Are you running low on storage space? Keep getting frustrating “hard disk is full” messages popping up? Don’t worry, you are not on your own. Most Mac users experience these problems, especially as their laptops are getting older and more cluttered up with different files and applications. There are many ways to clean out the disk space and empty some extra storage on your Mac – the most effective 4 are described below.
- Delete unused apps
Applications are what eat into a big chunk of your hard disk space but not all of them may be needed. Some apps get automatically installed onto your Mac after you’ve purchased it. The others you may have installed yourself but haven’t used in a long time. It can be easy to forget to delete those and so it’s recommended to regularly look through and get rid of anything unnecessary.
To do this, go on your Finder, locate any unnecessary apps and drag them into the bin. Some people prefer to use the Launchpad to delete apps on their Mac. Others also use third-party applications for this. Do whatever works best for you.
After deleting the apps themselves, don’t forget to also clear out any support files relating to them. This may include application cache, logs, cookies, and other files.
- Declutter your files
We are all guilty of over-cluttering our laptops with lots of files and forgetting to ever delete them. Your Downloads folder is the best place to start – which is also the place that gets forgotten the most. You will likely find a wide range of old files, such as images, PDF and Word files, movies, and so on. Go through all of those and delete anything that you haven’t used in a long time. A great way to do this is by filtering them out based on dates and file types.
Don’t forget to also look for any duplicate files. These are very easy to accidentally create and have multiple copies of the same document stored for no reason. Once you are done decluttering your files, don’t forget to remove them from your Trash bin too.
- Clean out system junk
System junk is related to all sorts of files that are stored on your hard disk but more often than not are unnecessary junk that can be easily removed. This can include temporary files and their versions, outdated system logs, Time Machine backup files, and localisation files from applications. The other types of files to consider removing also include browser and system caches and other outdated system files.
The easiest way to do this is by using a storage management app, which will locate all system junk for you and allow you to clear it out automatically. A slightly more long-winded way is by doing it all manually. The one thing that you should always do is have the Storage Optimisation feature enabled on your Mac, so your device can regularly clean out unnecessary junk for you too.
- Use a cloud storage
If you have already decluttered everything you could but are still struggling with storage space, using an external cloud storage is your next best move. Whether that’s the iCloud or Google Drive, external storage gives you lots of free space. You can easily sync your current files onto the cloud and then delete the original copies from your device, emptying a massive chunk of hard disk storage.