MacBook storage issue is still a relevant one in 2021. The promised 1 TB of storage — which is the capacity of the MacBook Air 2020 — will still be not enough for many. We generate more and more content on our devices and use apps that are bursting with cache files. This is what creates the cryptic category of “Other” storage on Mac.
On recent macOS versions, this storage category is labeled “other volumes in container.” Which, of course, doesn’t make it any less cryptic. This category contains junk files as well as important ones. That’s why you have to learn to check the storage on Mac properly.
So let’s figure out what Other Storage is and how to remove Other from your Mac.
How to Clean Other Storage on Mac. You can’t remove all the Other storage on Mac because some files are essential for keeping the system running smoothly, but you can reduce the storage space it takes up. You can delete unnecessary files using a Mac cleanup tool or manually.
What is Other on Mac Storage?
- Remember, cleaning up all the files and other things that you no longer need will sure be a great help for the performance of your Mac. Get A Free Trial Now! Last Tip: If you want to reduce the “system” storage size on your iPhone or iPad, just turn to the provided link to check how to free up system storage on iPhone.
- These six classes or categories are documents, photos, movies, audios, applications, Other. How to Clear Disk Space on Mac. Here are 12 free solutions on how to free up disk space on Mac. They are outlined below. Optimize Storage. This is the built-in feature from Mac OS Sierra.
Simply, Other storage on Mac consists of files that do not easily fall into the clearer category labels like 'Audio.' The types of 'Other' files would include:
- Documents like PDF, .psd, .doc, etc.
- macOS system and temporary files.
- Cache files like user cache, browser cache, and system cache.
- Disk images and archives like .zip and .dmg.
- App plugins and extensions.
- Everything else that doesn’t fit into the main macOS categories.
Like this file:
What’s this? A song? An unknown archive? Why on Earth does it weigh 200 MB?
How to check Mac disk space usage
A few years back, Apple introduced “Optimized Storage,” a great feature for finding out how your disk space is structured. This is how to check the storage on Mac.
- Open the Apple menu (top right corner)
- Now, click About this Mac > Storage
Is your disk approaching full capacity? Now, click “Manage.” The sidebar to the left is really enlightening. This is the only place where on your Mac, it shows the size of your apps, books, and documents in gigabytes.
Where is Other Storage on a Mac
To show you where it is, let’s look at your Library. This is where your macOS keeps application components, widgets, and various cache archives. This part of your Mac is hidden from view for a reason. Messing up a few folders here may break your Mac. But let’s take a look:
Click on Finder > Go (in the top menu).
Now paste in: ~/Library/Caches
See those small folders? This is where your “Other” storage is. You’ve found it. Now, we'll see what's possible to delete.
How to delete Other Storage on Mac
You can’t entirely get rid of Other on Mac, but you can reduce how much storage space it takes up. We’re now going to look at each of the six types of Other files and show you how to clean up your Mac. We’re going to walk you through deleting useless documents, junk system files, system slowing cache files, old backups, and all sorts of other junk.
How To Free Up Space On Mac Other Screen
1. Remove documents from Other Storage space
You might not think that pure text documents take up a lot of space, but you may be surprised at the size of some .pages and .csv files. And that’s before you start adding images, downloading ebooks, and creating big presentations. Soon your Other documents can start to get out of hand.
To find and remove large and unneeded documents from Other Storage manually:
- From your desktop, press Command-F.
- Click This Mac.
- Click the first dropdown menu field and select Other.
- From the Search Attributes window, tick File Size and File Extension.
- Now you can input different document file types (.pdf, .pages, etc.) and file sizes to find large documents.
- Review the items and then delete as needed.
Luckily, there’s a much quicker and more thorough way. By using a CleanMyMac X you are presented with a clear view of all the massive files occupying your Other space.
To locate large hidden files in all folders with CleanMyMac:
- Download CleanMyMac X and click the Large & Old Files tab.
- Click the big Scan button to start the search.
- Now, review the results broken down into different categories: archives, documents, movies, etc.
- Look through your files and delete the ones you no longer need.
What’s great about this method is that you can sort the files by their size and thus free up space most effectively. And there’s a special category for Other files that don’t fit into either category. CleanMyMac X also locates .DMG files and archives the Other storage often comprise. These files can be moved to another folder/separate disk or could be removed securely.
How To Free Up Space On Mac Other Computers
Now, try it and see how it helps you slim down Other storage on Mac. Deleting your old files alone can recover you tons of space, but there are more space hoggers that fall under the Other data category.
2. Clean up Other space of the system and temporary files
Every second your Mac is on, the macOS creates and piles up system files — logs, for example. At some point, the system needs these files, but they quickly become outdated and just sit there, wasting your disk space. And guess what, they are in the Other Mac storage category, too.
These files are mostly temporary, but they never actually go away unless you do something about it. The difficulty is that Apple hasn’t made it easy to clear out system files. There’s a good reason for this – people often delete things they shouldn’t.
Let's inspect your Library folder
To manually find where a majority of apps temporary files live, navigate to ~/Users/User/Library/Application Support/
. In this folder, you will find your applications, and some searching will reveal a lot of space being taken up. For example, you may have gigabytes worth of old iOS backups in ~/Library/Application Support/MobileSync/Backup
You could delete these manually, but a much safer and faster method is to use a specialist cleaning app like CleanMyMac X. It has a System Junk module that specifically looks for useless system files and knows what’s safe to delete.
Here’s how to easily remove system files from Other Storage:
- Go to System Junk in CleanMyMac X.
- Hit Scan.
- Hit Clean.
That’s pretty much it. Seriously. If this is the first time you ever cleaned your Mac, you’ll see that the OS X Other storage tab has shrunk considerably after the system junk cleanup.
Using this method, I also deleted 16.69 GB of 'System Junk' from my MacBook.
3. Delete cache files from the Other data section
Cache files are not just another invisible storage hog. They are often one of the worst offenders, often taking up gigabytes of precious space. The three main types of cache are – browser, user, and system. Cache files are meant to help your system work faster, but they get bigger and bigger over time, eventually slowing your system down.
To manually clear cache files on Mac:
- Navigate to Go > Go To Folder.
- Type in
~/Library/Caches
and click Go. - Click-hold Option and drag the Caches folder to your desktop as a backup in case something goes wrong.
- Select all the files in the Caches folder.
- Drag them to the Trash.
- Empty Trash.
Follow the same steps for /Library/Caches (without the “~”) and ~/Library/Logs. Cache files sit in numerous folders, and with a little patience, you can clean them out manually (read more detailed instructions on clearing cache).
4. Remove app plugins and extensions from Other storage
Another cool way to manage storage on Mac.
While apps are, unsurprisingly, categorized as Apps on the Storage bar, their add-ons are under the Other storage category. Compared to some types of files, app plugins and extensions probably won’t take up as much of your Mac's Other space. Still, every bit counts. Since extensions can sometimes cause other problems on your Mac, why not remove the ones you don’t use to be safe and free up some extra Other storage space at the same time?
Tracking down all your add-ons can be a hassle. Some you’ve forgotten you had (like that nCage extension for Chrome), others you didn’t know of in the first place.
Here’s how to manually remove extensions from Chrome, Firefox, and Safari.
To remove extensions from Safari:
- Open Safari browser.
- Go to the Safari menu and click Preferences.
- Select the Extensions tab.
- Select the extension you want to remove and click “Uninstall.”
To remove extensions from Chrome browser:
- Open Chrome.
- Click the three-dot icon in the top-right corner.
- Click More tools > Extensions.
- Disable or remove as you choose.
To remove extensions from Firefox:
- Open Mozilla Firefox browser.
- Click on the burger menu in the top-right corner.
- Choose Add-ons.
- From the Extensions and Plugins tabs, disable and remove whatever you want.
Important! If you’re not sure what a plugin does, don’t rush to remove it. Try disabling it first and see if your apps and your system work as expected. You can always remove that add-on later. Also, note that Chrome extensions can’t be deleted automatically. But if you’d like to get rid of them, we’ll list these extensions for you and tell you how to do that manually.
5. Clear Other space of disk images and archives
Normally, archives and images are files you keep for a reason. However, if you think you might have accumulated some useless .zip and .dmg files on your Mac, then you should definitely clear them out as well.
You can find these files using Spotlight search:
- Open Finder.
- Type DMG/ZIP in the search field.
- Select Search: This Mac.
- Sort the results by Size.
Finder will show you all files of the format you’ve specified, sorted by size. You can clean out those you don’t need.
To safely and easily remove all your old unused disk images, CleanMyMac X has a dedicated tool within the System Junk module. Everything is categorized, so you have a better understanding of what you’re removing.
- Go to the System Junk module in CleanMyMac X.
- Click Scan and when it’s done, click Review Details.
Now you get a detailed overview of some ultra-specific categories of files that are normally invisible to you. Among those, you’ll see Unused Disk Images (another name for DMG installations). Then, there’s Old Updates — you would like to remove those too. Old Updates are past versions of update packages that you already got installed.
Do you often use graphic editors like Photoshop or Sketch? Then, you’ll probably be fascinated by the Document Versions feature. If you click on the Document Versions tab (System Junk > Scan > Review Details), you’ll be able to see how much of your space is taken by large document re-edits. Imagine a 60 MB Photoshop file cloned 10 times with just slight differences. In CleanMyMac X, you can delete these intermediate revisions. And, handy enough, the program keeps just the original file and its final revision on the drive.
6. Get rid of everything else from Other disk space
Even Other storage space has its own “other” files, and no, the irony of that statement is not lost on us.
Other storage on Mac can also include:
- Files in your user library (screen savers, for example).
- Files Spotlight search doesn’t recognize.
Typically, they won’t be as big of a share of Other data on your Mac as cache files and other items we’ve cleared out. However, if you’re determined to clean out as much Other Mac storage as possible, here’s how you can delete screensavers:
- Open Finder.
- In the Menu bar, select Go > Go to Folder.
- Type this:
/System/Library/Screen Savers/
and click Go.
You’ll see the screen saver files now — they are lightweight, but for the sake of being thorough, you can trash them as well.
As for files, Spotlight doesn’t recognize, they are rare. They could include files like Windows Boot Camp partitions or virtual machine hard drives. If you don’t recall putting anything like that on your Mac, you probably have nothing to look for.
7. Remove application logs and support files
Apps on your Mac generate and store lots of files, which are mainly logs and support files. After you delete the application, those files lay still on your hard drive occupying space and doing nothing. So it’s a good idea to remove those.
- Open Finder.
- Press Command-Shift-G and go to
~/Library/Application Support
Look for the folders that have the same name as the app you’ve deleted. You can safely move those to Trash.
Then, go to the following locations to delete other app-related files:
~/Library/Logs
~/Library/Containers
And it's done! Hopefully, you managed to free up some GBs in the Other storage section.
How much can you expect to delete from Other storage on Mac?
You’ll never remove the Other data section from Mac entirely, nor should you want to. It’s perfectly fine to have space taken up by necessary files, whatever category label they have. What is not okay is valuable storage space being wasted. Having a monthly cleanup can help you remove old, unneeded files and keep your hard drive organized.
Type ~/Library/Caches/ and click Go. This will show you the full range of caches and temporary files stored on your Mac. Be certain which ones you want/need to delete before sending them to the Trash. To send cache folders to the Trash, either right-click and select Move to Trash or drag and drop them into the Trash.
Right click and select 'Move to Trash' to delete temporary internet files Mac. At last, empty the trash. Note: You can create a backup of the files you want to delete in the cloud.
Where are the temporary files in Photoshop on a Mac?
1. Click Go on the menu bar and select Go to Folder 2. Type /tmp in the dialog box, and click Go That will open a new Finder window containing your Mac’s temporary files and folders. Now, carefully peruse the folders and look out for folders or files starting with Photoshop Temp and a bunch of numbers at the end.
How to delete a folder on a Mac?
Option 4: Use Smart Folder Finder 1 Click Cmd+F on the desktop. 2 Search for 'Other' folder in 'This Mac'. 3 Choose 'Other' in the drop-down menu. 4 Click the Desired File Size and click Ok button. 5 Once you have specified the file size, a list of files will appear. 6 Delete Files you no longer need.
How can I clear other storage on my Mac?
Use Finder and clear mac Other Storage with ease. Click Command+F on the desktop. Search for 'Other' folder in 'This Mac'. Choose 'Other' in the drop-down menu. From the 'Search Attributes' window, tick the 'File Size' and 'File Extensions'.
[2021] Top 5 Tips on How to Delete Temporary Files on Mac
1. Launch the temporary file clean Mac software and choose 'Start Analyze' from the primary window displayed on the Mac. The software begins to analyze for several unwanted files present on the Mac. The time taken to complete the action is little, and you will notice the total amount of junk files based on their location.
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.
Temporary folders can be found in a number of locations on your Mac. Third-party applications may create temporary folders during installation or execution, and the operating system itself uses temporary files and folders as needed during operation. The main temp folder on a Mac OS X or macOS installation can be found by entering the.
Get rid of files that are invisible to you within Finder (usually system or root files, for example, .htaccess). Delete files and folders in cases when Finder is unresponsive. Note: The Mac command line delete file feature is final and irreversible. While it lets you avoid any error messages, it also removes the files completely, without any possibility of retrieving them later on.
If for whatever reason you are concerned about the $TMPDIR contents or other similar type of files and data, simply quitting all open apps, then restarting the Mac will clear out temporary items from /private/var/ folders and much of what’s found in $TMPDIR as well.
How to delete temporary files on a Mac?
Select all the Mac Photoshop temp files and delete them. Library > Application Support > Adobe > Adobe Photoshop > Caches > Temp. After deleting the Photoshop Temp files, empty the Trash folder to reclaim your storage space. After this, you will be able to see how much space you’ve saved. Is it safe to delete Photoshop temp files on Mac?
Caches and temporary files, or temp files, found on your Mac include the browser cache, browser’s history, messaging or application cache, and much more. Before proceeding, knowing that deleting such files around our temporary files may lead to unpleasant and unfavorable consequences. A word of caution.
Check the box next to each type of the temporary files you want to delete and then click “OK.” A pop-up message will appear asking you to confirm that you want to delete the selected files. Click “Delete Files.” The system will then begin deleting the selected temp files. Delete Temp Files From the Settings App
Basically, cache files are temporary data saved on your hard drive and used to accelerate processes. For example, Safari can cache images on a webpage so that you do not have to download the images again the next time you visit the website. In this guide, you will learn how to clear the cache on a Mac.. Meanwhile, Cache lets you update websites and applications quickly.
Open the .cricut-design-space folder. Open the LocalData folder. Select all files within the LocalData folder, then use Shift+Delete to permanently delete those items. Launch Design Space for Desktop. Select View in the top left-hand corner of the system menu, then select Force Reload . This should resolve the issue.
Best Ways to Delete Temporary and Junk Files on Mac
Delete Temp Folder/Temporary Files with Disk Cleanup Click the Search Box at the taskbar or click Start menu, type disk cleanup , and choose Disk Cleanup to open Disk Cleanup utility. Select the drive you want to clean up and click OK.
For Windows Vista, 7, 8 and 10 users, you start by pressing the Windows key on your keyboard. Then, type in Downloads and press Enter. This will open the Downloads folder. Once you open the folder, highlight the files to clear by using the mouse or by pressing Ctrl and A. Then, press Delete to clear your Download files.
Another quick way to find Mac OS Word temporary files is to access the Temporary folder on Mac. The Apple Mac operating system creates temporary files within your system’s Temporary folder or also known as TMP folder. It might be possible that you are able to find your lost work in this folder.
Take a folder that can’t be deleted as an example: 1. Right-click the folder you want to delete and select Properties. 2. Switch to the Security tab and click the Advanced button. 3. Click the Change link on the first pop-up interface. 4. Click the Advanced button on the second pop-up interface.
Under Hidden files and folders, check the Show hidden files and folders checkbox. Click OK. Select all the files and folders you see in the Temp folder by pressing Ctrl + A. Press Shift + Delete key to delete the selected files and folders.Or, you can right-click on the selected files and folders, click Delete.
How to Clean Temporary Files on Mac
Select all the files and folders containing it and then press the 'Delete' key to delete all the temporary files and folders to the 'Recycle Bin'. Finally, open the 'Recycle Bin' and by clicking on the 'Empty Recycle Bin' option you can delete permanently all the temporary files and folders if you want.
Step 3. Click Change how we free up space link. Once again, make sure that you have turned on Storage sense feature as mentioned in the first step. Step 4. Turn on Delete temporary files that my apps aren't using option. Then your Windows 10 will be able to delete temp files or other files automatically.
How to Clear Temporary Files Using Command Prompt? Windows creates temporary files for momentary use. Temp files rarely occupy a large space on your hard drive and are essential for the smooth functioning of your system. When the task is complete, your system should automatically discard them from the temporary folders.
In this folder you’ll find quite a lot of stuff—possibly thousands of files and folders if you’ve been using your computer for a long time. The files you’re looking for are named “Photoshop Temp” followed by a string of ten semi-random numbers. Note the large file sizes in my temp folder below. Step 3: Delete the Files
Delete all hidden Mac junk files in Windows (Like .DS_STORE) Oct 24, 2011 Tags: ._ junk , cmd , command line , DS_STORE , files , Mac , macos , OSX , windows If you use a Mac and Windows together, you’re likely to end up with a bunch of hidden .DS_STORE files all over your Windows drives.
How to Delete Temporary Files, Caches and Log Files on Mac
Best Feature: Clean Mac’s hard drive. The Parallels Toolbox offers a variety of tools to clean junk files from Mac. The makers also state that the software will “ Keep your Mac clutter-free and running at max speed.” It offers a clean interface for the user using which the user can delete and clean the Mac in one go.
How to clean up Mac with CleanMyMac X: Download CleanMyMac X (a link to a free edition of the app) Launch the program. Go to the Large and Old Files section on the menu. Click Scan. Review the details, select what to clean, and then click Clean.
The overall disk cleaning process is simple and effortless. The Duplicate Finder supports a drag-and-drop functionality that lets you find duplicate files in specific folders on your Mac. Simply drag the folder to the Duplicate Finder section and leave the rest to the AVG Cleaner. Price: Free. Download: Available here.
In the Roaming folder that opens, delete the Origin folder. Click on AppData in the address bar. Open the Local folder. Delete the Origin folder in there. Restart your PC and log back into Origin. Macs have two library folders: a root level folder and a user level library folder (~). Follow the root level folder.
Click Temporary Files. The number here represents how much space the temporary files are taking up. The next page shows you all the files that are considered temporary files, including files in the Downloads folder, files in the Recycling Bin, and thumbnails.
Free up storage space on your Mac
When disk space gets tight, don’t start deleting your precious files. Avast Cleanup Premium for Mac scans your hard disk for hidden junk files, finds duplicates you never knew about, and keeps your Mac running smooth. App uninstaller Disk cleaner Photo cleaner Duplicate finder Cleaning alerts. Gets Rid of Wasteful Apps.
Excel temp files have a prefix in their filename with a squiggly hyphen or better known as the toddle ('~') Also, in case you save the Ms. Excel file in a network drive, you'll not necessarily find it in the default directory as above, Pro-Tip: When you see the temp files, do not delete them. Neither should you panic.
Press SHIFT + DELETE to delete all temporary back up files. The temp backup folders are in the same folder as the company file. If someone types Ctrl-A in that folder it will select *every file* in the folder. It's better to select each temp backup folder separately and delete each one of them, or select them with Ctrl-Click.
On the Word menu, click Preferences.. Under Personal Settings, click File Locations .. Under File locations, click AutoRecover files, and then click Modify.. Find the location where you want to automatically save files, and then click Open.. Recover text from a damaged file in Word. On the Word menu, click Preferences.. Under Authoring and Proofing Tools, click General .
7. Secureraser. Another great permanently delete file software windows by comp. one of the best software for deleting files permanently in seconds by overwriting them. It works on the latest technology, which gives you 100% result of deleting. Now sell your pc with confidence.
How Clear Cache & Temp Files from a Mac
If you have files or folders that you delete on your desktop and they magically reappear at a later date, the problem may be with OneDrive. There are several explanations for this. The most intriguing is that if multiple people having access to the files/folders in question one of them may have only READ permissions.
The application allows you to clean junk files and remove the traces of deleted apps. Moreover, it can also visualize deleted files and delete privacy files. The in-depth scan will search not just hard disk but also removable media such as USB, SD memory card, and storage devices. Features: Clean up unwanted files; Visualize deleted files
Note: If it’s been fewer than 10 days since you upgraded to Windows 10, your previous version of Windows will be listed as a system file you can delete.If you need to free up drive space, you can delete it, but keep in mind that you'll be deleting your Windows.old folder, which contains files that give you the option to go back to your previous version of Windows.
Here’s how you can get started: Open Control Panel. Go to System and Security > Backup and Restore (Windows 7). Under the Restore section, click on the Restore my files button. Click on the Browse for files button. Browse through the backup and mark the files you would like to recover. Click on the Add files button.
Clear Roblox files from your AppData that might be causing issues Clear Roblox cache files from your Temp folder that might be causing issues In order to clear your Roblox registry keys you can do either of these (I would recommend also clearing some of Roblox’s AppData files first as I explain below):
How To Clean Junk files on Mac In (2021)
The website will reload, but it will ignore all files in the cache. To delete the cache altogether, you have to delete the cache for your browser. This will differ depending on the browser you’re using. If you’re using Chrome, you can simply delete data for the Microsoft Teams website. Visit the Microsoft Teams web interface.
MacPaw, the developers of Gemini 2 have created a powerful and intuitive software that is designed to find and delete hidden files, largely duplicated files that are no longer needed. If you want to delete duplicate files on your Mac, Gemini 2 is the right choice. This software will allow you to search hidden folder locations as well as other places where duplicate files may be hiding.
Open Run dialog box with “Windows Key + R” keyboard shortcut. Copy the below path. Paste it in the blank field of Run window. Click “ Ok “. Select all the files and folders with the “Ctrl + A” shortcut. Delete all the selected folders and files. That is all. You’ve successfully cleared the Spotify cache.
The program folders should be clearly named. Clean out your TEMP files: Click the Windows Start button. In the Run box type %TEMP% and press Enter; Highlight and delete all files. Ignore any files in use. On Mac: Navigate to the folder /Library/Preferences/Flexnet Publisher/FLEXnet and delete the files prefixed with adskflex.
Installation of unknown folders and software; When you download a file or software without reading the description, chances are you’re infecting your computer with viruses. Strange and unreliable sources contain such malware-infected files. So, prevent the installation of unknown folders and software. Plugging an infected external disk or drive
How to Clean Caches & Temporary Files from Mac OS
1. Click the Start button > navigate to Settings > Update & Security > Backup. 2. Choose Backup and Restore (Windows 7) 3. Select Restore my files and follow the built-in navigation to restore the lost files after Windows 11 update. Step 5. Recover Lost Files after Windows 11 Upgrade with Data Recovery Software.
Choose “Clear all history” on the upper right corner, and then check the item of “Cached data and files”. Clear temporary files cache: Step 1: Open the start menu, type “Disk cleanup”. Step 2: Select the drive where your Windows is installed. It’s the C drive in most of the cases. It will take some time to analyze all the files.
Due to the fact that every program creates temporary service files on your Mac, these files also need to be removed. Thus, take the following steps to completely remove Tuxera from your Mac: Quit Tuxera. Open the Applications folder → select the Tuxera Disk Manager.app executable file → drag and drop it to Trash.
3. Switch to the View tab, scroll down to find Hidden files and folders under Advanced settings. 4. Click the square check box before Show hidden files, folders, and drives. 5. Finally, click Apply and then all of your hidden files and folders including the AppData folders and the files will be shown on your computer.
Open the folder that contained the file before it was lost. Click the Home tab, then click History. Use the right and left buttons to find a version of the file you want to restore. When ready, click on the file you want to restore, then click the green restore button to complete recovery.
What You Need to Know about Your Mac's Temporary Folders
Know how to delete iTunes backup on PC directly. Open iTunes on the computer and select Edit> Preferences. Go to the Devices tab and select the backup files that you want to delete. Confirm to Delete Backup. If you want, you can copy the whole backup folder to any network or external drive before deleting.
Then we will see a folder with all the temporary files generated during the session. We will delete everything inside it to delete the system cache. The way to proceed on Mac is similar.