How to free up disk space on a Mac

To free up disk space on a Mac without breaking anything, start with what macOS shows you, remove the big things you can name, and only then go into folders. This guide covers macOS 27, macOS 26 Tahoe and macOS 15 Sequoia. The Storage path and options are the same on all three, and on every version since macOS Ventura 13. Where a step differs, it says so.

Check what is using space

Choose Apple menu > System Settings, click General, then click Storage. On macOS Monterey and earlier it is under Apple menu > About This Mac > Storage.

The bar splits your disk into categories. Wait a minute: the pane keeps calculating. Then click the Info button next to a category to list its items. Select one and click Delete, or Show in Finder. Some categories open their own app instead, such as Photos or Mail.

Apple's guide lists which categories you can manage:

• Manageable: Applications (not system apps), Documents, iCloud Drive, iOS Files (iPhone and iPad backups and firmware), TV, Music, Books, Podcasts, Mail, Messages, Music Creation, Photos and Trash.
• Shown but not manageable: Other Users & Shared, macOS (system apps and files), and System Data.

If System Data is the biggest slice, read What is System Data on a Mac next. It explains what is inside and why Finder and Storage settings disagree.

Find large files in Finder

1. In a Finder window, press Command-F.
2. Click the first criteria pop-up, choose Other, and add the File Size attribute.
3. Set it to "is greater than" a size such as 1 GB, and choose This Mac to search everywhere.

Save the search as a Smart Folder to reuse it.

Or ask Terminal, read-only

These commands only read. They list sizes and change nothing.

du -xh -d 1 ~ | sort -h
du -xh -d 1 ~/Library | sort -h
mdfind -onlyin ~ 'kMDItemFSSize > 1000000000'

The first two show each folder's size one level down in your home folder and in ~/Library, largest last. -x keeps du on one disk. The third lists files over 1 GB that Spotlight knows about; Spotlight does not index all of ~/Library, so it can be short.

Quick, safe wins

Empty the Trash

Per Apple, trashed files free no space until the Trash is emptied. Choose Finder > Empty Trash. Emptied items are permanently deleted, so look first. To remove one item now, Control-click it in the Trash and choose Delete Immediately.

Use the Storage recommendations

• Store in iCloud: turns on iCloud Drive and keeps only recent files fully on the Mac. Needs enough iCloud storage.
• Optimize Storage: removes movies and TV shows you have watched. Purchases can be downloaded again.
• Empty Trash automatically: deletes items in the Trash for more than 30 days.

Clear Downloads and large files

Downloads collects installers, disk images and archives you used once. Sort it by size in Finder (View > as List, then click Size) and trash what you do not need. Disk images (.dmg) of apps you already installed are a common win.

Uninstall apps you do not use

In Finder, open Applications. If the app has an uninstaller, Apple says use it, because it also removes extras such as login items. Otherwise drag the app to the Trash and empty it. On macOS 15 and earlier you can also delete App Store apps from Launchpad; macOS 26 replaced Launchpad with Apps, so use Finder there. You cannot delete apps macOS needs, such as Mail or Music.

Remove old user accounts

Unused accounts still keep their home folders. Remove them in System Settings > Users & Groups, then check /Users for leftovers.

System Data, snapshots and purgeable space

Time Machine keeps local snapshots on your startup disk so you can restore files when the backup disk is not connected. Apple says it takes one about hourly and keeps it for 24 hours, keeps one of your last successful backup until space is needed, and saves one before a macOS update.

Two Apple statements explain the confusion:

• "Your Mac counts the space used by snapshots as available storage."
• Time Machine deletes snapshots "as they age or as space is needed".

So the space is reported as available but is not empty yet. Disk Utility calls it purgeable space, which macOS frees when needed and you cannot remove by hand. Independent testing on macOS 26 found automatic purging can lag or fail, so an app that needs space right now may still see a full disk.

See what snapshots exist (read-only):

tmutil listlocalsnapshots /
tmutil listlocalsnapshotdates /

To remove snapshots, Apple's method is System Settings > General > Time Machine: turn off automatic backups, wait a few minutes, turn them back on. The manual route deletes one snapshot by its date from the list above:

tmutil deletelocalsnapshots 2026-10-14-101500

Replace the date with one from listlocalsnapshotdates. On a permissions error, run it with sudo.

iPhone and iPad backups

Device backups made through Finder live in ~/Library/Application Support/MobileSync/Backup/ and can take many gigabytes. Do not delete them from that folder by hand. Instead:

1. Connect the device and select it in the Finder sidebar.
2. In the General tab, click Manage Backups.
3. Control-click a backup and choose Delete (or Archive to keep it from being replaced), then click OK.

You can also reach them from Storage settings via the Info button next to iOS Files. Keep at least the newest backup of each device unless it also backs up to iCloud.

Mail, Messages, Photos and iCloud

Mail

• Choose Mailbox > Erase Deleted Items, and Mailbox > Erase Junk Mail.
• Select large messages and choose Message > Remove Attachments. The message stays. For IMAP accounts the attachment is also deleted from the server and cannot be retrieved.
• Opened attachments are saved to Downloads by default, and Mail does not delete them. Mail > Settings > General has "Remove unedited downloads".

Messages

In Messages > Settings > General, the Keep messages pop-up sets how long conversations stay. Any choice other than Forever, such as 30 Days, automatically removes older conversations and their attachments. Review large attachments in Storage settings under Messages.

Photos

With iCloud Photos on, choose Photos > Settings > iCloud > Optimize Mac Storage. The Mac keeps smaller versions when space is limited and full-size originals stay in iCloud. Switch back with Download Originals to this Mac. Apple also suggests moving a large Photos or iMovie library to an external drive.

iCloud Drive

Control-click a file or folder in iCloud Drive and choose Remove Download. The local copy goes and the item stays in iCloud. Keep Downloaded does the opposite.

App leftovers in ~/Library

Apple notes that deleting an app does not remove documents or other files you created with it. Apps keep data in these folders (Finder > Go > Go to Folder, then type the path):

• ~/Library/Application Support/: app data and support files. Can include your data.
• ~/Library/Containers/: the private home of each sandboxed app, including documents and settings.
• ~/Library/Group Containers/: data shared between apps from one developer. macOS creates these and never removes them.
• ~/Library/Caches/: data the app can rebuild.
• ~/Library/Preferences/, ~/Library/Logs/ and ~/Library/Saved Application State/: settings, logs and window state, usually small.

For an app you already removed, its folders are safe to trash once you are sure you do not need its data. For an app you still use, deleting its Container or Application Support folder deletes its data, not just cache.

Caches and logs: what is safe

Apple's developer documentation says the Caches folder holds data that can be regenerated, and apps should never rely on cache files existing. So one app's cache is safe to remove:

1. Quit the app.
2. Open ~/Library/Caches/ and find the folder named after the app, often its bundle ID such as com.example.app.
3. Move that folder to the Trash. The app starts slower once while it rebuilds.

Do not empty ~/Library/Caches or /Library/Caches wholesale while apps run, and never touch caches under /System. Caches come back, so the gain is short-term. Apple also notes that starting up in safe mode clears certain system caches.

Developer Macs

On a developer Mac the largest items are often build output and tool data that Storage settings files under System Data. Each has its own guide:

• Xcode build data in ~/Library/Developer/Xcode/DerivedData: Clear Xcode DerivedData.
• Simulators in ~/Library/Developer/CoreSimulator; xcrun simctl delete unavailable removes devices the current Xcode no longer supports: Delete iOS simulators.
• Docker Desktop's disk image, which Finder reports at its maximum size: Shrink Docker.raw on a Mac.
• JavaScript projects and package caches: node_modules and the npm cache.
• Local AI models: Ollama and Hugging Face models.

What not to do

Many cleanup guides still repeat these. Each one does nothing useful today or can break your Mac.

• Removing language files from apps. Deleting .lproj folders inside a signed app breaks its code signature, and macOS can then refuse to open or update it. Apple's own apps are protected by System Integrity Protection. The savings are small.
• sudo rm -rf in system folders. System Integrity Protection protects /System, /usr, /bin, /sbin and /var; only Apple-signed installers and updates may change them. Deleting there fails or leaves a Mac that does not start. rm also skips the Trash, so a typo is permanent.
• Deleting swap files or the sleep image. Swap files and /private/var/vm/sleepimage are managed and recreated by macOS. Removing them needs root and gains nothing lasting.
• "Repair disk permissions". Current Disk Utility offers First Aid, not permission repair, and system permissions are protected by System Integrity Protection. It never freed space anyway.
• RAM cleaners and "memory optimizers". Memory is not disk space. macOS manages memory and swap itself; these tools free no storage.
• Deleting the Spotlight index by hand. If search is broken, let macOS rebuild the index from Spotlight settings instead.

Safe to delete? A quick table

Questions

How do I see what is taking up space on my Mac?

Open System Settings > General > Storage and click the Info button next to a category to list its items. For single large files, use a Finder search with the File Size attribute.

Does emptying the Trash free up space?

Yes, and only then. Apple notes that trashed files do not free up space until the Trash is emptied, and anything emptied from the Trash is permanently deleted.

Why is my storage still full after deleting files?

Common causes: the Trash is not emptied yet, Time Machine local snapshots still hold the deleted data until macOS removes them, or the files were deleted inside a Docker or virtual machine disk image, which does not shrink by itself.

Is it safe to delete Time Machine local snapshots?

Yes, if you have a real backup on another disk. Apple's method is to turn off automatic backups in Time Machine settings, wait a few minutes, then turn them back on. Leave snapshots named com.apple.os.update alone.

Is it safe to delete caches on a Mac?

App caches in ~/Library/Caches are designed to be rebuilt, so deleting one app's cache folder with that app quit is safe. Do not delete system cache folders or anything under /System.

Does deleting an app remove all its files?

No. Apple says deleting an app does not remove documents or other files you created with it. Its data can remain in Application Support, Containers, Group Containers and Caches inside ~/Library.

Should I remove language files to save space?

No. Deleting files inside a signed app breaks its code signature, which can stop it from launching or updating, and Apple's own apps are protected by System Integrity Protection.

How much free space should I keep on my Mac?

Apple does not publish a figure. Keep enough room for the next macOS update and for swap files, and check Storage settings before a major update.

How do I uninstall apps on macOS Tahoe without Launchpad?

Open Applications in Finder and run the app's uninstaller if it has one, or drag the app to the Trash and empty it. macOS 26 replaced Launchpad with Apps, so the jiggle-to-delete route is gone.