- How To Tell What Is Taking Up Space On Mac
- How To Tell What Is Taking Up Space On Mac Pro
- How To Tell What Is Taking Up Space On Mac Os
When your device's hard drive begins to fill up, you'll start wondering what's taking up all the available space, and that's when 'Storage sense' will come in handy.
On Windows 10, many people know Storage sense as a feature to free up hard drive space. While this is true, it's also a tool that you can use to analyze the content of a drive and figure out how space is being utilized to know where to start cleaning up files that you can't remove using Storage sense.
In this guide, you'll learn the steps to use Storage sense to understand how your PC storage is being utilized on Windows 10.
The storage of our Mac can be the most precious thing we have. Depending on the model of your Mac and the year of purchase it may vary. A 256GB base storage can currently be found on the latest Macs featured with the M1 chip or earlier from 128GB to. . Go to the Apple menu About This Mac Storage tab. Click the Manage button, and a neat disk space analyzer pops up (part of System Information.app) with different location/visualization options. It's very fast and simple, definitely does the trick in helping you quickly locate gigantic folders that need to be culled. Before we can see what is taking up space on your startup disk, first we have to find it: Hover on the Dock at the bottom of your screen and open Finder. Click on 'Finder' in the menu bar at the top of your screen.
Find out what files are taking up space on Windows 10
To see the files taking up space on the hard drive on Windows 10 version 1903, 1909, 2004, 20H2, or later, use these steps:
Open Settings on Windows 10. Free pdf reader for mac os x.
Click on System.
Click on Storage.
Under the 'Local Disk (C:)' section, you'll be able to see what's taking up space on the main hard drive.
Click the Show more categories option to view the storage usage from other file types.
(Optional) Under the 'More stora settings' section, click the View storage usage on other drives option.
If you have multiple hard drives, select the one that you want to see its storage usage.
See storage usage for the other drive.
Free mac security download. Once you complete the steps, you'll understand what files are taking up most of the space on your computer. (See also video tutorial.)
Find out what files are taking up space on Windows 10 version 1809 or earlier
To see how the hard drive space is being used on your computer on Windows 10 version 1809 or earlier releases, use these steps:
Open Settings.
Click on System.
Click on Storage.
Under the 'Local storage' section, click the drive to see usage.
While on 'Storage usage,' you can see what's taking up space on the hard drive. You can click each item to get more details and take additional actions.
For example, if you notice that apps are taking most of the space, you can click the item to access 'Apps & games,' where you can see and uninstall those items that are wasting space and you don't need.
In the case that temporary files are the items consuming most of your storage, then you can use this guide to quickly free up space.
Storage usage offers an overview of virtually everything that's stored on the hard drive, including system files, apps, games, temporary files, and those files stored in the Documents, OneDrive, Pictures, Music, Videos, and files from other people if you're sharing your device with other users.
Alternatively, you can also use third-party tools, such as WinDirStat, to see what files are filling out the hard drive, so you can take action accordingly.
The storage of our Mac can be the most precious thing we have. Depending on the model of your Mac and the year of purchase it may vary. A 256GB base storage can currently be found on the latest Macs featured with the M1 chip or earlier from 128GB to 512GB in a standard configuration or exceed 1TB or more in a custom configuration. In my case, the MacBook Pro Late 2011 that I have in my possession had a storage capacity of 500 GB at the time. This storage decreased to 240GB with an SSD. How many GB do you have available on your Mac? In this post we will help you eliminate the storage space Other that stays with time and that they are no longer necessary to have.
Other storage space on your Mac that should not be so large, failing that, or exist
If you've never thoroughly explored your Mac's storage, do the following
- Click on the apple icon at the top left of your screen
- Select the About this Mac option
- Finally, choose the Storage option (it will take a moment to calculate all the occupied space).
How much space do you have left on your Mac? We hope you have enough and that the Other space is not taking up much space. Each file category has a color, from yellow for Photos, red for Applications, purple for Music, etc.
How To Tell What Is Taking Up Space On Mac
What is that space that does not have a category? The system catalogs Other such as cache files, backups, installation packages, app extensions, temporary files, junk files, among others.
Exploring the Other storage space in detail
After seeing how much storage space that Other storage is occupying, it is time to take a closer look at it. On the same Storage screen, click Manage.
On this screen you can see various adjustments to be made. You can optimize storage, check iCloud files, empty the trash, among others. To see how much space Another is occupying, do the following:
- Open Finder
- Click on the Go option in the top menu bar
- Select Go to folder
- Type ~ / library and press Go.
You will access the central macOS Library. You will see that you have different folders but be very careful, this is not the time to make changes at the moment. In the screenshot I added about my own storage I didn't find any other storage.
You will have to delete any cache files and others that are suspicious. If you have questions about the extension or name of a file remember to use Google to clear your doubts. Therefore, if you are not sure about deleting the file, do not do it, it is much better to check first what it is. If you already know which files to delete, do it under your own supervision.
In the event that you are not sure about entering the Library folder, I suggest you make a backup of your most important files. Some maintenance experts also recommend using dedicated cleaning apps to fix both errors and improve Mac performance. We recommend you explore CleanMyMac and Daisy Disk as a second alternative.
The best (not the most practical) tip for removing junk files from your Mac
If you have that other saturated storage (50 GB for example) I do not recommend deleting file by file. It is more convenient to perform a format / restore from scratch. Why? It is better to start all the processes of the Mac cleanly. It happens as if you updated the version of macOS.
While on 'Storage usage,' you can see what's taking up space on the hard drive. You can click each item to get more details and take additional actions.
For example, if you notice that apps are taking most of the space, you can click the item to access 'Apps & games,' where you can see and uninstall those items that are wasting space and you don't need.
In the case that temporary files are the items consuming most of your storage, then you can use this guide to quickly free up space.
Storage usage offers an overview of virtually everything that's stored on the hard drive, including system files, apps, games, temporary files, and those files stored in the Documents, OneDrive, Pictures, Music, Videos, and files from other people if you're sharing your device with other users.
Alternatively, you can also use third-party tools, such as WinDirStat, to see what files are filling out the hard drive, so you can take action accordingly.
The storage of our Mac can be the most precious thing we have. Depending on the model of your Mac and the year of purchase it may vary. A 256GB base storage can currently be found on the latest Macs featured with the M1 chip or earlier from 128GB to 512GB in a standard configuration or exceed 1TB or more in a custom configuration. In my case, the MacBook Pro Late 2011 that I have in my possession had a storage capacity of 500 GB at the time. This storage decreased to 240GB with an SSD. How many GB do you have available on your Mac? In this post we will help you eliminate the storage space Other that stays with time and that they are no longer necessary to have.
Other storage space on your Mac that should not be so large, failing that, or exist
If you've never thoroughly explored your Mac's storage, do the following
- Click on the apple icon at the top left of your screen
- Select the About this Mac option
- Finally, choose the Storage option (it will take a moment to calculate all the occupied space).
How much space do you have left on your Mac? We hope you have enough and that the Other space is not taking up much space. Each file category has a color, from yellow for Photos, red for Applications, purple for Music, etc.
How To Tell What Is Taking Up Space On Mac
What is that space that does not have a category? The system catalogs Other such as cache files, backups, installation packages, app extensions, temporary files, junk files, among others.
Exploring the Other storage space in detail
After seeing how much storage space that Other storage is occupying, it is time to take a closer look at it. On the same Storage screen, click Manage.
On this screen you can see various adjustments to be made. You can optimize storage, check iCloud files, empty the trash, among others. To see how much space Another is occupying, do the following:
- Open Finder
- Click on the Go option in the top menu bar
- Select Go to folder
- Type ~ / library and press Go.
You will access the central macOS Library. You will see that you have different folders but be very careful, this is not the time to make changes at the moment. In the screenshot I added about my own storage I didn't find any other storage.
You will have to delete any cache files and others that are suspicious. If you have questions about the extension or name of a file remember to use Google to clear your doubts. Therefore, if you are not sure about deleting the file, do not do it, it is much better to check first what it is. If you already know which files to delete, do it under your own supervision.
In the event that you are not sure about entering the Library folder, I suggest you make a backup of your most important files. Some maintenance experts also recommend using dedicated cleaning apps to fix both errors and improve Mac performance. We recommend you explore CleanMyMac and Daisy Disk as a second alternative.
The best (not the most practical) tip for removing junk files from your Mac
If you have that other saturated storage (50 GB for example) I do not recommend deleting file by file. It is more convenient to perform a format / restore from scratch. Why? It is better to start all the processes of the Mac cleanly. It happens as if you updated the version of macOS.
If you ever made any macOS version update (High Sierra to Mojave to name an example) above, that is, downloading the version and installing it directly; old High Sierra files are sure to be left.
How To Tell What Is Taking Up Space On Mac Pro
In addition, a reset of our Mac never hurts, in case we have a performance failure or we simply want to give our equipment a new life. In my personal experience I try to do it once a year by doing a manual backup of my files on an external disk and having macOS on a bootable USB. If you don't know what I'm talking about, I recommend you read this post.
How To Tell What Is Taking Up Space On Mac Os
Did you manage to remove the Other storage space from your Mac? Tell us about your experience with maintaining your equipment in the comment box.
