Try again to delete some apps and other storage hogs–visit Settings General Storage and scroll down the list of apps to see what’s taking up all that space. Once identified, delete the apps entirely (do not offload it.). https://disakaiserfunky.weebly.com/free-unlimited-video-converter-for-mac.html.
It’s recommended that you keep at least 15-20% of your Mac’s memory free to keep it running smoothly. Optimizing storage is an efficient way to do this. But there are also several other steps you can take to free up space on MacBook Air, Pro, or any other macOS device. Doing these routinely will ensure you don’t face any storage issues and are able to make the most of your system. So let’s have a look.
12 Easy Ways to Free Up Space on MacBook Air or Pro Running macOS Catalina
#1. Delete Large Files on your Mac
One of the best Mac cleaner apps, Dr. Cleaner heals your processing system by cleaning out and removing cache files, trash files, and junk left behind by uninstalled apps. It is an apt choice to speed up Mac as it offers Disk Cleaning, System Monitoring, and Memory Optimization for a smooth performance. Delete apps via Launchpad. Still, I 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. Delete your unseen apps. That was easy but here’s the deal. Free up some much-needed space on your Mac and delete as many of these old download files as possible, and remember to come back and tidy it up every few months. CleanMyMac can help for sure. But also, consider switching your email client to Unibox, which automatically reduces excessive downloads.
Instead of deleting a hundred small files and images, first of all, let us go for the big fish.
- Click on the Apple logo from the upper left and select About This Mac.
- Now, click on Storage and then click on Manage.
- Click Documents. Mostly, this is where the big files are. Here you will see the video files, ZIP/RAR files, etc. By default, the biggest files are at the top. Select one or hold the command key and select multiple files
- Finally, click on Delete from the bottom right and confirm.
#2. Remove iOS and iPadOS Backups
- Click on the Apple logo from the upper left and select About This Mac.
- Now Select Storage tab and click on Manage.
- Click iOS Files from left sidebar
- Select and
Related:How to Find iPhone Backup Location on Mac & Windows
#3. Delete Unwanted Applications
You can delete Mac applications in various ways. You may follow the above steps, click on Applications, and remove the large ones.
#4. Clear Cache to Free Up Space on Mac
- Be in Finder and click on Go from the top menu bar
- Click Go to Folder.
- Type or copy-paste ~/Library/Caches
- Delete the files from here that are taking the most space. You may even delete everything. With normal usages, these files and folders will be recreated by macOS.
- Next, click on Go again and then Go to Folder. Now type or copy-paste /Library/Caches
- You may delete files from here too. After this empty the trash and restart you Mac
#5. Remove Old Downloads
This comes down to what you are willing to keep and what you are happy to let go of. Nowadays everything is online in the cloud. Thus there is no point in storing too may videos, music, etc. on the local storage. https://lpaqkxv.weebly.com/how-to-download-an-unauthorized-app-on-my-mac.html.
- Click on the Finder icon (leftmost) from the Dock
- Click Downloads and remove unnecessary files from here, by right-click and selecting Move to Trash.
You may also right-click and sort by size to quickly locate and delete the biggest files first.
Freeing Up Space On A Mac
#6. Compress Folders and Files
If you have many images and word files that you rarely use, but can not delete, then it is a handy idea to compress them. Here is how to zip and unzip files on Mac.
#7. Empty Trash Automatically
- Right-click on the Trash icon in the dock (the rightmost option)
- Click Empty Trash and confirm
To empty Trash automatically:
Freeing Up Space On Mac
- Click on the Apple logo from the upper left and select About This Mac.
- Now, click on Storage and then click on Manage.
- Click on Recommendations from the top of the left sidebar
- Click Turn On for Empty Trash Automatically.
Many times, GBs of files pile up and are stored in the Trash, thus occupying significant space. It is better to empty it regularly.
#8. Use iCloud to Store Documents
It is best to use iCloud to Store docs etc. on Mac if you have a paid iCloud plan that gives you more than 5 GB of online storage. Here is how to use iCloud to Store Documents.
- Click on the Apple logo from the upper left and select About This Mac.
- Now, click on Storage and then click on Manage.
- Click on Recommendations from the top of the left sidebar
- Click Store in iCloud.
- Review what all will be stored. Uncheck if you wish to exclude photos, messages, desktop, and documents. Finally, click on Store in iCloud.
You may also, enable iCloud Photos from System Preferences → Apple ID → iCloud → Photos or the Preferences of the Mac’s Photos app.
#9. Optimize Storage Automatically
- Click on the Apple logo from the upper left and select About This Mac.
- Now, click on Storage and then click on Manage.
- Click on Recommendations from the top of the left sidebar
- Click on Optimize next to Optimize Storage. Now, all the movies and TV shows you have watched will be automatically removed.
#10. Delete Attachments from Mac Mail App
Following these steps, you can delete the attachments that have been saved locally on the Mac from the mail app. Depending on the number of emails you receive, this data can be huge.
- Be in Finder and press and keep holding the Option key. Now click on Go from the top menu bar
- Click Library.
- Now, Click on Containers.
- Go to com.apple.mail.
- Click on Data.
- Select Library.
- Now, click on Mail Downloads.
- Select all folders and delete them. Or open the individual folders, see the content, and delete the unnecessary ones.
Even if you delete from here, the attachments are still in your email that you can view or download anytime. Further, you may also choose to stop the Mac Mail app from downloading attachments.
#11. Remove Duplicate Files using Third-Party Apps
Duplicate files are a big headache and unnecessarily occupy space. We have a list of some of the best mac cleaner apps that can help you delete duplicate files on your Mac.
#12. Use External Drives for Large Infrequently Used Files
![Deleting Deleting](/uploads/1/3/4/1/134183429/930784728.jpg)
Do you have data that you do not use much but can neither delete them nor store them in the cloud? Well, consider investing in an external drive and move infrequently used large files to it.
Signing off…
These were some of the easiest ways to free up space on your MacBook Air. It’s a good idea to do these steps every now and then to keep your system performing well. Are there any other Mac tips you’re looking for? Let us know in the comments below and we’ll help you out.
You may also like to take a peek at:
The founder of iGeeksBlog, Dhvanesh, is an Apple aficionado, who cannot stand even a slight innuendo about Apple products. He dons the cap of editor-in-chief to make sure that articles match the quality standard before they are published.
- https://www.igeeksblog.com/author/dhvanesh/
- https://www.igeeksblog.com/author/dhvanesh/
- https://www.igeeksblog.com/author/dhvanesh/
- https://www.igeeksblog.com/author/dhvanesh/
Freeing Up Space On Mac By Deleting Apps Using
If you’re using the new Photos app on your Mac instead of the older iPhoto app, you most likely have a duplicate photo library floating around on your hard drive. For a lot of people, that could mean gigs and gigs of wasted storage space, especially on shared Macs with multiple migrated libraries. Delete unnecessary apps mac.
Here’s how to check for multiple libraries and how to delete them… My mac wont download files.
Before deleting your old library: Make a backup
While the Photos app should have imported all your photos and videos just fine, I always recommend having backups handy. Perhaps you’ll delete an old photo by accident at some point and want it back later. Miracle on ice 1981 full movie download torrent free. If you have a copy of your old iPhoto library still handy, you can pull it form there as a last resort.
I saved my old iPhoto library to my Dropbox account. You can of course use any service of your choice, or just drop it onto an external hard disk you have laying around. Regardless of how you do it, I’d highly recommend saving a copy before deleting it.
Once you’ve backed up your old iPhoto library (if you chose to do so), you can proceed with deleting it:
- Open a new Finder window on your Mac.
- Click on Pictures in the left hand navigation. If it isn’t there, just search for your pictures folder using Spotlight.
- You should see two libraries, one is your old iPhoto Library and one is your new Photos library.
- Move your iPhoto Library to your trash can and empty it.
Check the storage space on your Mac, you should notice that you have more storage space available. If you are on a shared Mac and have multiple user logins, everyone using the new version of Photos on that Mac should make sure they don’t also have duplicate libraries.
I’m not sure why Apple doesn’t create a process to delete old versions of libraries after migrating to Photos, but they should. Until that happens, you’ll have to delete your old library manually.
Give this tip a try and see how much storage space you were able to clear up. As you can see in the screens above, my old iPhoto library was over 30GB, which was definitely a healthy chunk of hard drive space that I now have back.
Your Mac storage tips?
This is one of many ways to regain storage space on your Mac without having to sacrifice losing data. But we know there are lots of others. What are some of your favorite Mac storage tips for recapturing space? We’ve love to hear them in the comments!
Update
A follower on Twitter referenced to me an article written on Six Colors pointing out that the library is actually hard-linked between versions. While this may be true when you first migrate, it seems that if you make any changes to any files and the libraries become different, splicing can and will occur.
To test this theory, I deleted my iPhoto library on my other Mac to see how much storage was freed up. For those wondering, my iPhoto library was 35.99 GB and my Photos library was 41.16 GB. You can see the before and after results on my hard disk space below. I was able to free up over 20 GB of space. So I’m not sure what I think about hard linking or how well it’s actually working between Photos and iPhoto.
Bottom line, if you’re short on storage space and you want to free some up, there’s really not much point in having two photo libraries floating around on your Mac. Hard linking or not, deleting the old library will free up space in almost every case.