How to free up disk space on Mac: 5 cleanup techniques for 2026

If your Mac’s startup disk is almost full, you may not have enough storage to download, install, or copy files. So how do you free up space on Mac? Keep on reading, and we’ll show you ways to recover storage. You’ll find 13 different tips grouped into 5 broader cleanup categories. Let’s go!

How to check storage on Mac

It’s good to check your storage details before we get down to deleting things. For example, this is what disk storage looks like:

Here are some of the categories your storage could contain:

• Documents: Files, downloads, and documents on your drive
• Apps: Applications installed on your Mac, plug-ins, and app extensions
• System Data (named Other storage in macOS versions older than Monterey): Your caches, temporary files, and app localizations (macOS manages them, so you cannot remove them in Storage settings)
• macOS: That’s how much space your entire macOS takes

There can also be other folders, such as Music Creation, Photos, Other Users, Podcasts, etc. To view your storage details in macOS Ventura or later, click the Apple icon > About This Mac > More Info > Storage Settings. For macOS versions older than Ventura, go to Apple menu > About this Mac > Storage. 

In Storage Settings, if you see a More Info button (i next to a category), you can click it and see what is taking up space. In most categories (except System Data, macOS, and Other Users and Shared), you can select files you no longer need for deletion and quickly remove them. For example, if you click an i next to Documents, you can view downloads, large files, and unsupported apps. If you remove files using Storage Settings, the deletion is final since they are deleted immediately instead of being sent to the Trash, so clean up with caution. 

Note: The storage graph is a rough, high-level overview of what takes up space rather than a precise, real-time diagnostic tool. It means that gigabytes of space may remain unaccounted in the colored bar, so it is better to check the breakdown next to categories for a more accurate estimate.

How to free up space on Mac

We’ve gathered some of the most effective tips on how to manage storage both manually and automatically. 

We’ll share how much space we managed to reclaim on our Mac running macOS Golden Gate. By following the tips below, you might free up more or less space, depending on how cluttered your computer is. 

1. Clean up system files

Delete system junk

Potential space reclaimed: 2-5 GB

System junk is an excess burden to have on your computer — outdated files, app caches, and app localizations.

Deleting system junk manually would be a hot mess, even for an experienced user. So if you want to free up space on your Mac quickly, just run CleanMyMac. This app is notarized by Apple, so it has been checked by Apple for malicious components.

CleanMyMac has a dedicated Cleanup tool that removes unused app languages, outdated system logs, temporary document versions, old mail attachments, and other types of junk.

1. Open CleanMyMac — get your free trial here.
2. Go to Cleanup from the sidebar.
3. After you run the Scan, preview by clicking Review All Junk.
4. Finally, click Clean Up.

If you don’t want to run a third-party application, keep on reading — we have some recommendations about how to clear storage manually.

Note, however, that when your Mac is critically low on space, macOS removes some safe-to-delete caches, logs, interrupted downloads, and Safari data on its own. Still, if you do not want to wait until it does, follow the steps below.

• To manage Time Machine snapshots, temporarily turn off automatic backups in System Settings > General > Time Machine. Click Options, choose Manually from the Backup Frequency menu, and click Done. Wait a few minutes and turn them back on. For more tips, check out our guide on how to clear Time Machine backups and snapshots.
  Important: macOS deletes Time Machine snapshots automatically when space is needed or as they age, but you can do it manually, too.
• To get rid of log files, check out these locations in the Finder (Go > Go to Folder from the menu bar): ~/Library/Logs, /Library/Logs, and /var/log — delete files with caution.
• To clean up your Mail, remove attachments by going to the Message menu in the menu bar and choosing Remove Attachment. You will have to repeat the process for all messages with attachments. For IMAP accounts, this also deletes the attachments from the mail server, and you can’t get them back. Alternatively, check out this location in the Finder: ~/Library/Containers/com.apple.mail/Data/Library/Mail Downloads/
  You can also choose Mailbox > Erase Junk Mail and Mailbox > Erase Deleted Items from the menu bar in the Mail app.
  
• To remove system caches, browse ~/Library/Caches and /Library/Caches. To reveal hidden files there, use the Command + Shift + Period (.) shortcut. Make sure to double-check what you send to the Trash to avoid deleting files vital for the proper functioning of macOS.
  

As you probably suspect, following the steps above is time-consuming, so it is way easier to run a cleaner app like CleanMyMac. Also, follow the steps below to manage startup disk space on Mac more effectively. 

The benefits of using CleanMyMac

• Finds only safe-to-delete files: on average, users remove over 5.5 GB of junk on the first scan
• Trusted by users in 180+ countries
• Not only an effective cleaner tool but also a pleasant-looking app — the winner of the Red Dot Award and the iF Design Award

Try CleanMyMac for free — test 25+ tools to clean, protect, and optimize your Mac for 7 days at no cost.

Remove browser cache

Potential space reclaimed: 1-3 GB

If you are a heavy internet user, your Mac’s drive is full of browser cache. Browsers save parts of the pages you visit, such as text and images, so they open faster on your next visit. What’s your primary browser? Here are the solutions for Chrome, Safari, and Mozilla Firefox. 

To clear Chrome cache:

1. Open Chrome and click the three-dot icon at the top right.
2. Navigate to Settings > Privacy and security > Delete browsing data.
3. Choose a time range to clear the browsing data
4. Also, select the checkbox next to Cached images and files and click Delete from this device. 

To clear Safari cache:

1. Open Safari and go to Settings from the menu bar.
2. In the Advanced tab, check Show Develop menu in menu bar (Show features for web developers in macOS Sequoia or later). 
3. Now, go to Develop in the top menu and select Empty caches.

To clear cache in Mozilla Firefox:

1. Go to Settings > Privacy and security.
2. Choose Clear browsing data.
3. Mark Temporary cached files and pages and click Clear.

Alternatively, choose History > Clear recent history from the menu button (three horizontal bars) and select Temporary cached files and pages from the list.

2. Clean up unneeded media files

Transfer photos to external or cloud storage

Potential space reclaimed: 2-5 GB

Now that you have removed system files you no longer need, the next up in line for audit is your media. We are well aware that these are not just any files — they are captured memories we treasure so much. Want to keep them? You can save them to iCloud or an external drive.

To transfer your photos to iCloud, follow these steps:

1. Go to System Settings > General > Storage.
2. Click Store in Cloud and choose what you would like to store.
3. Click Store in Cloud again.

You can further modify Store in iCloud settings in System Settings > Apple Account > iCloud. Click See All next to Saved to iCloud. Remember, the iCloud free plan allows you to store up to 5 GB of data. To transfer more than that, you’ll have to buy a paid storage plan: 50 GB, 200 GB, 2 TB, 6 TB, or 12 TB of additional storage space.

We also suggest checking other recommendations. Together with the Store in iCloud option, they make up a built-in Optimize Storage tool, which may be valuable for managing storage after removing unneeded stuff:

• Optimize Storage removes movies and TV shows you’ve already watched.
• Empty Trash automatically removes items that have been in the Trash for more than 30 days.

Now, if you want to transfer media files to external storage, follow the instructions below:

1. Quit the Photos app if it is open.
2. Go to the Finder menu > Go > Home.
3. Choose the Pictures folder and drag it to a location on your external storage device.
4. After you’ve finished the move, double-click Photos Library in its new location to open it.

If you use iCloud Photos, designate this library as the System Photo Library.

Make sure the external drive is connected and turned on before you open Photos. If Photos can’t find it, it creates a new, empty library instead.

Manage your Music library

There are two possible routes here: you can remove unneeded music files or store new music on an external drive.

To move iTunes/Music library, follow these steps:

1. Open the Music app and go to Settings (from the menu bar) > Files.
2. Next to Music Media folder location, click Change.
3. With the external drive connected, choose it as your location.

Keep in mind that this changes where new songs and other items you import are stored. Songs you’ve already imported stay in their current location.

If you still use iTunes and have an old macOS, you can find it in iTunes > Preferences > Advanced.

Note: you will have to keep your external drive connected to find your tracks and download new songs to this location, so it is not always a good option for portable Macs. In this case, remove unneeded downloads:

1. In the Music app, go to View in the menu bar and choose Only Downloaded Music.
2. Now, click Title in Songs under Library, and you will see whether you have any duplicates.
3. Select any duplicate and press the Delete key.
4. Click Move to Trash.

Alternatively, you can select one song and do one of the following: 

• Choose File > Library > Show Duplicate Items to find every instance of the selected song in the library 

• With the Option key pressed, choose File > Library > Show Exact Duplicate Items to find exact duplicates

This way, you will declutter your Music Library. But note that it may delete the songs from other devices signed into your Apple Account if you have enabled Sync Library. So, make sure to keep your absolute favorites.

Remove duplicate photos

While removing unneeded media files, don’t forget to get rid of duplicate photos. Depending on the size of your photo library, you can free up from a few megabytes to hundreds of gigabytes of space. Some users shared that they had 250 GB worth of duplicate images!

If your photos are in the Photos app, you can use the built-in tools for finding duplicates. Just open the Photos app and click Duplicates under Utilities in the sidebar. Select photos and click Merge — one photo is kept, and the duplicates are sent to the Recently Deleted album. They are recoverable for 30 days.

To find duplicate files across your Mac, not only in Photos, use a dedicated Mac cleaner app like CleanMyMac. It comes with a smart My Clutter feature that can find not only duplicate photos but also similar images and downloads.

Here’s how to use it:

1. Open CleanMyMac.
2. Click My Clutter > Scan > Review All Files.
3. Navigate to the Duplicates tab.
4. Select photos for deletion and click Remove. The files are deleted permanently, bypassing the Trash, while photos from your Photos library go to the Recently Deleted album.

You can repeat it for Similar Images and Downloads.

3. Remove unused apps and all their leftovers

Potential space reclaimed: up to 30 GB

Did you know there are three ways to delete apps on Mac? One is dragging them straight to the Trash/Bin from the Applications folder. The other involves Launchpad. And finally, you can use a third-party uninstaller tool, which also makes sense because the first two methods can leave files that apps store in other locations, such as login items and extensions, on your drive.

Delete apps via Launchpad (pre-Tahoe)

We prefer deleting apps via Launchpad because it’s more fun. Open Launchpad from your Dock. Now, press the Command key and hold any app icon until they start shaking. You will see the [X] symbol above the icon — click it to delete the app. If the app does not have a delete button, you cannot remove it via Launchpad. In macOS Tahoe or later, you will have to go to the Applications folder since Launchpad has been removed in macOS 26.

Delete your unseen apps

That was easy, but here’s the deal. Every Mac has apps that don’t show up anywhere. They may have installed themselves as parts of other apps or be small supporting applications that programmers call “Launch agents” or “Daemons.” In total, they may eat up a whole lot of space.

In our experience, of all app cleaners, CleanMyMac still tops the list. Our personal record is 30 GB which it was able to clear up on Mac (unused and suspicious apps). So what can you do?

1. Get your free CleanMyMac trial.
2. Click the Applications tab and run a scan.
3. Click Manage My Applications.

From there, you can delete apps on a massive scale — simply select the ones you don’t need and click Uninstall. Make sure to check the Leftovers section. These are parts and pieces of your old apps.

4. Clean up other files

Clean up the Downloads folder

Potential space reclaimed: 2-5 GB

The moment you’ve decided to clean up your Mac, there is no better place to start than your Downloads folder. We, as users, download an endless amount of data on our computers. And let’s be honest, we don’t need even a half of it! Time to reduce clutter by dumping all useless files into Trash/Bin. Here’s how you do it:

1. Go to Finder > Downloads.
   Optional step: click Size to filter your files and see the largest ones first.
2. Right-click the files you want to get rid of and click Move to Trash/Bin. To select numerous files, press and hold the Command key while clicking the files. You can use the Command + A shortcut to select all files.
3. After you’re done deleting files, don’t forget to empty the Trash/Bin.

Find large files you don’t need

Potential space reclaimed: 2-5 GB

1. Go to your desktop and press Command + F.
2. Choose “This Mac.”
3. Select Other… in the menu and choose File size from the list.

Well done! Now, you can type in different file extensions by pressing the + button and sort the results by size (note that you will have to follow the steps above but choose File extension from the Other… list). We recommend starting with the .DMG files or application installers of the apps you've already installed. The same goes for ZIP archives. But check them first — an archive may be the only copy of the files inside, for example, if you compressed files to save space.

Tip

Deleting large files you don’t need frees up a lot of space at once. But looking for those items can be very time-consuming. CleanMyMac can do the job quickly for you — it has the Large & Old Files tool that locates and removes the heaviest files.

• Open CleanMyMac — get your free trial here.
• Go to My Clutter from the sidebar and click Scan > Review All Files.
• Review the details and select what you want to remove.
• Click Remove. Keep in mind that the files are deleted permanently, bypassing the Trash.
• Also, check Duplicates, Downloads, and Similar Images to free up even more space.

Clean up your desktop 

Potential space reclaimed: up to 5 GB

After cleaning up the Downloads folder and trashing large and old files, there is one more place to look for clutter — desktop. It can turn into a graveyard of forgotten files, especially if you use stacks. So, take your time to examine what’s hiding there and send unneeded files to the Trash.

Trash the old iPhone backups

Potential space reclaimed: 10-20 GB

Outdated iPhone backups may take up enormous space. If you’ve ever backed up your iPhone with your computer, your Mac probably stores all your phone’s data. It makes sense to check your drive for outdated backups before they grow out of proportion.

Here’s how to clear space on your Mac by deleting old backups:

1. Open Finder > Click Go in the Finder’s menu > Go to Folder…
2. Paste in ~/Library/Application Support/MobileSync/Backup and press the Return key.
3. Move the insides of the folder to the Trash/Bin, and that’s it.
   Keep in mind that you can’t recover a backup after you delete it. If you want to keep some backups, use the method below instead.
   
   

If you want to remove a specific backup, here’s how to do that:

1. Connect your device to your Mac using a cable.
2. Go to Finder > Locations > Select your device.
3. Click Manage Backups.

Right-click the backup, then choose Delete to remove it, Archive to keep it so later backups don’t replace it, or Show in Finder to see where it is stored.

Note: do this only if you are 100% sure you don’t need your iPhone backups.

Take out the Trash

Potential space reclaimed: 2-5 GB

This advice is the easiest of all. Nevertheless, people forget to do it all the time. We throw things down the Trash/Bin and think they are over with. But that’s just moving things from one pocket to another. To free it up, right-click the Trash/Bin icon. Then, choose Empty Trash/Bin.

How to empty the Trash/Bin automatically on Mac

If you don’t like to empty the Trash/Bin every time, there is a scheduled option. Your Mac will then remove items that have been in the Trash/Bin for more than 30 days.

• Open Finder > Settings (in the upper menu).
• Now, choose Advanced.
• Check Remove items from the Trash/Bin after 30 days.

5. Compress your files 

Potential space reclaimed: up to 10% of the initial space occupied

Archiving or compressing files is a nice alternative to permanent deletion. Not all file types compress similarly well, though. For example, documents and presentations can be substantially reduced in size by compression, while movies are harder to shrink.

Luckily, you don’t need a third-party solution to zip things up — your macOS has its built-in tool. 

How to free disk space on Mac using compression?

1. Open Finder and go to your Documents.
2. Control + click on a folder (or multiple folders).
3. Choose Compress.

Be aware that macOS leaves the original file untouched, so once you have the archive, the original folder can be deleted. After you’re done, you may transfer the newly-created archive onto an external drive.  

Well done, you’ve just saved some space! If you want to simplify the cleanup process in the future, consider using a Mac cleaner app. There are a lot of options to choose from — here’s our list of top 10 Mac cleaner software to narrow down the search for you.

Okay, we’ve told you our favorite ways to clear disk space on Mac. You can bookmark this article and revisit it next time when the annoying “Your disk is almost full” message pops up. Decluttering your Mac can add a fresh spark to your digital life — so try it today.