How to free up space on your Mac

A full startup disk makes everything harder: macOS updates refuse to install, apps slow down, and you can't save that one big file. The good news is that most of the space you need is usually in places that are safe to clear. This guide walks through 12 ways to free up space on a Mac or MacBook, from the quick wins to the hidden ones, and tells you what to leave alone.

First, see what is using the space

Open the Apple menu → System Settings → General → Storage. The bar at the top splits your disk into categories such as Applications, Documents, Photos, macOS and System Data. Below it, macOS lists recommendations, and each category has an ⓘ button that lets you review and delete files. On macOS Monterey and earlier, choose Apple menu → About This Mac → Storage → Manage instead.

If System Data is one of the biggest slices, read how to clear System Data on a Mac after this guide.

1. Empty the Trash, including the hidden ones

Files you delete stay on the disk until the Trash is emptied. Choose Finder → Empty Trash. Then check the other bins that keep deleted items:

• Photos: the Recently Deleted album keeps photos and videos for 30 days.
• Mail: empty the Trash and Junk mailboxes.
• In Storage, turn on Empty Trash Automatically to remove items that have been in the Trash for 30 days.

2. Clear app and browser caches

Apps keep caches so they load faster, and over time those folders can reach many gigabytes. To clear them by hand, quit the app, press Shift Command G in Finder, go to ~/Library/Caches and delete the contents of the folders for apps you recognise. Delete what is inside each folder, not the Caches folder itself. Clear browser caches from the browser's own settings, so bookmarks, passwords and history stay put.

Logs and crash reports in ~/Library/Logs can go too. Caches come back as you use your apps, so this frees space quickly but not forever.

3. Delete old downloads and installers

The Downloads folder is where disk images (.dmg), installers (.pkg), archives and one-off files pile up. Open it, choose View → as List, and sort by Size or Date Added. Once an app is installed, its .dmg or .pkg is no longer needed.

4. Uninstall apps you no longer use, with their leftovers

In Storage, click the ⓘ next to Applications and sort by size or last accessed to find apps you forgot about. Dragging an app to the Trash removes the app, but its caches, logs, support files and background helpers stay in ~/Library, sometimes for years. Our app uninstaller removes the app and those leftovers together.

5. Find and remove large files

A handful of forgotten videos, disk images or archives can take more room than thousands of small files. In Storage, click the ⓘ next to Documents and open Large Files. You can also search in Finder: press Command F, set the first menu to File Size and choose is greater than 1 GB. See how to find large files on a Mac for more.

6. Remove duplicate files

Duplicates come from downloading the same file twice, copying photos between folders, or exporting projects. Finder can't find them by content, so look for a tool that compares what is inside the files, not just their names, and keeps one copy. Our duplicate file finder does exactly that and moves the extra copies to the Trash.

7. Delete old iPhone and iPad backups

Local device backups are often 10 GB or more each. In Storage, click the ⓘ next to iOS Files to see them, or connect your device, select it in the Finder sidebar and click Manage Backups. Keep the latest backup of each device you still use. Backups stored in iCloud aren't affected.

8. Clean up developer data

If you write code, developer caches are often the biggest hidden category. Common ones:

• Xcode DerivedData in ~/Library/Developer/Xcode/DerivedData, which Xcode rebuilds on the next build.
• Simulators for runtimes you no longer have: xcrun simctl delete unavailable.
• Package caches: npm cache clean --force, brew cleanup, pip cache purge and yarn cache clean.

Our developer cleanup finds Xcode data and more than a dozen package manager caches in one scan.

9. Thin Time Machine local snapshots

When Time Machine is on, macOS keeps local snapshots on your startup disk. macOS removes them when it needs space, but some installers check free space before that happens. Follow how to delete Time Machine local snapshots to clear them safely. Your backups on the backup disk aren't touched.

10. Shrink System Data

System Data is the catch-all category for caches, logs, snapshots, virtual memory and app support files. It is often the single biggest slice and the most confusing one. Our System Data guide explains what is inside and what is safe to remove.

11. Store files in iCloud or on an external drive

In Storage, Store in iCloud keeps Desktop and Documents files in iCloud and only keeps recent ones on the Mac. Large media libraries, such as a Photos library or video projects, can also live on an external SSD. Move a Photos library only while Photos is closed, then open it from the new location.

12. Restart your Mac

A restart clears temporary files and virtual memory swap files that build up over days of uptime. It takes a minute and often frees a few gigabytes, and the Storage bar is more accurate afterwards.

What not to delete

• Anything in /System, or /Library folders you don't recognise.
• Your whole ~/Library folder, or the Application Support and Containers folders of apps you still use: they hold settings and data, not just caches.
• Keychains, Mail, Messages and the contents of your Photos library package.

The quick way: free up space with Roomy

Roomy does steps 2 to 9 in one scan. It finds caches, logs, old installers, app leftovers, duplicates, large files and developer data, explains every item, and rates it Safe, Review or Caution. Only rebuildable data such as caches and logs is selected for you, and anything personal goes to the Trash so you can put it back. Download Roomy, scan for free, and see exactly how much space you can get back.

Frequently asked questions