To find these options, click the Apple menu then About this Mac, select Manage, then Storage Tools. There are four options: Store in iCloud-Free up space on your computer by storing files in iCloud. This option moves items off your storage drive and into your Apple ® account in the cloud. Optimize Storage-This option deletes movies and TV. The free version of DaisyDisk is highly functional and will sweep your drive and allow simple quick access to any files or folders found (right-click on anything and choose ‘Show in Finder’), and you could get away with just using the free version if you wanted to, but if you enjoy DaisyDisk enough and find it to be a helpful companion to your Mac experience, the full version is money well. You can easily check the free space on your hard disk to make sure you have enough space on your computer’s hard disk. For instance, your Mac (running OS X or macOS) always needs some free space to function effectively–a Mac drive needs about 20% of total space to effectively run and read/write.
From the all-in-one solution of disk space analyzers to macOS’ own built-in offering, we’ve found the best ways to keep your system in tip-top condition.
How to check disk space on Mac
Most of the things that take up disk space on Mac can’t be seen from a top-level overview, but it’s worth keeping a close eye on how much space you have available. You can do this by clicking on the Apple icon in the top-left corner of the screen and selecting “About This Mac.” Select “Storage”, and you’ll see where space is being taken up.
If disk space is at a premium, turn to the following apps to get rid of the things you no longer need, using a Mac disk cleanup. Disk space analyzers are fantastic tools for finding out what is taking up so much space on my Mac.
Before you take action, ensure none of your files will disappear when you clear disk space. Download Disk Drill for free and stop worrying.
Free Download on SetappHow to clear disk space on Mac
1. Clear disk space on Mac with CleanMyMac X
CleanMyMac is the go-to disk space analyzer for over three million people worldwide, particularly for those who want to know how to free up space on your Mac?
And for good reason — it does all the heavy-lifting for you, leaving you with the simple task of clicking a single button to free up space. The app uses a “Smart Cleanup” feature to perform a deep scan of your Mac, analyzing the System, Large and Old Files, Mail, iTunes, Photos, and Trash bins, freeing up 64GB of space on average. Without an effective disk cleanup Mac, you could end up with too much junk taking up too much space.
Using the CleanMyMac Dashboard, you can check the disk space and free up RAM, ensuring your Mac runs smoother and faster.
How to make free space on Mac with CleanMyMac
The simplicity of CleanMyMac is its outstanding feature. To clear disk space, all you need to do is:
- Launch CleanMyMac X (download it for free here).
- Click on Smart Cleanup from the sidebar menu.
- Click on Scan and then Clean.
That’s it!
In the sidebar menu, there are options to scan and clean applications individually using the same “Scan” and “Clean” method.
2. Clean up duplicate disk folders on Mac with Gemini
Duplicate files such as edited documents, photos, or Photoshop files can accumulate rapidly. But they’re hardly ever needed. Rather than trawl through your system trying to perform a disk cleanup manually or risking the loss of potentially useful files in a blanket cleanup, use Gemini to find and delete files safely.
Like CleanMyMac, Gemini has its own “smart” scan and cleanup feature to speed up the process. The app works through your photos, iTunes, documents, and files to find duplicates that can be removed. It also picks out similar files that probably don’t warrant two copies.
Everything that Gemini finds is placed in a neat interface where you can examine individual files to decide which to keep and which to purge. If something is deleted in error, you’ll still be able to find it in amongst recently deleted files for quick restoration.
3. Visualize disk space with Disk Drill
“The storage option is useful, but what is really taking up space on my Mac?”
Disk Drill can see how to check disk space on Mac.
Disk Drill does exactly what its name suggests: drills down into your disk to analyze and help you visualize what’s hogging space. From a familiar Mac-like interface you can delve into files and delete anything that isn’t needed in a few clicks.
There’s also a useful feature that lets you clean up local folders that are synced with your Google Drive or Dropbox accounts, as well as the ability to identify and remove duplicate files à la Gemini.
If you want to keep a close eye on system performance and carry out a Mac disk cleanup as soon as available space is under threat, Disk Drill includes a feature called S.M.A.R.T. Once enabled, S.M.A.R.T monitoring tracks space, performance, and drive temperature from an icon on your desktop.
4. Use macOS Sierra’s Optimized Storage to see what is taking up space on your Mac
Finally, to make sure things keep on ticking over nicely, make use of macOS’ own Optimized Storage feature. This is another way to see how to check free space on Mac.
Granted, this feature doesn’t offer the heavyweight cleaning capabilities of a CleanMyMac, but it’s useful nonetheless.
By clicking on Details from within Storage, you’ll have access to four features: Store in iCloud, Optimize Storage, Empty Trash Automatically, and Reduce Clutter.
While emptying the trash and reducing clutter are simple ways to free up a small amount of space, Store in iCloud is the outstanding feature. This allows you move items from local storage and save them to your iCloud account.
From Store in iCloud, simply check the boxes for Store files from Desktop and Documents in iCloud Drive and Store photos and videos in iCloud Photo Library. All of your files will then be synced to the cloud. You can then use a Mac disk cleaner to get rid of the locally stored duplicates.
The Optimize option is also useful if you happen to have movies or TV shows that you’ve watched on iTunes. By enabling Optimize, previously watched media will be automatically removed from your computer and kept in iTunes where you can download them again if you get the urge to give a show a rerun.
Keep your disk space under control
A full hard drive results in a slow running, overheating Mac. The best way to keep your system running smoothly with plenty of room for files is to keep on top of disk space. Use these apps to analyze disks and perform routine cleanups.
Does it take a long time for your Mac to start? In that case, there might be too much going on with your hard disk drive or solid-state drive. Ok, but how do you check if it’s bogged down? Well, that’s quite simple. That’s why this article exists in the first place.
Today, we’ll cover how to check disk space on Mac, as well as how to clear some of it to make your Mac faster. So keep reading to learn more and get your Mac in better condition.
How to Check Mac Disk Space Quickly?
The quickest and most simple way to check your current disk space is via the Finder. Open any new window with the Finder by pressing CMD+N simultaneously.
Or navigate to File, then click on New Finder Window in the bar. In the new window, click on the drive that you would like to check the disk space on. After doing so, at the bottom of the window, there should be a bar with several cars, and appended numbers below.
The bar represents the disk space in visual form, whereas the numbers tell you exactly how much space is used, and how much of it is free. You can do this every time you have a drive connected to your Mac by simply clicking on its name in the sidebar.
Most hard disk drives or solid state drives slow down when they are 70%+ full capacity, so it’s best to keep your system in check from time to time.
How to Check Disk Space On Mac In-Depth?
Alright, here’s another way that you can do the same thing but with a little bit more depth. Go to the Apple Menu in the top left of your screen. Click on About This Mac, then navigate to Storage.
You should have a single bar with color-coded estimates of the storage space that is used by each category of files that are present. You can move your cursor over each to get a more segmented detail.
If you want to get even more in-depth with the disk space, you can click on the Manage button. This will pop-up a window with Recommendations that are full of tools that allow you to clear your drives for space. These include but are not limited to automatic trash bin emptying, reminders, so on and so forth.
In that window, you can also click on any of the options to see how exactly disk usage is resembled by the type of file (category). This allows you to delete files that you might find no longer useful. However, be careful, because you can also delete things that you need.
As long as you know what you’re doing, you should be fine. If cleaning up your files a little doesn’t help with your startup, check out this guide on how to fix startup disk full on Mac.
How to Get More Disk Space?
Everybody wants to get more space on your drive, however, you can’t add more water to an overflowing cup, so don’t expect a different outcome here.
Nonetheless, you can remove that’s what already on it so that you have space for things that you might find more useful.
iCloud Storage
A great way to save your files, as well as reduce disk usage on your drives is to store on iCloud. Open up iCloud, and then click the Store in iCloud option.
You have several options. You can store all of the files from Documents and Desktop. When storage space is necessary, only files recently opened will be subject to storage on the device. Files stored only on the Cloud will have a download icon, which you can click twice to download them again.
The next option is to store full-resolution, original videos, and photos in the Cloud. When storage space is necessary, only optimized versions of the photos are kept on your device. To download the originals, you simply have to open it.
The final option is to store all of your attachments and messages in the Cloud. When storage space is necessary, only the messages and attachments used recently are kept on the device.
Storing files in the Cloud uses space from your storage plan. If you exceed or reach the limit, you can buy more storage or make more storage. iCloud storage starts at 50GB at $0.99 per month, and you purchase additional storage from your device instantly.
Optimization
The next option is to use optimization. When in the Manage tab of your storage space, click the Optimize button. You will subject to a prompt with several options.
When storage space is required, TV shows and movies purchased and already watched will be removed. You can download it either again when necessary.
The next option is to have mail automatically downloaded that you’ve received. You can manually download attachments at all times by opening them or saving them to your Mac.
And finally, mail downloads will only occur when a file or email is opened, or deliberately save to your device. Optimizing storage for email attachments, TV shows, and movies do not require the capacity of iCloud storage.
Clutter Reduction
Finally, you can click the Reduce Clutter option that identities files and folders that you might no longer need. Click the Review Files option, and then choose the categories that you would like to examine (Documents, Trash, Applications, Music Creation, etc).
How To Check Free Space On Macbook Pro
You can delete files in these categories directly from the window. Other categories show the entire storage space that is used by the files of the apps. You can then open the application and determine whether or not you want to delete files from it.
Free Up Disk Space On Macbook Air
Disk Space Checked & Optimized
Now that you know how to check disk space on Mac, and consequently, optimize it if it’s overbearing, you are well on your way to make your Mac better than before. In any case, you can always purchase affordable external storage with plenty of storage space so that you never run out.
Check Free Disc Space On Mac
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