While you don't need any third-party app to 'clean' your Mac, there are some very handy system access tools out there that make it easier to regularly remove unwanted files. How to delete an iPhone or iPad backup from iTunes Third-party software that can help Backups take up 4-5GB each, on average there's no need to hold on to older device backups if you no longer have the device or have it stored in iCloud. If you tend to get new iOS devices fairly regularly, you may have unnecessary device backups stored on your computer via iTunes.

How to delete old device backups in iTunes If you want to save a file from the Downloads folder but don't want it clogging your drive, consider moving it to an external hard drive or flash drive, or uploading it to an online storage option like Dropbox.

Right-click (or control-click) on the file.If you want to make some room on your Mac, it may be time to clean out your Downloads folder. Right-click (or control-click) on the app folder.Ĭhances are, your Downloads folder is stuffed with Other-type files, including installer packages, documents, and folders you have already made copies of somewhere else.Select the app folder you wish to remove the cache from.A list of caches from active apps will appear on your desktop. Select the Go menu in the upper left corner of the screen.Click on your desktop or select the Finder icon from the Dock.We strongly recommend only deleting cache files from old apps. You can start by removing items you don't need, including caches for your web browser, saved Apple Music streams, and photo previews.Ī note on deleting cache folders: You only want to delete old and unnecessary files, as current cache files store your preferences. Now that you know how much space your Other files are taking up, it's time to reduce their footprint on your Mac. Your Mac breaks down its storage categories as follows: Apps, Movies, Photos, Audio, Backups, and - that annoying, undescriptive category - Other. Select the Apple Menu icon in the upper left corner of the screen.Click on your desktop or the Finder icon from the Dock.If you are concerned with how much storage space you have remaining on your Mac computer, you can check its usage folder to see how much space each category is taking up, including Other. How to check your storage space on your Mac Though your Other storage might have been spread out across categories in macOS Sierra and higher, you can still follow the below steps to manually clean up your Mac and get rid of unnecessary files. Purgeable files also include caches and temporary files that used to fit into the Other category, which will also be deleted as your hard drive starts to fill up. The Purgeable files are what Optimized Storage will move to iCloud and delete from your hard drive only if your hard drive starts to get full.

Older documents are stored in iCloud, while a shortcut icon is kept on your Mac (files are automatically re-downloaded to your Mac as soon as you open them). When you move your Documents into iCloud (part of the Store in iCloud component) and your hard drive gets low on storage, only recently opened files are kept on your Mac. This is part of Apple's Optimized Storage service. If you check your system storage graph in macOS, you'll probably discover a category called Purgeable.

Best free cleaner for mac high sierra