My niece was running out of space on her MacBook Air. I did some digging using About This Mac under storage and found she has 78GB of “Other” storage. What kind of files does this “Other.
Optimizing storage is an efficient way to do this. But there are also several other steps you can take to free up space on MacBook Air, Pro, or any other macOS device. Doing these routinely will ensure you don’t face any storage issues and are able to make the most of your system. So let’s have a look.
I've only had macbook laptops going back 10years, got all my family and most friends on iphones and other Apple products due to 'higher' quality I've experienced over that time right up until my incredible durable last generation macbook air. Then I bought this thing in Dec 2018 (macbook air retina 2018). Jul 25, 2019 If you wondered whether storage space on MacBook Air/Pro is running out of or dangerously close, here's what you can try to check the available hard drive space on a Mac. Part 1：How to Check Storage on MacBook Air/Pro. Step 1: Firstly go to the 'Apple logo' on the top of the screen, then you tap on the option 'About The Mac'.
Optimized Storage in macOS Sierra and later* can save space by storing your content in iCloud and making it available on demand. When storage space is needed, files, photos, movies, email attachments, and other files that you seldom use are stored in iCloud automatically. Each file stays right where you last saved it, and downloads when you open it. Files that you’ve used recently remain on your Mac, along with optimized versions of your photos. Mac midi keyboard app.
* If you haven't yet upgraded to macOS Sierra or later, learn about other ways to free up storage space.
Find out how much storage is available on your Mac
Choose Apple menu > About This Mac, then click Storage. Each segment of the bar is an estimate of the storage space used by a category of files. Move your pointer over each segment for more detail.
Click the Manage button to open the Storage Management window, pictured below. This button is available only in macOS Sierra or later.
Manage storage on your Mac
The Storage Management window offers recommendations for optimizing your storage. If some recommendations are already turned on, you will see fewer recommendations.
Click the Store in iCloud button, then choose from these options:
Desktop and Documents. Store all files from these two locations in iCloud Drive. When storage space is needed, only the files you recently opened are kept on your Mac, so that you can easily work offline. Files stored only in iCloud show a download icon , which you can double-click to download the original file. Learn more about this feature.
Photos. Store all original, full-resolution photos and videos in iCloud Photos. When storage space is needed, only space-saving (optimized) versions of photos are kept on your Mac. To download the original photo or video, just open it.
Messages. Store all messages and attachments in iCloud. When storage space is needed, only the messages and attachments you recently opened are kept on your Mac. Learn more about Messages in iCloud.
Storing files in iCloud uses the storage space in your iCloud storage plan. If you reach or exceed your iCloud storage limit, you can either buy more iCloud storage or make more iCloud storage available. iCloud storage starts at 50GB for $0.99 (USD) a month, and you can purchase additional storage directly from your Apple device. Learn more about prices in your region.
Optimize Storage
Click the Optimize button, then choose from these options.
Automatically remove watched movies and TV shows. When storage space is needed, movies or TV shows that you purchased from the iTunes Store and already watched are removed from your Mac. Click the download icon next to a movie or TV show to download it again.
Download only recent attachments. Mail automatically downloads only the attachments that you recently received. You can manually download any attachments at any time by opening the email or attachment, or saving the attachment to your Mac.
Don't automatically download attachments. Mail downloads an attachment only when you open the email or attachment, or save the attachment to your Mac.
Optimizing storage for movies, TV shows, and email attachments doesn't require iCloud storage space. Music player 2 2.
Empty Trash Automatically
Empty Trash Automatically permanently deletes files that have been in the Trash for more than 30 days.
Reduce Clutter
Reduce Clutter helps you to identify large files and files you might no longer need. Click the Review Files button, then choose any of the file categories in the sidebar, such as Applications, Documents, Music Creation, or Trash.
You can delete the files in some categories directly from this window. Other categories show the total storage space used by the files in each app. You can then open the app and decide whether to delete files from within it.
Learn how to redownload apps, music, movies, TV shows, and books.
Where to find the settings for each feature
The button for each recommendation in the Storage Management window affects one or more settings in other apps. You can also control those settings directly within each app.
If you're using macOS Catalina, choose Apple menu > System Preferences, click Apple ID, then select iCloud in the sidebar: Store in iCloud turns on the Optimize Mac Storage setting on the right. Then click Options next to iCloud Drive: Store in iCloud turns on the Desktop & Documents Folders setting. To turn off iCloud Drive entirely, deselect iCloud Drive. In macOS Mojave or earlier, choose Apple menu > System Preferences, click iCloud, then click Options next to iCloud Drive. Store in iCloud turns on the Desktop & Documents Folders and Optimize Mac Storage settings.
In Photos, choose Photos > Preferences, then click iCloud. Store in iCloud selects iCloud Photos and Optimize Mac Storage.
In Messages, choose Messages > Preferences, then click iMessage. Store in iCloud selects Enable Messages in iCloud.
If you're using macOS Catalina, open the Apple TV app, choose TV > Preferences from the menu bar, then click Files. Optimize Storage selects “Automatically delete watched movies and TV shows.” In macOS Mojave or earlier, open iTunes, choose iTunes > Preferences from the menu bar, then click Advanced. Optimize Storage selects “Automatically delete watched movies and TV shows.”
In Mail, choose Mail > Preferences from the menu bar, then click Accounts. In the Account Information section on the right, Optimize Storage sets the Download Attachments menu to either Recent or None.
Empty Trash Automatically: From the Finder, choose Finder > Preferences, then click Advanced. Empty Trash Automatically selects “Remove items from the Trash after 30 days.”
Other ways that macOS helps automatically save space
With macOS Sierra or later, your Mac automatically takes these additional steps to save storage space:
Detects duplicate downloads in Safari, keeping only the most recent version of the download
Reminds you to delete used app installers
Removes old fonts, languages, and dictionaries that aren't being used
Clears caches, logs, and other unnecessary data when storage space is needed
How to free up storage space manually
Even without using the Optimized Storage features of Sierra or later, you can take other steps to make more storage space available:
Music, movies, and other media can use a lot of storage space. Learn how to delete music, movies, and TV shows from your device.
Delete other files that you no longer need by moving them to the Trash, then emptying the Trash. The Downloads folder is good place to look for files that you might no longer need.
Move files to an external storage device.
Compress files.
Delete unneeded email: In the Mail app, choose Mailbox > Erase Junk Mail. If you no longer need the email in your Trash mailbox, choose Mailbox > Erase Deleted Items.
Learn more
The Storage pane of About This Mac is the best way to determine the amount of storage space available on your Mac. Disk Utility and other apps might show storage categories such as Not Mounted, VM, Recovery, Other Volumes, Free, or Purgeable. Don't rely on these categories to understand how to free up storage space or how much storage space is available for your data.
When you duplicate a file on an APFS-formatted volume, that file doesn't use additional storage space on the volume. Deleting a duplicate file frees up only the space required by any data you might have added to the duplicate. If you no longer need any copies of the file, you can recover all of the storage space by deleting both the duplicate and the original file.
If you're using a pro app and Optimize Mac Storage, learn how to make sure that your projects are always on your Mac and able to access their files.
It’s recommended that you keep at least 15-20% of your Mac’s memory free to keep it running smoothly. Optimizing storage is an efficient way to do this. But there are also several other steps you can take to free up space on MacBook Air, Pro, or any other macOS device. Doing these routinely will ensure you don’t face any storage issues and are able to make the most of your system. So let’s have a look.
12 Easy Ways to Free Up Space on MacBook Air or Pro Running macOS Catalina
#1. Delete Large Files on your Mac
Instead of deleting a hundred small files and images, first of all, let us go for the big fish.
Click on the Apple logo from the upper left and select About This Mac.
Now, click on Storage and then click on Manage.
Click Documents. Mostly, this is where the big files are. Here you will see the video files, ZIP/RAR files, etc. By default, the biggest files are at the top. Select one or hold the command key and select multiple files
Finally, click on Delete from the bottom right and confirm.
#2. Remove iOS and iPadOS Backups
Click on the Apple logo from the upper left and select About This Mac.
Now Select Storage tab and click on Manage.
Click iOS Files from left sidebar
Select and
Related:How to Find iPhone Backup Location on Mac & Windows
#3. Delete Unwanted Applications
You can delete Mac applications in various ways. You may follow the above steps, click on Applications, and remove the large ones.
#4. Clear Cache to Free Up Space on Mac
Be in Finder and click on Go from the top menu bar
Click Go to Folder.
Type or copy-paste ~/Library/Caches
Delete the files from here that are taking the most space. You may even delete everything. With normal usages, these files and folders will be recreated by macOS.
Next, click on Go again and then Go to Folder. Now type or copy-paste /Library/Caches
You may delete files from here too. After this empty the trash and restart you Mac
#5. Remove Old Downloads
This comes down to what you are willing to keep and what you are happy to let go of. Nowadays everything is online in the cloud. Thus there is no point in storing too may videos, music, etc. on the local storage.
Click on the Finder icon (leftmost) from the Dock
Click Downloads and remove unnecessary files from here, by right-click and selecting Move to Trash.
You may also right-click and sort by size to quickly locate and delete the biggest files first.
#6. Compress Folders and Files
If you have many images and word files that you rarely use, but can not delete, then it is a handy idea to compress them. Here is how to zip and unzip files on Mac.
#7. Empty Trash Automatically
Right-click on the Trash icon in the dock (the rightmost option)
Click Empty Trash and confirm
To empty Trash automatically:
Click on the Apple logo from the upper left and select About This Mac.
Now, click on Storage and then click on Manage.
Click on Recommendations from the top of the left sidebar
Click Turn On for Empty Trash Automatically.
Many times, GBs of files pile up and are stored in the Trash, thus occupying significant space. It is better to empty it regularly.
#8. Use iCloud to Store Documents
It is best to use iCloud to Store docs etc. on Mac if you have a paid iCloud plan that gives you more than 5 GB of online storage. Here is how to use iCloud to Store Documents.
Click on the Apple logo from the upper left and select About This Mac.
Now, click on Storage and then click on Manage.
Click on Recommendations from the top of the left sidebar
Click Store in iCloud.
Review what all will be stored. Uncheck if you wish to exclude photos, messages, desktop, and documents. Finally, click on Store in iCloud.
You may also, enable iCloud Photos from System Preferences → Apple ID → iCloud → Photos or the Preferences of the Mac’s Photos app.
#9. Optimize Storage Automatically
What Is Other On Macbook Air Storage Options
Click on the Apple logo from the upper left and select About This Mac.
Now, click on Storage and then click on Manage.
Click on Recommendations from the top of the left sidebar
Click on Optimize next to Optimize Storage. Now, all the movies and TV shows you have watched will be automatically removed.
#10. Delete Attachments from Mac Mail App
Following these steps, you can delete the attachments that have been saved locally on the Mac from the mail app. Depending on the number of emails you receive, this data can be huge.
Clearing Storage On Macbook Air
Be in Finder and press and keep holding the Option key. Now click on Go from the top menu bar
Click Library.
Now, Click on Containers.
Go to com.apple.mail.
Click on Data.
Select Library.
Now, click on Mail Downloads.
Select all folders and delete them. Or open the individual folders, see the content, and delete the unnecessary ones.
Even if you delete from here, the attachments are still in your email that you can view or download anytime. Further, you may also choose to stop the Mac Mail app from downloading attachments.
#11. Remove Duplicate Files using Third-Party Apps
What Is Other On Macbook Air Storage
Duplicate files are a big headache and unnecessarily occupy space. We have a list of some of the best mac cleaner apps that can help you delete duplicate files on your Mac.
#12. Use External Drives for Large Infrequently Used Files
Do you have data that you do not use much but can neither delete them nor store them in the cloud? Well, consider investing in an external drive and move infrequently used large files to it.
Signing off…
These were some of the easiest ways to free up space on your MacBook Air. It’s a good idea to do these steps every now and then to keep your system performing well. Are there any other Mac tips you’re looking for? Let us know in the comments below and we’ll help you out.
Delete Other Mac Storage
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The founder of iGeeksBlog, Dhvanesh, is an Apple aficionado, who cannot stand even a slight innuendo about Apple products. He dons the cap of editor-in-chief to make sure that articles match the quality standard before they are published.
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