How to free up space on a Mac without breaking anything

01Measure before deleting

Open System Settings › General › Storage (on macOS 12 and earlier: Apple menu › About This Mac › Storage). The colored bar shows what fills the disk: Applications, Documents, Photos, System Data… macOS’s own recommendations there are often useful, such as emptying the Trash automatically.

Write down the available space before you start, so you know what each step actually freed.

02The Trash and Downloads

The Trash takes up space until it is emptied. To have it empty itself, turn on Finder › Settings › Advanced › Remove items from the Trash after 30 days.

The Downloads folder piles up installers (.dmg, .pkg), archives (.zip) and videos you no longer need. In the Finder, switch to list view and sort by Size: the largest files come first.

03Forgotten large files

In the Finder, press ⌘ F, choose This Mac, then replace the “Kind” criterion with Other… › File Size, is greater than 500 MB. Exported videos, disk images and old backups show up quickly.

Before deleting a large file, ask yourself whether another copy exists (external drive, cloud). If it is the only one, archive it rather than delete it.

04App caches

Apps keep temporary files in ~/Library/Caches to run faster. They rebuild as needed, but two precautions apply:

• clear an app’s cache while it is closed: an open app may crash or recreate its files right away;
• only touch the contents of ~/Library/Caches (your home folder), never /Library or /System.

The gain varies: a few hundred MB in general, much more with some browsers, Spotify or developer tools.

05iCloud Drive and photos

If you use iCloud Drive, turn on System Settings › [your name] › iCloud › Optimize Mac Storage: rarely used files stay in iCloud and only download when opened. For a specific file, right-click it in the Finder › Remove Download: it stays in iCloud and on your other devices.

In Photos, Settings › iCloud › Optimize Mac Storage keeps lighter versions on the disk and the originals in iCloud.

06iPhone backups and unused apps

iPhone and iPad backups made on the Mac often weigh several GB each. Connect the device, select it in the Finder sidebar, then Manage Backups…: delete the ones for devices you no longer own.

For an unused app, drag it from the Applications folder to the Trash. Its settings and data stay in ~/Library/Application Support: delete the folder with its name only if you are sure you no longer need it.

07If you write code

Xcode, iOS simulators, Docker and node_modules folders can take up tens of GB. Almost all of them rebuild with one command; details are in the guide Clean up developer caches.