This is 2020 and the Macbooks still use small storage variants i.e. 256 GB whereas the Windows laptops offer as much as 1 TB in their entry-level variants. Since the storage is on the lower side, the disk may get filled up faster as you didn’t expect. If you are facing low storage problems on your Mac, here are some ways that can help you to free up storage without installing any third-party apps.
1) Uninstall Applications You Don’t Use
There are plenty of apps installed on your Mac taking up storage space and you should uninstall them if you don’t require them. Sometimes you just use the app once and never use it again, the app remains inside your Mac for no use and consume the storage space. Better remove it to free up some storage on your Mac.
It’s easy to remove apps, open the Finder window and select the Applications on the sidebar. Drag and drop the application to the Trash on your dock to remove the app. Sort the apps by its size after clicking show items as list as shown in the image.
Alternately, press the Command + Space and type ‘Storage Management‘ without quotes. This will open the storage management tool on your Mac, select the Applications and sort by size. Remove the apps you don’t need.
Make sure you only remove the app that you don’t use. Check the storage space, this might increase some storage on your Mac once the apps are removed.
2) Clear Your iPhone/iPad iTunes Backups Files That You Don’t Need
If you’ve backed up your iPhone/iPad data to your Mac using the iTunes app, then you’ve probably accumulated a lot of data utilizing a massive storage space. If your iPhone has almost about 32 GB of used storage space, then the backup will consume somewhere around 30 GB storage on your Mac.
If you think your backup data is old and you don’t need, remove it to free up a large amount of storage space. To delete them manually, open the following path to see the backup folders,
Tap Command + Space or use the Search/Magnifier icon in the top right corner and type the following. You can copy and paste it right away.
~/Library/Application Support/MobileSync/Backup
You will be taken to the backup folder of your iPhone or iPad that you’ve saved using iTunes. Delete the folders that are old or not required. This will free up huge space on your Mac.
3) Clear Out Temporary Files
Generally, the temporary files on your Mac accumulate so much that it takes a chunk of storage, take the Google Chrome for instance. Your Mac’s drive probably has temporary files you don’t need. These files often take up storage for no good reason, and this is where you can gain some space on your Mac.
While your macOS removes some temporary files automatically after a restart, you can remove these files manually, cleaning temporary files won’t necessarily speed up your Mac, but it will surely free up some storage.
Let me guess, one of the most used apps on your Mac would be a browser, either Chrome or Safari. Your web browser offers you a built-in option to clear browsing cache that is often accumulated during your surfing.
The cache contains files from the website which are used to load the webpages faster in the future. The web browser will automatically start rebuilding the cache as you browse.
These cache files can be removed safely to gain some storage on your Mac. Do note that, clearing browsing cache will revoke any saved logins, you will require to login again.
To remove cache on Chrome, press Command + Shift + Delete or tap the three dots on the Chrome in the top right corner and go to More Tools -> Clear Browsing Data. Here, just select cache which shows you the cache size, you can keep the rest of the options unchecked. You don’t need to remove history, cookies, saved passwords.
4) Empty Your Trash Cans
If not all, many people don’t empty the Trash cans, the Trash appears to be keeping huge data and if removed can free up as much space on your Mac. If you delete the files from the Finder, it goes directly into the Trash from which you can restore them back.
You can completely remove these files and free up the storage. Open Trash from the dock below and empty it.
There might be more ways that require some third-party apps to download which may help you better cleanup, however, these are some built-in tricks that let you free up storage. Also, check the top 11 hidden Mac keyboard shortcuts you need to know. For more guides and tutorials on Windows and Mac, visit How-To Guides.
