Free up space on MacOS

When a mac is running out of space, there are often things that can be cleaned up and removed before needing to remove or delete any of your personal data.

Important: It is recommended you take a backup before doing any major clean-ups.
Important: Do not delete something unless you are absolutely sure you do not need it.

A simple way to get an idea of what is using up your space:

1. Click on the Apple Icon in the top left corner of your screen.
2. Click on “About this Mac”
3. Click on “Storage” from the buttons along the top.
4. Here you’ll see a bsic summary of what is filling up your drive.
5. Click “Manage…”
6. You’ll now see the following window:

From there you can follow through the recommendations. Keep in mind the first option is to store options in iCloud (which is a payed service). We recommend doing this option last ,and only if needed. Start working through the other 3 recommendations first. After that look down the side bar at the different categories to identify what might be taking up space.

Check your progress by following steps 1-4 above to see how effective your cleanup has been. If your drive is full you want to have at least 5-10 GB free before considering your clean done.

Remember always sort object by size to save time cleaning, 1024 KB = 1MB, 1024 MB = 1GB, So start with files larger than a GB first, and work your way down any of the lists.