How to Recover Storage Space in Mac Easily?

We all know how frustrating those “Your disk is almost full” messages can get. Have you ever found yourself in a situation where you wanted to save space by optimizing storage but didn’t know how to? Read through our guide and learn some efficient ways to do so!

Inspect Which Files Are Taking Up Space

To begin with, you should first know which files are occupying more storage on your Mac. Doing so is quite simple actually.

1. Go to the Apple Menu and head towards About this Mac.
2. Within the About section, you’ll be able to see your macOS’ version name (for example macOS High Sierra).
3. Go to the Storage tab.

Now, you will get to see a linear chart depicting essential information regarding storage.

Start Saving Files on An Online Cloud Service: iCloud

Apple’s outstanding cloud service, iCloud, is a great way to store several file types including photos, videos, and documents. From here, files are easily downloadable and no, the quality isn’t compromised in any way. Here’s how you can use the service:

1. Navigate to the Apple Menu and then go to System Preferences.
2. Look for the iCloud icon and then click on it.
3. Log in using your Apple credentials. In case you don’t have your own Apple account yet, you could easily create one by following the Create Apple ID link.

The best part is that your recent files are stored locally so that you can work offline as well. Once you’re connected to the internet, all changes made locally will be automatically updated on the iCloud as well.

If the 5GB free storage capacity isn’t enough for you, you could also purchase any of the storage plans.

Decide What You Want to Store on iCloud

Mac gives its users complete authority over what is to be stored on the iCloud and what is not. You can check and change these settings by following a few simple steps.

1. Open iCloud
2. You will now be able to see a whole list of items that are synchronized with iCloud’s servers. The list will include:
   (a) iCloud drive
   (b) Photos
   (c) Notes
   (d) Contacts
   (e) Mail
   (f) Safari
   (g) Calendars
   (h) Reminders
3. If you want to exclude any particular item from the synchronization process, you can uncheck the box in front of it.

Once you move your data to the cloud, your Mac’s SSD storage will have less content to worry about! This simply means that you’ll be saving up some storage space!

Clear Cache

Cache files are temporary files that are created by the operating system in order to be able to access certain apps/websites faster. However, over time, most of the cache data might become useless to the user. 

Getting rid of cache files can be quite helpful in most cases. Apart from helping you recover some storage space, this also optimizes the general performance of a Mac device. Here’s how you could do this:

1. Close all the applications opened currently. Otherwise, they wouldn’t be cleared.
2. Head towards the Go menu and then Go to Folder option.
3. Write down the following folder path over here: ~/Library/Caches
4. Hit Go!
5. A folder with some distinct files will show up. Delete all these files.
6. Repeat step 2 again.
7. Write down the following folder path over here: /Library/Caches
8. Once again, a folder with some distinct files will appear. Delete all these files. 

It’s easier than it sounds and will genuinely help you recover some precious storage space!

Find & Delete Duplicate Files

Having junk duplicate files accumulated in your system is usually one of the main reasons leading to low storage. Such files can be created while you transfer files from one place to another or simply when you’re downloading them from the internet.

Getting rid of such files is essential. If you start going through each file manually, it would probably take you forever. However, you can now use any automated tool to find and remove duplicate files from your system.

Once such a reliable and easy-to-use tool is Clone Files Checker. Here’s how you could use CFC to recover tons of storage space:

1. Download Clone Files Checker for Mac and run its installation set-up.
2. Once launched, go to the app’s Include for Scan tab.
3. Hit the Add button and select which file locations you wish to scan for duplicate content.
4. Click on Custom and then select which file types you want to scan. Your options will include Documents, Music, Videos, Images, Archives, etc. You could also leave it to the default option, which scans your entire system for all file types.
5. Hit the Start Search button and wait for a while.
6. Once the scan is over, you’ll be able to see a summary of the results.
7. Go to the Review & Fix option.
8. Here, you can see a complete list of all the detected duplicates from your SSD.
9. Select/Deselect the files that you wish to retain. Alternatively, you could also go to Select Duplicates and apply a selection criterion for retaining files.
10. Click on Select Action. Now, decide whether you want to permanently delete the duplicates or relocate them to a folder of your choice.

And taadaa! You will be amazed by how many duplicate files were hidden from your eyes. Once you get rid of them, you will be able to recover A LOT of space back.

The steps may seem complex but it would only take a few minutes to get done with all of it. It’s worth a try!

Auto-Optimize Your SSD’s Storage

Mac itself offers its users a great way to optimize its performance. Unfortunately, most people are unaware of this method, which is why we are here to guide you!

1. To begin with, repeat the steps mentioned under the Inspect Which Files Are Taking Up Space section.
2. Once you are able to see the chart, go to the Manage button.
3. You will now be able to see a few recommendations regarding storage space issues. These may include:
   • Empty Trash Automatically: If you Turn On this feature, all the deleted items that have been in the Trash for over 30 days will be deleted automatically.
   • Reduce Clutter: Using this feature, you can review and delete unnecessary files easily. To do so, first, go to Review Files and then select a category from options like Large Files, File Browser or Downloads.
   • Optimize Storage: This is another efficient way to automatically perform multiple optimization processes at once. For instance, this option may delete old email attachments or old iTunes shows/movies that you have already watched.

Get Rid of Junk Emails

Junk emails are likely to consume way more space in your computer’s storage than you would imagine, especially if they contain any large attachments or images. Be it promotional content or phishing sites, all of us receive such junk emails. Getting rid of these can help you recover a significant amount of space of your Mac’s Solid State Drive (SSD).

Here’s how you can do so:

1. Navigate towards the Dock and open the Mail application.
2. Click on the Mailbox, followed by the Erase Junk Mail.
3. Go to the Trash section and review your deleted files now.
4. Once you’re sure that you don’t need any of them, you can permanently delete them by clicking on Mailbox | Erase Deleted Items.

Compress Files

Compressing files simply reduces their size and allows you to make storage space for other useful files. The only problem is that to access compressed files, you have to extract them each time and this is slightly more time consuming that simply double-clicking to open a file.

This is why it is suggested that you should only compress large files that you barely ever use. To compress a file, right-click on it and then select the Compress option. It will only take a few seconds.

Delete Unnecessary Language Packs

The macOS comes with several different language packs to ensure that the operating system is suitable for people in all geographical regions. However, it is likely that you’ll only need one or two of these language packs. You can safely delete unused language packs and make up some space on your SSD. Follow these simple steps to do so:

1. Open Finder.
2. Select Applications.
3. Right-click on the application for which you wish to remove unnecessary language packs.
4. Select the Show Package Contents option.
5. Head to Contents | Resources.
6. Delete any files with the .lproj extension.

Easy peasy!

Empty the Trash

We delete unnecessary files almost every other day but we often forget to permanently delete them. Without getting rid of them permanently, the files are still present in your Mac and are still occupying tons of space.

After reviewing your trash items for any important file, you should delete the files permanently. Doing so is quite easy. First, navigate towards Dock and open Trash. Browse through all the files and if something important is found, relocate it. Then, simply empty the Trash.

By following the above-mentioned tips, you can easily find which files are taking up space on your Mac. Apart from getting back tons of space, these tips will also help you optimize your Mac’s performance.