Mac Storage Almost Full? How to Free Up Space

See Storage Breakdown

1. Go to Apple menu → System Settings → General → Storage
2. Wait for it to analyze (can take a minute)
3. You'll see a color-coded bar: Applications, Documents, iCloud Drive, System Data, etc.
4. Hover over each category to see the size

1 Empty the Trash

Deleted files stay in Trash until you empty it:

1. Right-click the Trash icon in the Dock
2. Click Empty Trash
3. Confirm

Also empty trash in individual apps — Photos, Mail, iMovie all have their own trash.

2 Clean Up Downloads Folder

Downloads accumulates gigabytes of forgotten files:

1. Open Finder → Downloads
2. Sort by Size (click Size column header)
3. Delete large files you no longer need
4. Watch for old installers (.dmg, .pkg files) — these are safe to delete after installation

3 Delete Old iOS/iPhone Backups

iTunes/Finder backups can be 10-50GB each:

1. Open Finder
2. Connect your iPhone (or just open Finder)
3. Click your device in the sidebar → Manage Backups
4. Delete old backups you don't need

4 Remove Large Unused Apps

1. Go to System Settings → General → Storage
2. Click Applications
3. Sort by size — look for apps over 1GB you never use
4. Select and delete them

5 Optimize Photos Storage

Keep originals in iCloud, small versions locally:

1. Open Photos
2. Go to Photos → Settings → iCloud
3. Select "Optimize Mac Storage"
4. Full-resolution photos stay in iCloud, thumbnails on your Mac

6 Clear Browser Cache

Safari:

1. Safari → Settings → Advanced → Enable "Show Develop menu"
2. Develop → Empty Caches

Chrome:

1. Chrome → Settings → Privacy → Clear browsing data
2. Select "Cached images and files" → Clear data

7 Remove Old Time Machine Snapshots

Local snapshots can take gigabytes silently:

1. Open Terminal
2. Run: tmutil listlocalsnapshots /
3. Delete individual snapshots: sudo tmutil deletelocalsnapshots YYYY-MM-DD-HHMMSS

8 Use Apple's Built-in Storage Recommendations

1. Go to System Settings → General → Storage
2. Click "Recommendations"
3. Apple will suggest: Store in iCloud, Optimize Storage, Empty Trash Automatically, Reduce Clutter
4. Enable what makes sense for your usage