Sep 08, 2021 • Filed to: Solve Mac Problems • Proven solutions
Content is stored on the cloud and is always there within the reach of the user whenever it is needed through the improved efficiency of storing, processing, andretrieving files on the macOS Sierra. The new system will automatically store up those files that you do not use often in the cloud to free up storage space with macOS Sierra. Optimized versions of your pictures and other frequently used files will stay on your Mac while all other files are saved and can be retrieved by downloading them from the cloud. See how you can do this below.
How To Free Up Storage On Mac Air
Store the contents of the device to the iCloud storage. This is a safe and secure place for. The good news is you can probably free up a lot of space on your PC running Windows by following the tips here. But if you keep getting messages about low drive space, you might want to consider other options, including adding additional removable storage. To get the most out of these tips, do them in order from top to bottom. Save space on your Mac by storing your content in iCloud, using built-in tools to find and remove large files, or manually deleting apps, files, and more. So I prefer to free up the startup disk storage space on macOS. With some tricks, we can always keep enough system storage space. This article provides 9 ways to release startup disk storage in macOS Mojave and macOS Catalina, which you can choose to do with or without third-party application tools. Check the storage usage in your Mac. Clean up storage in MacBook, iMac, Mac mini, Mac Pro.
You can view a summary of your storage pattern on your Mac by clicking on About This Mac from the Apple menu. An overview of your used and free space will be displayed in the storage section.
Click on the Manage button in the top right corner to view options to free up storage space with macOS Sierra. If you already have some options enabled, you will see fewer options available in this window.
1. Store in iCloud
After selecting the Store in iCloud option, you will have the option to choose between 'Files from Desktop and Documents in iCloud Drive' and 'Photos and Videos in iCloud Photo Library'.
- The first option will store all files that are not used often on iCloud drive whenever space is needed on your system. All files that will be stored in the cloud will have the cloud icon next to it which can be clicked to download the files at any time.
- For the second option, all full versions of your pictures will be stored in the iCloud photo library with the optimized versions on your system. You can download the originals from the iCloud photo library at any time. The storage space available on your iCloud is according to the plan you are on. You can manage this option to increase or reduce the available space.
2. Optimize storage
Here you can choose from the options below after clicking on it;
- Download only recent attachments - only recently received attachments will be downloaded automatically. Other attachments can be downloaded manually by opening and saving them to the system.
- Don’t automatically download any email attachments - email attachments will only be downloaded when you open that email or the email attachment and save it on the system.
- Automatically remove watched iTunes movies and TV shows - all iTunes movies and TV shows that you have watched will be removed from your Mac to cloud storage whenever more space is needed. These items can be downloaded again at any time by clicking on the cloud logo next to them.
3. Empty trash automatically
Selecting this option will mean that you have set your Mac to automatically delete all files that are sent to trash and have stayed there for 30 days. Any files in the trash after 30 days will be automatically deleted to free up storage space with macOS Sierra.
4. Reduce clutter
This option will help you point out all the large files that you might not be needing any longer. When you click on Review Files, you can select from the options in the sidebar to search your compartments like Documents and Applications. You can delete some files directly from these categories with your pointer hovering over them. Select the X key to delete them from your Mac for good. If you purchased them from iTunes, Apple Store, or iBooks Store, you can download them again later. For categories with compartments, you can see the total size of the file from the side. You can open up the file to see the different compartments and their sizes and choose what to delete from there. These will also be permanently deleted.
Other ways in which macOS Sierra saves space automatically
- You will get reminders to delete application installers that you have already used and will not be needed again on your Mac
- Your cache, logs and other data deemed as unnecessary will be cleared automatically to free up storage space with macOS Sierra
- Any duplicate downloads from safari will be detected by the system. Only the more recent version of the download form the duplicate options will be saved on your Mac.
- All fonts, languages ad dictionaries that are not being used by your Mac will be deleted
5. Where to find settings for each feature
- Store in iCloud: choose Apple menu > System Preferences > iCloud > Options. Desktop & Documents Folders and Optimize Mac Storage settings will be selected automatically. Deselect iCloud Drive to turn off iCloud Drive entirely. In photos, you can choose Photos > Preference > iCloud. This selects the iCloud Photo Library and Optimize Mac Storage.
- Optimize Mac Storage: in iTunes choose iTunes > Preferences > Advanced. Optimize Storage will select 'Automatically delete watched movies and TV shows'. In mail choose Mail > Preferences > Accounts. Optimize Storage sets the Download Attachments to Recent or None.
- Empty Trash Automatically: from the finder, choose Finder > Preferences > Advanced. This will choose 'Remove items from the Trash after 30 days'.
6. Learn more
In the About Mac pop-up menu, purgeable content will show in the Storage section if Optimize Mac storage is turned on. Files considered purgeable are those Mac can remove to make space but they can all be downloaded again.
During the process of freeing up space on your Mac, you might delete or lose a file by accident and want it back in the future. You can do this withMac Hard Drive data recoverysoftware.Recoverit for Macis a good option for this. You can recover data from Mac hard drive that has been lost, deleted, or formatted.
What's Wrong with Mac
- Recover Your Mac
- Fix Your Mac
- Delete Your Mac
- Learn Mac Hacks
System cleanup in one click
Sometimes, you need to know how much storage space is on your Mac. Apple doesn’t make this info readily available because not many of us need to know about Mac storage often enough. It’s really easy to check, though – and there are even some alternatives that give you better options for managing your onboard memory!
People need to check their storage space for a variety of reasons. Sometimes it’s just good device management; sometimes your computer is running slowly, and storage is the first culprit you think of. Ideally, about ten percent of the storage space on your Mac should be free at all times so your computer can run smoothly.
Depending on which model you have, this can be tricky to accomplish routinely. Maybe you need to delete some older apps you’re not using, or the app isn’t supported anymore. Maybe you’re just holding onto old documents you no longer need.
Whatever your use-case, here’s how to check disk space on Mac.
Have your storage controlled with Setapp
Get Setapp, an all-in-one toolkit that prevents your Mac from running low on storage. Crucial housekeeping done for you.
How To Check Storage on Mac
How To Free Up Storage On Mac Air
It’s actually really simple to check your device’s memory! Here’s how:
- On the menu bar, click the Apple logo in the top left
- Select ‘About this Mac’
- Select ‘Storage’
This is the easiest method for how to see storage on Mac – but you can go deeper! If you need a closer look at your Mac’s memory use, there are a few ways to go about it.
From the Storage screen, you can select ‘Manage,’ which takes you to a new window. Applications, Documents, Photos, and other sections can be found on the left of this window, and a detailed view of those files on the right.
You can also use Finder! To do so, open Finder, go to the View menu item in the menu bar, and select ‘Show toolbar.’ You’ll see a new bar at the bottom of the Finder window showing the number of items for the section you have selected on the left-hand pane and the total amount of storage your Mac has available.
Check out how to use Time Machine.
Disk Utility is another resource. Open Disk Utility, and it will launch into a view of the volume(s) on your Mac, which also shows how much space is used, and how much is free. (Keep in mind Disk Utility is meant for power users who want to manage their storage, and is a bit of overkill for most users.)
How To Manage Storage in macOS
There are also easy ways to manage the files or applications taking up room on your Mac.
In Finder, select the category from the left side pane, then the application or file you want to delete. Right-click on that file or app, select ‘delete,’ and it’ll be removed. From the System Information menu, simply select the file or app you want to get rid of, and select the ‘delete’ button on the bottom right of the window.
But these two methods often don’t solve the issue! One clever way to better manage the storage on your Mac is to use cloud storage options like iCloud, Dropbox, Google Drive, and OneDrive. Apple’s iCloud is woven into your AppleID, and using it is a very straightforward approach; it’s automatically added to the storage options for your Mac!
But iCloud is not the only solution for cloud storage on Mac. If you have something else, CloudMounter is the easiest and best way to manage all your cloud storage containers. It lives in your menu bar for easy access, and shows all your cloud storage options in Finder. It helps your Mac treat cloud storage as a local disk, making access and managing files really simple!
Best of all, CloudMounter uses 256-bit encryption, so your documents are always safe.
If all the menus and file size jargon of Apple’s Finder and System Information options is confusing, we’ve got a great solution for you. iStat Menus is a handy app that also lives in the Menu Bar, and gives a graphical overview of CPU and GPU use in real-time, network connections, and memory use. Instead of dipping and diving through Apple’s hierarchal menus, you can just click on iStat Menus to get the same information in a much better interface!
iStat Menus also allows you to keep the data surfaced directly on your menu bar. Instead of clicking the icon, you can choose to have things like CPU or memory usage as icons so the information is always available in real-time. Awesome!
Get CMM X to keep your Mac clean
Download the best app that removes clutter — from file leftovers to unneeded apps. So that your Mac never lacks storage.
Probably the best (and definitely the most powerful) option for managing your Mac’s memory is CleanMyMacX. Like iStat Menus, it has a drop-down window from the menu bar showing details like CPU or memory use, as well as which apps may be kicking your Mac into overdrive.
CleanMyMacX really shines when you open it up. The app scans your system and identifies unused files, random system junk, mail attachments – and also manages your trash bins. It scans for malware, checks for privacy leaks, optimizes your system for speedy performance, and does routine maintenance.
That’s a lot, but we’re not done! An option within CleanMyMacX named ‘Space Lens’ is a lot like Apple’s Finder, only better looking and much easier to use. Here you’ll see all your applications and files divided into sections, and broken into sub-menus. You can also manually delete apps or files.
‘Large & Old Files’ is a feature in CleanMyMacX which – you guessed it – finds large files and files you haven’t touched in a long time. The goal is to help you identify which files might be worth deleting, or at least shuffling off to cloud storage. It even tells you how long it's been since you used a file!
But let’s be honest: most of the space on your Mac is probably taken up by apps. And chances are, you don’t want or need most of those apps anyway. This is where CleanMyMacX shines bright! Under the ‘Applications’ menu, you can update and manage apps and extensions with ease.
The ‘Uninstaller’ option is a lot like the ‘Large & Old Files’ option, just for apps. It shows you which apps are old, which may be abandoned (32-bit apps are no longer supported on Mac!), and which are just plain unused. It even shows you how large the apps are, letting you do the quick math on which will free up the most space when deleted.
To get rid of apps or files, simply select them from the CleanMyMacX menu, and select the ‘Uninstall’ or ‘Delete’ option at the bottom of the window. It’s that easy!
Keep your Mac in top shape
Checking and managing the storage on your Mac is simple. While viewing your Mac’s storage is easy to do without having a separate app, there are good reasons to have something beyond Apple’s own options to manage your Mac’s memory.
Apps often have files and folders embedded deep in your Mac’s memory, which don’t always go away when you simply delete the app from Apple’s menus. Sure, you got rid of the main offender, but many apps (like those from Adobe) have nuisance files that linger long after you delete the app.
Similarly, moving an app to the trash bin doesn’t actually delete it. The ‘Trash’ app is little more than a place you put apps you don’t want; it doesn’t delete them. You have to manage your trash bin separately, which can balloon out of control.
CleanMyMacX is a great bet for handling it all. It’s smarter at deleting files, folders, and apps, and gives you a much better view of what may be occupying your Mac’s storage. It also removes associated files for apps you delete.
There’s no silver-bullet solution, though! We also like CloudMounter for those with multiple cloud storage solutions, and iStat Menus is really sharp at surfacing the right data when you need it. Best of all, all three options are available for free as part of a 7-day free trial for Setapp, along with dozens of other great apps.
