Optimize Storage: For those who download and watch lots of movies and TV, this option can save you a lot of space and a lot of time.However, if you have a large number of files, you’ll need to purchase more storage space than your allotted free amount (5GB)- obviously, depending on the amount of space you need, this can quickly become an expensive option. This is great as you’ll be able to access your files on any device using your Apple ID. When considering how to clear space on Mac, getting rid of files quickly springs to mind- However, if you need to keep the files, you can just move them to an external hard drive, or into iCloud!Įnabling this option will allow your Mac to automatically save space when it’s needed.
Store in iCloud: Quickly store files (Documents, Photos and Messages) from your Mac in iCloud.Let's have a look at each tool to see how it can help: The tool shows a breakdown of the storage space taken up on your Mac by media such as Apps, Books, Photos and others. To access these tools, click the apple icon in the top-left corner of your screen > About this Mac > Storage > Manage…Īs you can see this is also how to check storage on Mac. If your Mac is running macOS Sierra or later, it has great built-in tools for managing files and optimizing storage. The first port of call when making space on your Mac is to see what tools your Mac offers you for such a task.
This tends to be files like temporary and cached files, app installer packages, Time Machine backups and similar. The truth is that files which do not fit neatly into other sections get marked as Other. "Other" on Mac can make up an awful lot of storage, and it's not immediately apparent what is stored as Other. Sections like Music, Photos, Messages and Mail are easy to see what kind of data is stored there - however there's also a mystery grey section called "Other". If you hover over each coloured section in the bar, you'll see what each segment represents. This overview will show what categories are taking up the most space, as well as how much space is available on your Mac.