How to free up space on your Mac

1. See how much space you have

Open System Settings → General → Storage. The bar at the top shows how full your startup disk is, split into categories such as Applications, Documents, Photos, iOS Files and System Data.

Below the bar, macOS offers a few recommendations worth a look:

• Store in iCloud keeps full-size photos and documents in iCloud and only recent ones on the Mac.
• Optimize Storage removes Apple TV movies and shows you've already watched.
• Empty Trash Automatically deletes items that have been in the Trash for 30 days.

What the Storage screen doesn't tell you is which folders are big. "Documents: 180 GB" could be one forgotten video project or a thousand small files.

2. Find what's actually using it

Finder can show folder sizes — in a list view, choose View → Show View Options and turn on Calculate all sizes — but you have to open every folder one by one, and it skips the parts of the disk Finder hides.

A disk space analyzer scans the whole disk at once and shows every folder by size. DiskGarden is a free one for the Mac:

1. Open DiskGarden and click your startup disk (usually "Macintosh HD"). A full scan takes seconds to a couple of minutes.
2. The disk appears as a bloom: each ring is a level of folders, and each petal is as wide as the space it takes. The widest petals are your biggest folders.
3. Hover a petal to see its name and size, click to grow into it, and keep going until you find the files that matter.
4. Drag what you don't need into the Waste bin. Nothing is deleted until you review the pile and empty it — and by default it goes to the Trash first.

If the total doesn't add up to what macOS reports, part of the disk is off limits to normal apps. Scan as administrator to map it too.

3. Where the space usually goes

On most Macs a handful of places account for most of the space. Check these first:

Downloads and old installers

~/Downloads quietly collects disk images (.dmg), zip files and installers you only needed once. Sort by size and clear out what you've already installed.

iPhone and iPad backups

Local device backups can take tens of gigabytes each. With a device connected, select it in Finder's sidebar and click Manage Backups; or look directly in ~/Library/Application Support/MobileSync/Backup. Delete backups of devices you no longer own.

Developer files

• Xcode DerivedData (~/Library/Developer/Xcode/DerivedData) is build output; it's safe to delete and rebuilds when needed.
• iOS DeviceSupport (~/Library/Developer/Xcode/iOS DeviceSupport) keeps symbols for every iOS version you've ever connected; old versions can go.
• Simulators: xcrun simctl delete unavailable removes simulators for runtimes you no longer have.
• Docker stores everything in one large disk image. Use docker system prune, or lower the disk limit in Docker Desktop's settings.
• Package caches: brew cleanup for Homebrew, and the caches in ~/.npm, ~/.gradle/caches and ~/.cargo can be cleared and re-downloaded.

Caches

~/Library/Caches holds data apps can re-create, like browser caches and app updates. Quit the app first, then delete its cache folder. Expect it to grow back somewhat as you use the app.

Photos, videos and music

A Photos library or a folder of screen recordings and exported videos is often the single biggest item. With iCloud Photos, turn on Optimize Mac Storage in Photos settings to keep smaller versions on the Mac.

Mail attachments

Attachments you've opened are kept in ~/Library/Containers/com.apple.mail/Data/Library/Mail Downloads.

Apps you no longer use

Large apps and their support files — GarageBand's and Logic's sound libraries, games, old Xcode versions — are easy to spot in the Applications folder and in ~/Library/Application Support.

4. Delete safely

• Don't touch system folders. /System, /Library, /usr and /private belong to macOS. DiskGarden shows them so you understand your disk, but won't let you put them in the Waste bin.
• Prefer the Trash. Moving files to the Trash gives you a way back. Empty it once you're sure.
• Keep a backup of anything irreplaceable before a big cleanup.

5. Freed space not showing up?

macOS doesn't always hand space back immediately:

• Files in the Trash still take space until you empty it.
• Time Machine local snapshots can keep deleted files on disk for a while. macOS removes them when it needs the space; see System Data.
• Some space is purgeable: macOS counts it as used, but frees it automatically when an app needs it. DiskGarden shows this as Free + purgeable.

A restart often settles the numbers.