Have you noticed that your MacBook is slowing down lately? Maybe you’ve started getting the “Disk Space Full” warning all the time. At this point, you need to free up storage space on your MacBook to get your Mac back to its former performance. Otherwise, your device can turn into a real pain in the neck! If you want your Mac to always run at peak performance, remember that you need at least 10% of storage space.
Well, is that all? Of course not. Let's discover the most effective ways to free up storage space on MacBook!
How to Manage Storage on Mac?
Most of us choose between 256GB or 512GB when buying a MacBook. Unfortunately, high storage areas such as 1TB or 8TB are not among our first choices. Moreover, unfortunately, it is not possible to increase the storage space of the MacBook later.
Almost every Mac user encounters the “Disk Space Full” warning at some point. In order to avoid this warning and to maintain the performance of your Mac on the first day, regular data cleaning is recommended. However, it may not be possible to clean the MacBook regularly and routinely in daily life.
As files, operating system requirements, photos, programs, etc. accumulate, your MacBook will run out of storage space. In other words, every file on your MacBook can be a burden on your storage. So, how much storage space do you have on your MacBook?
To view MacBook storage:
· Apple Menu → "System Settings" → "General" → "Storage"
You can follow the part.
In this section, you will be able to track what is taking up your storage space. For example, for some users, photos take up a lot of space, while for others, programs take up a lot of space.
Tip: If "Other" or "System Data" is taking up a lot of space, you may need to do a deep clean!
Uninstall Unused Apps!
An app you downloaded months ago to use only once may still be taking up space on your device. Right-click > Delete is the best option to delete apps you don’t use. However, if you have a lot of apps you don’t use or if they’re pretty complicated, MacBook storage cleaner apps are the best way to go.
AppCleaner is one of the best options to delete apps you don't use and clean up apps that create too much cache in the background. It is also among the free and reliable MacBook apps.
Alternatively, you can also delete it manually from Finder → "Applications" folder.
Free Up Space on Your Mac Using iCloud
If you have files that take up a lot of space on your MacBook but you don't want to delete, iCloud will come to your rescue. Instead of filling up the storage space by storing photos, files or music on your Mac, you can choose iCloud. In this way, everything you need is stored in iCloud and you can download it to your Mac in seconds when needed.
Of course, storing all files in iCloud requires a certain cost. So you can decide based on the benefit/loss ratio. However, iCloud is the most reliable storage option, especially for photos and videos. Moreover, iCloud offers almost unlimited storage.
To set up iCloud on your MacBook:
· Go to System Settings > Apple ID,
· Click on iCloud,
· Select Account Storage > Manage,
· Click the Change storage plan button.
Cleaning Up MacBook Storage: Don't Neglect the Recycle Bin!
Don't get lost in large applications and deep cleaning to clean Mac storage. Recycle bin is often neglected when cleaning storage. So, do you remember the last time you emptied the recycle bin?
· Click on the Trash icon in the Dock,
· Find the item you want to delete and delete it or,
· Click on the trash can icon in Finder > Empty Trash to finish the process.
Tip: If you forget to empty the trash on your MacBook, you can do it automatically.
· Open Finder,
· Settings > Advanced
· Click the Delete items from trash after 30 days button.
Note: Items deleted from the trash may not be recoverable, so it's best to check and clear the trash instead of automatically emptying it.
Check Downloaded Folder!
We download countless photos, files, or documents throughout the day. Most of us don’t want to waste time cleaning up these documents. This is where your MacBook storage will fill up. The Downloads folder is often a big trash bin. We download them, use them, and forget about them. These files become a big pile, slowing down your MacBook.
· Finder > Downloads
· Select the Sort by Size option,
· Delete any files you don't need.
Delete Duplicate Files!
One of the best ways to free up storage space on MacBook is to get rid of duplicate files. Many photos, music, documents or movies are included in duplicate files and cause unnecessary clutter.
So why does this happen? You may have downloaded a file more than once or created more than one copy of a file. Also, iCloud or Google Drive backups can cause the same file to be duplicated.
· Open Finder,
· Type file types like kind:document or kind:image in the search bar,
· Delete duplicate files with the “Sort by size” option.
Manually dealing with it can be quite time-consuming. Moreover, if there are too many duplicate files, manual cleaning will not work. In this case, you can get support from third-party applications.
To clean up MacBook storage and remove duplicate files:
· Gemini 2: Automatically finds duplicate files and keeps the best ones.
· CCleaner for Mac: Cleans up junk files and finds large duplicate files.
· Duplicate File Finder: Detects and removes duplicate files with one click.
Don't neglect your desk while organizing your MacBook. The leather desk mat perfectly adapts to mouse movements and adds a stylish touch to your work environment!
Additional Ways to Clear MacBook Storage!
If you’ve done everything but still get the “Disk Space Full” warning or you feel like your MacBook isn’t performing as well as it used to, there are a few more things you can do. You can also follow these methods to clear up your MacBook storage:
· Clear browser cache and history,
· Delete old iPhone and iPad backups,
· Reduce your photo archive,
· Delete music and especially movie videos,
· Go to the Resources folder and delete the languages you do not use,
· Take advantage of cloud storage areas,
· Perform advanced cleaning with the terminal,
· Follow Apple's recommendations under Storage.
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