How To Clean Mac System Storage

“My storage on Mac is taking up crazy amount of space for some reason. What I don't understand is why does my Mac require so much space? I want to clear some storage files. Any solutions? Any help is appreciated.“

1. How To Clean Mac System Storage Huge
2. How To Clear System Storage On Mac High Sierra
3. How To Clean Macbook Pro
4. How To Clean Mac System Storage So Big

The best Mac system cleaner will ensure that the cleanup process is safe and secure. After you are done cleaning up the system, your Mac PC will perform better than before. Extra Tips for How To Reclaim More Space From The System Storage. It is not easy as you think to keep the Mac system clean. I've encountered a problem on my brand new MacBook, but haven't been able to find a solution after working on it for most of today. In a nutshell: When I go to 'About This Mac Storage' the System files were taking up a whopping 90+ GB of my hard drive. When choosing this option, the purgeable categories are added to your storage details. After clicking the Optimize Storage button, there are iTunes movies and attachments you can manage specifically to save your Mac storage. Empty Trash Automatically. This option allows you set Mac delete items from the Trash automatically after saving for 30 days. This wikiHow teaches you how to clear the cache of temporary system files that your Mac stores as you use it, as well as how to clear the Safari browser's cache of temporary Internet files. Keep in mind that clearing the system cache can cause your Mac to freeze or crash unexpectedly; this is a normal response to clearing the cache. I had a large system file using up over 800 GB on my iMac Pro. Which was massively high. But i could not find those files by search 'About this Mac' storage.

As shown above, a lot of Mac users complains that their Mac has become slow for having not enough storage. With each passing day, it is becoming lazy and slow. Instead of buying a new one, they do want to know the efficient ways to clean up storage. How can you improve your Mac’s running speed and make it more reliable? If you are looking for these answers, then here is the right place for you. In this article, we will discuss some useful ways on how to clear storage on Mac.

Understanding System Storage and Other Storage on Mac

Firstly, you need to understand what is system storage and other storage on Mac. Apple usually considers files like movies, applications, images, and documents as system storage. There are various files included in the System category, including:

• Cache from web browsers, models and other third-party applications
• Mac operating system used for multiple functions and app launching
• Any trash files and unused and temporary file
• Duplicate files

Now I will give a brief idea on other storage. Other storage in Mac includes a wide variety of files and documents, and it is not necessarily unnecessary data and files which are as follows:

• Files, Documents including DOC, PSD files and PDF files
• Extensions, different Plugins, and Applications extensions
• Archive and Compressed files and images
• iCloud used files

In simple words, other files are usually those who do not fall into a more specific category like “Video” or “audio”.

3 Most Commom Ways to Clear Storage on Mac [Not Effective]

Most of system storage and other storage files are useless that can be removed. You can clear up storage on Mac for regaining more free space. And how to get this done? Next we will introduce most common ways to clear storage files. They are also some recommendations that macOS has provided to their users.

1. Store your files in iCloud

Storing your files like ducuments, messages or photos on the icloud can help you save more space on your Mac. Whenever you want to check the files you can simply log in the icloud accound and access them. Just follow these simple steps:

1. Click on storage on the Mac.
2. Click on Manage option.
3. Click on Store in iCloud.

2. Optimize your storage files

You can also use the Optimized Storage option on the Mac to manage your storage files. And it will present you with these options below when you click on the Optimize button.

• Delete iTunes movies and TV shows that you've already watched.
• Keep only recent email attachments.

3. Empty trash frequently

Empty trash bin on your Mac frequently and try to flush out the files that are already in Recycling so that you may clear up more space. Many files occupy ample space, so keep in mind not emptying the trash can cause your Mac to run slowly. So keep a close check on your Recycle Bin. At least clear it once in 30 days.

The most common ways we have discoussed above can be easily accessed on your device, however, they are not so effective on clearing storage. You need a more deeper clean up to release more space. And we will tell you an easy way as to delete storage on Mac in one smooth move by using powerful Mac cleaner app. One of the most popular ones is called Umate Mac Cleaner. It comes with all-in-one package, which can efficiently and completely clean up your Mac compared to the above operations.

Clear Storage on Mac with Umate Mac Cleaner in 2 Steps [Fast & Easy]

Umate Mac Cleaner comes with many powerful features, including clean up, speed up your Mac, erase private data and manage apps and extensions. And “Clean up Junk” is the core feature of the app, which can help to clear storage on Mac with single click. It contains two steps: Quick Clean & Deep Clean.

1. Quick Clean: Automatically detects useless files on your Mac and show you what is safe to clear, like system junk, app cache, iTunes junk and installation packages. It will firstly scan your Mac and all the files that are safe to be deleted will be automatically detected . You can click the “Clean” button to clean up all the junk files.

2. Deep Clean: Scans and delete specific types of unnecessary files (like iOS junk, downloads and large files) for deeper cleaning. After quick cleaning, it is clear that how much more space can be deep cleaned. If you want to do a more in-depth cleanup, then choose “Deep Clean” part to continue. Choose those items you do not require and click the 'Clean' to Clear more storage on Mac.

Below are some of the advantages and benefits that it offers.

• 100% Safe to Use: Automatically detects unnecessary junk files for safe removal.
• Time-saving Removal: Enables you to remove junk files with just one click instead of doing manually.
• Release up to 40% free space: Free space reclaimed from storage files can up to 40%.
• 2x Greater Performance: Greatly improve your Mac's performance after cleaning up.
• Trustworthy with good reputation: The developer of Umate Mac Cleaner (iMyFone) is highly recommended by famous technology websites, like Cult of Mac, Macworld, techradar, etc.

10 Additional Ways to Clear Mac Storage

There are also some other common ways to clear up storage and free up more space. As you will have to do all the work manually, so it is a somewhat complicated and not productive method. You can also delete some of your essential files by mistakes. Anyway, here are the simple introcution on how to delete storage on Mac:

Way 1. Remove large files

Store your massive documents and data in the Mac this will also prevent an additional burden on the hard disk. If you have unused large files that are of no use for you delete it.

Way 2. Delete downloaded files

Deleting any unnecessary downloads will get rid of those burdensome files that are no longer needed but still consuming ample space. Try to move the data required and downloads to the external drive, and you can use cloud drive as well.

Way 3. Clean cache files

Your Macintosh stores a lot of information as a cache that reduces the speed of Mac and makes it work slowly. These files, unfortunately, consumes a lot of space, causes your Mac to slow down. So these cache files must be clear to get your Mac in right working conditions.

Way 4. Unisntall unused applications

Applications installed On Mac may occupy a lot of disk space. With these memory-eating apps, your Mac begins to work slowly. Removing the app that are raraly used is definitely an efficient way on how to get rid of storage on Mac.

Way 5. Clean up temporary files

When your Mac is running, the system itself will creates and piles up some temporary files. These files are useless and they are taking up your disk space on your Mac. If you do nothing about these outdated temporary files, they will become one of the reasons for your slow Mac.

Way 6. Remove plugins and extensions

Most of plugins and extensions on your Mac are useless. They just sit on the hard disk and occupys some space on the device. What's worse, these unneeded plugins and extensions will cause some problems on the Mac and you can delete them for releasing some extra storage.

Way 7. Clean up iOS backups

There are a bunch of iOS device backup files on your Mac and they are taking up a large amount of space. You can follow the path to delete those annoying backup folders.

Way 8. Delete mail attachments

You email account is also a good place to clear storage on the Mac. There are lots of email attachments on the Mail application and they are memory-hogging on your disk. However, it is a complex process if you want to delete them manually. A much eaiser way is to run a cleanup software to get rid of them.

Way 9. Delete photos and videos

Try to store all the pictures and videos in iCloud photos drive. It will not only make back up for your vital images and videos but will also be available without occupying additional space in Mac drive. Try to delete those photos which are useless to you and empty from the trash as well.

Way 10. Upgrade your hard disk drive

If you still need more space after using the methods above, then you should consider upgrade your hard disk drive to a larger one with more space. That will be definitely an efficient way to increase your storage on the Mac.

Conclusion:

How to clean up Mac storage? I think you have got the answer. You can clean up system storage files as well as other no longer needed by Umate Mac Cleaner quickly and securely. As discussed although you can do it manually as well, it will not be safe as you can mistakenly delete your important files as well in the process. So we will recommend Umate Mac Cleaner for your Mac.

A slow Mac is no fun for anyone. It happens to the best of us — which is why everyone should know how to declutter and free up disk space on their Mac. Not only will this speed up your computer, it’s also a great opportunity to organize your files.

Clearing disk space on a Mac can make your computer feel like new. Over time, most Macs, especially those that experience regular use, get full of documents, files, apps, images, videos, and other junk and clutter.

In this article, we’ll show you how to free up space on Mac computers, and highlight some apps that make maintenance of your computer’s file system much simpler.

What's taking up space

Have you ever seen this pop up on your Mac?

It’s frustrating! This occurs because the memory your Mac has is full. It may be saved movies, large documents, mail attachments, or just plain cached items from apps like iMessage that are taking up space on your Mac.

Not only is the popup message annoying, diminished disk space on your Mac can prevent you from being productive. Mail attachments or other files may not save to your Mac, all because you’ve got a bunch of old stuff cluttering your memory system. It can even cause apps to quit, or fail to load.

Low disk space isn’t always an 'old Mac' problem, either. While it’s true older Macs typically have less memory available to them, even modern Macs can get cluttered. That’s why it’s important to know how to clear space on Mac hard drives.

How To Clean Mac System Storage Huge

How to check storage on Mac

Here’s how to check the storage on your Mac using Apple’s method:

1. From the menu bar on your Mac, click the Apple logo on the top left
2. Select 'About this Mac'
3. Select the 'Storage' option in the new window

This is a basic way to check how much storage is being occupied on your Mac. Another good tip is to check your disk usage with iStat Menus. It’s an app that allows you to monitor – in real time – how your Mac is performing. iStat Menus lives in your Mac’s menu bar, running in the background until you need it. Each of its monitoring services has a menu bar icon, including one for memory.

When you click on the iStat Menus icon, it shows you exactly what’s happening with your disk space. When your Mac is running slowly, it’s possible an app is taking up more resources than you would like. iStat Menus shows you which app is to blame.

How to optimize storage using macOS

If you’re using macOS Sierra or later, you can benefit from Apple’s Optimize Storage functionality. It allows you to store files in iCloud, renewing your access to these files whenever you need. Here’s how to use the Apple way of managing storage on Mac:

1. Repeat the steps above to check the available and used storage on your Mac
2. Click on 'Manage' to access the storage management window
3. Enable the 'Empty Trash Automatically' and 'Reduce Clutter' options to remove files you deleted, and large files you might no longer need.
4. Select 'Store in iCloud' to move your desktop file and docs, photos, and messages to iCloud. You can choose what file types to transfer.

Go to the Optimize Storage menu and choose from three options that help you use storage more cleverly. You can select to remove watched files from your Apple TV app (or iTunes if you use macOS Mojave and earlier), download only recent attachments, or not to delete attachments at all.

Move Files to the Cloud

iCloud is Apple’s preferred method for storing files and folders in the cloud. It makes your data available across devices, and is now the default service for system backups.

Apple gives you 5GB free iCloud storage, but it’s just enough for an iPhone backup and a few gigabytes of pictures. It’s almost never enough for the average user.

Activating it on your Mac will help save room in your system memory, though. It moves the actual storage of files to the cloud, and ann image of those files on your Mac. It also compresses images for optimized storage on the Mac, but keeps them available in the Photos app.

If you have a different cloud storage system you prefer, CloudMounter makes it easy to back your Mac’s files up to Google Drive, Dropbox, OneDrive, Mega, Amazon S3, and other services. It lives in your Mac’s Finder app and menu bar, and makes moving files from your Mac to the cloud as easy as dragging and dropping them into CloudMounter, and directly into your connected cloud account.

Manage large files and archive data

You can find and delete large files on your Mac directly. Here’s how:

1. From the menu bar on your Mac, click the Apple logo on the top left
2. Select 'About this Mac'
3. Select the 'Storage' option in the new window
4. Select 'Manage'
5. Select 'Documents'
6. On the right side of the window, click the 'Size' column header to show the largest files first

We prefer using CleanMyMac X’s file system manager. Here’s how to use it:

1. Open CleanMyMac X on your Mac
2. Select the 'Large & Old Files' module on the right side of the window
3. Select 'Scan'

This is a smarter way of discerning which files are taking up space on your Mac – especially if you don’t need access to those files often. It shows you which types of files they are, how old they are, and lets you delete batches of files by size.

Find and delete duplicate files

When you download an app, it usually has associated files it stores on your Mac. That’s normal; duplicates of those files aren’t. Downloading an app more than once, or even updating an app, can cause it to duplicate existing files on your Mac.

You may also download files more than once. Your Mac is smart, but doesn’t bother checking to see if you already have a file before downloading it again. There’s no clean way to check for duplicates on your Mac. Apple would ask that you look for duplicated filenames in your storage, and delete one of them.

A better way is to use Gemini, an innovative cleanup app built to help you find and eliminate duplicate files on your hard drive. Even better, it can identify near-identical files as well, giving you an easy way to delete the slightly shaky versions of your vacation snaps in one convenient window.

Here’s how to detect and delete duplicate files with Gemini:

1. Open Gemini on your Mac
2. Click the ‘plus’ icon, or drag a folder to the app
3. Select 'Review Results' to delete files manually, or 'Smart Cleanup' to allow Gemini to delete all duplicates

Remove temporary files

Your macOS, your apps, and your browser all use a shortcut called 'caching' to run faster. But over time, those caches fill up with useless information that bogs down your computer.

Why is it important to clear the cache? The short answer is that caches litter and bloat Macs. They aren't just a byproduct of browser history — most systems and apps, such as Pages, Numbers, Keynote, Mail and Photos, create huge amounts of temporary files that linger in the background. These caches of data are essentially just junk files, and they can be safely deleted to free up storage space.

When it comes to cleaning a Mac, you have two options: delete files manually or get a cleaner app to help you. Clearing your cache files with CleanMyMac is the quickest, safest way we know.

Get rid of hidden trash

Another source of system-slowing junk is email and text attachments. Even if you don’t download an attachment, your desktop mail client holds onto a version so that it can show you previews and access the file more easily. 'But I deleted that email!' you say. Often that’s not enough—these downloads can hang around long after the original email is gone.

It’s possible to clean them out manually. You can use the macOS Optimize Storage feature we’ve described above. Choose what exactly you want to be removed — mail attachments, watched video, or both. Still, CleanMyMac X is a much faster option to clean up the trash on Mac. Here’s how to use CleanMyMac X to empty all trash folders on your Mac:

1. Open CleanMyMac X on your Mac
2. Select 'Trash Bins' from the left hand side
3. Select 'Scan' at the bottom of the window
4. Select 'Review Details' to see what CleanMyMac X found, or 'Empty' to delete all trash files on your Mac

Here’s a little trick for you: If you want to be sure you keep the needed files and attachments at your fingertips, use Trickster app to remember them for you. Configure your file tracking inside the app and make sure you’re never confused about what’s stored on your Mac. The important stuff is always in Trickster.

If you want a clutter-free email client, Canary Mail is your perfect choice. The app not only automatically clear away the trash, but also allows to automatically unsubscribe from tons of mailing lists — so that you stop receiving the clutter.

Empty downloads and trash bin

Your Mac’s ‘download’ folder is where most apps, like Safari or Chrome, dump files. It’s also the default folder for email downloads. And it can get really full.

Many of us simply download a file, access it, then forget about it once we’re done with it. The downloads folder can get chock full of files we no longer need, or want. It’s smart to comb through it ever so often and delete files you don’t want, or move them to cloud storage containers using CloudMounter.

Some downloads are hidden, taking up even more space. And the further back you go the more useless these documents are. Do you really need to keep a text file labelled 'Christmas shopping list 2015' or 'Dream holiday Summer 2016?' Probably not. 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.

AppleInsider described Unibox as 'the best client we tried,' and Macworld said it is 'A welcome, fresh new approach to email on the Mac.' Unibox groups emails by sender and includes an attachment list, so you can quickly find what you need, then delete those documents out of the Downloads folder.

Uninstall unused apps

Have you ever downloaded an app, then stopped using it? We all have! Those apps occupy memory on your Mac – sometimes a lot of space, too.

CleanMyMac X has a handy 'Uninstaller' module which makes it easy to identify and remove all unwanted apps from your Mac. It even deletes associated files, so all traces of an unused app are taken away.

Get rid of old backups

Something else that comes as a surprise to most Mac users is just how many backups your system carries at any given time. Copying and pasting, and the duplicate feature make it too easy to replicate your work in different folders.

At the same time, you’ve probably got dozens of cached backups of files and documents that are invisible but taking up more space than you’d want. Like Time Machine backups. Every time you use Apple’s built-in backup utility, it creates local snapshots that are stored locally on your Mac. This may result in up to 100 GB Time Machine clutter on your hard drive.

CleanMyMac will find old backups for you and remove them in a click. In its 'Maintenance' module, you can select 'Time Machine Snapshot Thinning' to automatically remove older Time Machine backups you no longer need.

But also, switch your backup client to Get Backup Pro to backup only those units you want (for Mac). If you need to quickly transfer files or folders to another server, use a backup sync app ChronoSync Express.

If you want to quickly backup your iOS device on Mac — for instance, before hard resetting or factory resetting iPhone — you can use AnyTrans. You can even schedule instant backups to never worry about losing data when syncing your iOS device with Mac.

Get rid of desktop clutter

Organizing your Mac desktop doesn’t directly help your memory woes, but it can help you find files faster and avoid multiple downloads of the same file.

How To Clear System Storage On Mac High Sierra

Apple’s chosen method is called Stacks. A simple right-click on your desktop brings up a menu; selecting 'Use Stacks' puts your files into folders by type. Images, screenshots, and other files will be held in expandable folders, decluttering your desktop for good. Future downloads will all fall into those categories, too.

You may prefer Spotless, an app that affords you far more control over how your desktop is organized. You can set rules for organization, and tuck files into other folders on your Mac by dragging and dropping into one location. Spotless takes care of the hard work for you!

You deserve a faster Mac

By eliminating both hard disk and desktop clutter, you’ll improve your Mac’s performance as well as your own workflow. Plus, Setapp’s decluttering, disk cleanup, and analysis apps help you complete what would be a tedious chore in just a few clicks. There’s no telling how much time and effort you’ll save by giving yourself (and your Mac) a break.

There are plenty of great ways to manage your Mac’s memory without rushing out to buy a new computer. We’ve shown you the best ways here!

How To Clean Macbook Pro

All the apps we mentioned in this article are available for free during a seven day trial of Setapp, the world’s best suite of productivity apps for the Mac. In addition to ClanMyMac X, Spotless, Gemini, CloudMounter, Get Backup Pro, and ChronoSync Express, you’ll have unlimited access to Setapp’s full catalog of nearly 200 Mac apps. When your free trial is over, Setapp is only $9.99 per month. Give it a try today!

Meantime, prepare for all the awesome things you can do with Setapp.

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How To Clean Mac System Storage So Big