How to find large files on your Mac

A few large files often take more space than thousands of small ones: a forgotten screen recording, an old virtual machine, a disk image you downloaded twice. Finding them is the quickest way to free up space on a Mac. Here are four ways to do it, from built-in tools to Terminal.

1. Storage settings

1. Open System Settings → General → Storage.
2. Click the ⓘ next to Documents.
3. Open Large Files to see your biggest files, sorted by size. Select one and click Delete, or right-click it to show it in Finder.

2. Finder search

1. Open a Finder window and press Command F, then choose This Mac.
2. Set the first menu to File Size. If it isn't listed, choose Other and pick it.
3. Choose is greater than and type a size, such as 1 GB.
4. Click Save to keep the search as a Smart Folder in the sidebar.

3. Folder sizes in Finder

To see which folders are big, open a folder in list view, choose View → Show View Options, turn on Calculate all sizes and sort by Size. Start with your home folder and work down into the biggest folders.

4. Terminal

To list files over 1 GB in your home folder:

find ~ -type f -size +1G 2>/dev/null

To see the size of each folder in your home folder, smallest to largest:

du -sh ~/* 2>/dev/null | sort -h

These commands only list files. Nothing is deleted.

What large files usually are

• Screen recordings, exported videos and video projects.
• Disk images and installers, which are safe to delete after installing. See deleting .dmg and .pkg files.
• Virtual machines and container images.
• iPhone and iPad backups. See deleting old iPhone backups.
• Archives (.zip) of things you already unpacked.

What not to delete

Leave large files inside app bundles, inside the Photos or Music library packages, and in system folders alone. Remove photos in the Photos app and music in the Music app, so their libraries stay consistent.

Find large files with Roomy

Roomy's Large Files view lists the biggest files in your home folder, sorted by size, with your own size threshold. Nothing is selected for you, and anything you choose goes to the Trash.

Frequently asked questions