your Admin password when requested to authenticate this operation.
    3. Empty the Trash.
    • Mac OS X 10.2 Jaguar: See the AppleCare Knowledge Base document 'Mac OS X 10.2: How to Delete a Previous Systems Folder.'

    Uninstall unused applications

    If your Macintosh HD > Applications folder is cluttered with applications you are no longer using or trial software that shipped with your Mac that you do not intend to use, then uninstall them.

    Delete old iTunes Library file backups

    Recent versions of iTunes® create a backup of your current iTunes Library file whenever the iTunes application is updated. After you are satisfied that an iTunes update is performing nominally, trash old iTunes Library files with your Home > Music > Previous iTunes Library folder, then empty the Trash.

    Remove old iOS device backups

    Apple iOS® devices (iPad®, iPhone®, iPod touch®) automatically back up specific files and settings to your Mac whenever they are connected to your computer. The backups are saved in your Home > Library > Application Support > MobileSync > Backup folder. While you should retain your most recent backups from these devices, older backups can be deleted in the Devices pane of iTunes preferences. For details, see the following AppleCare Knowledge Base documents:

    Trashed iDVD or GarageBand? Don't forget the loops and themes…

    If you plan to uninstall iDVD® or GarageBand® by moving these applications' icons from the Macintosh HD > Applications folder to the Trash, be sure to also trash the corresponding iDVD or GarageBand folders within the Macintosh HD > Library > Application Support folder. These folders contain iDVD themes and GarageBand loops and instruments, respectively, that consume several gigabytes of disk space.

    Uninstall Mac OS 9

    If your PowerPC™-based Mac can only start up into Mac OS X and you have no need for Classic mode, you can uninstall Mac OS 9 to save additional space.

    More ways to save space if you have a spare partition or second hard drive

    If you have an available partition or a second hard drive, you can also save space on your Mac OS X startup disk with the following additional tips.

    Move your iTunes Music folder to another disk or partition

    To change the location of your iTunes Music folder, carefully follow the instructions in the AppleCare® Knowledge Base document 'iTunes for Mac: Moving your iTunes Music folder.' Additional information can be found in iTunes Help.

    How To Free Disk Space On Mac

    Laptop users may want to consider having two iTunes libraries: a small library of current favorites on their computer, while their complete library resides on an external hard drive. Utilities like iTunes Library Manager enable you to easily have multiple iTunes libraries you can use with your account.

    You can investigate other solutions for managing multiple iTunes libraries by searching MacUpdate and VersionTracker.

    Move your iPhoto Library folder to another disk or partition

    To move the iPhoto Library folder to a new location, employ the instructions in the AppleCare Knowledge Base document from this list corresponding to the version of iPhoto you are using. Additional information can be found in iPhoto Help.

    Laptop users may want to consider having two iPhoto libraries: a small library of current, favorite photographs on their computer, while their complete library, or archives of older photos are saved on an external hard drive. Utilities such as iPhoto Buddy and iPhoto Library Manager enable you to have multiple iPhoto libraries that you can use with your account.

    You can investigate other solutions for managing multiple iPhoto libraries by searching MacUpdate and VersionTracker.

    What about moving my Home or Users folder?

    How To Free Up Space On Your Hard Drive Mac Download

    The UNIX underpinnings of Mac OS X make it possible to move either your Home folder or the entire Users folder to a different disk or partition. While this seemed to work well for some users in the early days of Mac OS X, it has become problematic with respect to Mac OS X Updates.

    For example, we know of at least one Mac OS X Security Update that expected the Users folder on the Mac OS X startup disk. Those who had relocated Users to another partition had problems installing this update. Consequently, we do not recommend moving either your Home or Users folders to a different disk or partition.

    Finding lost disk space

    If you find your Mac OS X startup disk has become full unexpectedly:

    1. Check Console for clues. In particular, examine the various Console logs for large blocks of identical, repeating messages. Such blocks of repeating messages often indicate a runway process is logging excessively due to either a flaw in the process itself, its logging parameters, or a problem with your Mac. Excessive logging can result in log files growing without bounds.
    2. The utilities OmniDiskSweeper and WhatSize are great for finding large, invisible files. Be sure you understand the purpose of a large file before deleting it. In particular, Virtual Memory (VM) Swap files, located in the /private/var/vm directory, should not be deleted while your Mac is running. VM Swap files are created and released dynamically by Mac OS X.