How to free up disk space on a Mac

1. See what is using the space

Open the Apple menu, then System Settings › General › Storage. The bar at the top shows the main categories. On macOS 12 and earlier, use Apple menu › About This Mac › Storage.

Below the bar, macOS offers recommendations such as Store in iCloud, Optimise Storage and Empty Bin Automatically, which removes items that have been in the Bin for 30 days. Each is worth a look.

2. Empty the Bin and Downloads

Files in the Bin still take up space. Empty it from Finder. Then sort Downloads by size: installers (.dmg and .pkg) are rarely needed once an app is installed.

3. Find the large files you forgot about

In Finder, open your home folder, press Command-F, set the first rule to File Size is greater than 1 GB, and search This Mac. Screen recordings, disk images, exported videos and old archives are the usual finds.

Large & Old Files does the same in one step for any folder, with how long since each file was changed. Pair it with Duplicate Finder for photo and video folders.

4. Remove apps you no longer use, completely

Dragging an app to the Bin leaves its support files, caches and preferences in your Library folder. Some apps leave gigabytes. See how to uninstall apps on a Mac completely, or use the App Uninstaller.

5. Clear caches and logs

Your own caches live in ~/Library/Caches and logs in ~/Library/Logs. Clearing them is safe, though caches refill as you use your apps. Read is it safe to delete cache files first. Disk Cleaner handles this with logs and stalled downloads ticked by default and caches left for you to choose.

6. Old iPhone and iPad backups

Local device backups can be tens of gigabytes each. In System Settings › General › Storage, open iOS Files to see and delete old ones. If you back up to iCloud, local copies may be redundant.

7. Understand System Data

If System Data is the largest category, read what System Data on a Mac is before deleting anything from system folders.