macOS - Managing Storage

This article shows how to use macOS' built-in storage management features to free disk space, and enable storage optimizations that can help reduce file clutter.
 


From the Apple Menu, select About This Mac, and click the Storage tab. This window will display a graphical representation of files categories and the amount of storage they are using. This view also provides the amount of free space available of the total available disk. Clicking the Manage button will allow you to clean-up and optimize your storage.

graph showing various categories that comprise storage space


Storage Management Recommendations

From the Storage tab choose Manage. This window has two columns, the left column shows the categories using storage, the second column shows the details and storage management options available in that category. The default category is Recommendations, these are Apple's recommended storage optimizations, and a quick way to free up storage. The sections available are: Store in iCloud, Optimize Storage, Empty Trash Automatically, and Reduce Clutter. There are clear descriptions for each section, enable any optimizations you would like. 

Empty Trash Automatically

One option to enable in the Recommendations category, is Empty Trash Automatically. 
recommended options for saving space

Storage Management Documents

Clicking the Review Files button in the Reduce Clutter section will take you to the Document category. This category defaults to the Large Files view. This view allows you to quickly make informed decisions on what large files you can delete. The files are sorted from largest to smallest, the columns provided are: Name, Kind, Last Accessed, and Size. Below are screens shots showing the two other views, Downloads, and File Browser.
Finder Window showing Documents
These views allow you to delete or show the files location in Finder.
Finder windows showing downloaded files in Documents folder
Finder window showing file browser view of Documents folder


Keywords:
macOS, storage, disk space usage, delete files, full, optimize 
Doc ID:
78468
Owned by:
Desktop Support L. in UW-Milwaukee Help Desk
Created:
2017-11-30
Updated:
2026-10-05
Sites:
UW-Milwaukee Help Desk