Here is how you can locate large files so you can compress: You may want to compress your files because compressed files take up less storage space. You may want to consider moving items (such as photos, large files, movies, etc.) to another disk, such as an external drive, USB drive, DVD, or cloud storage. If you want to remove other apps, drag the app icon to the trash then empty the trash. If you want to delete/uninstall an app that you purchased from the Mac App Store, open Launchpad then press and hold down the app icon that you want to remove, when they jiggle, click the delete (x) button. Open your Applications folder and delete any apps that you no longer use. For instance you may want to delete the disk image (.dmg) files. And drag any item you do not need to the Trash then empty the trash. First check to make sure that you do not need any of these items. iMovie: click File > Move to Trash or File > Move Rejected Clips to Trash.Īnything you download from the Internet are stored in the Downloads folder.iPhoto: click iPhoto > Empty iPhoto Trash.(instead of deleting, you may also consider archiving your email, see #7: Compress your items below) Mail: Click Mailbox > Erase Deleted Items > In All Accounts, and Mailbox > Erase Junk Mail.So you may want to empty their trash too. Then empty your trash by selecting Empty Trash from the Finder menu.Īlso note that some applications, such as iPhoto, iMovie and Mail, have their own Trash. Move files you do not need to the Trash or select an item you want to delete and press Command + Delete. To find out more about Optimize Storage, read our post How to Use Optimize Storage on Mac to Gain Back Hard Drive Space.

To access this utility, go to Apple menu > About This Mac > Storage > Manage… Open Disk Utility ( Finder > Applications > Utilities > Disk Utility), then click your disk then click info, as seen in the following screen shot:Īpple has provided a utility called “Optimize Storage” that is built-in to the macOS. Clean up temporary files, system caches and logsġ.

Check mac hard drive space