Summitload894

/PowerMyMac /How to Clear System Storage on Mac Effectively

Open Safari, then select Preferences. Select Advanced, then Show Develop Menu. Click Check Develop Menu and Empty Caches. Items you put in the trash stay there, taking up space until you empty the trash. Right-click on the trash icon and select Empty Trash. Some applications, such as iPhoto ®, iMovie ®, and Mail have their own trash cans, be. Save space on your Mac by storing your content in iCloud, using built-in tools to find and remove large files, or manually deleting apps, files, and more.

By this time, you might have been experiencing that you are a sort of running out of system storage on your Mac and you may be looking for ways on how to clear system storage on Mac. And one of the first thing that you would do is to check out your disk space for you to see what are the things that are eating up your Mac's system storage.

And once that you view system storage on Mac, you will then be surprised to see a yellow bar that refers to your System which is like occupying more of your space on your Mac, including so many purgeable files to delete. And the worst case is that you actually have no idea what are the things that are included in your system storage.

TIPS:

That is why in this post, we are going to show you how to clear system storage on Mac and what are the things that contain your system storage on your Mac so that you will have better knowledge on what are the things that you should be removed from your Mac.

Article GuidePart 1. What Dose System Storage Mean on Mac?Part 2. How Do I Free up System Storage on My Mac Automatically?Part 3. How to Clear System Storage on Mac Manually?Part 4. In Conclusion

Part 1. What Dose System Storage Mean on Mac?

What Is System Storage on Mac?

The files that actually your system storage of your Mac contains are all of those junks that you actually do not need on your Mac. This can be your System Cache, Application Cache, System Logs, User Logs, and more.

Why Is My Mac System Storage So Big?

Why is there so much system storage on my Mac? These files are stored on your Mac every time that you are making a download, or saving new files on your Mac. This can be your email attachments, iTunes movie, and more. Some of these files are saving large files that is why it can take up your system storage quickly.

Furthermore, Your 'System' and 'Library' folders are the main storage locations. Therefore, if your 'system' takes up a lot of space, Time Machine snapshots are most likely stored on your Mac.

Now you know what is system storage, but how to clear system storage on Mac so that you can free up more space to save other files you desired? macOS comes with a feature to optimize your storage: turn to “About this Mac” > choose Storage > click Manage button, then you will see Store in iCloud, Optimize Storage, Empty Trash Automatically, and Reduce Clutter. You can make use of these options to reduce the system storage on your Mac first.

Part 2. How Do I Free up System Storage on My Mac Automatically?

There are methods to clean Mac system storage manually we will talk about in the next part, but they surely take more time and effort as you will be needing to go through your Mac one by one.

However, there is a better way for you to free up system storage Mac. You will be able to clear your Mac’s system storage in no time.

All the methods on how to clear system storage on Mac that we have included in the next part can all be done just by one program – the iMyMac PowerMyMac. This program is considered to be a Mac system storage cleanup tool that you can use to reduce system storage on Mac by removing all junk files.

Using the PowerMyMac will allow you to choose all the junks or files that you no longer need on your Mac and clean them. You can decide what to remove or not, so you will be assured that none of your important files will be deleted without you knowing it. Then how to get rid of system storage on Mac with PowerMyMac?

Here is how to clear system storage on Mac with PowerMyMac.

1. Download and install PowerMyMac on your Mac, then launch it.
2. Launch the iMyMac Program
3. Select the Master Scan module to clear your Mac’s system storage by deleting System Cache, Application Cache, System Logs, User Logs, etc.
4. After scanning, mark all the files that you would want to clean and click on the “Clean” button.

So there you have the easy way on how to clear system storage on Mac with just a few clicks using PowerMyMac. You can also try the other options that the program has to clean up other things like duplicate photos on your Mac. This will then boost the performance of your Mac and at the same time, you will be able to gain more of your system storage back.

Part 3. How to Clear System Storage on Mac Manually?

Method #1. Delete Time Machine Backups

Not only will Time Machine backups be stored on an external drive, but macOS will also keep a backup copy on your startup drive so that you can restore files when the external drive is unavailable. You may need to delete your Time Machine backups when your Mac is run out of system storage. Check the steps below:

Clean Up Free Space Mac Os

1. Launch Terminal and type this command: tmutil listlocalsnapshotdates
2. Press the Return button then you will see a list of Time Machine backups listed by date.
3. Type the command: tmutil deletelocalsnapshots NAME (NAME is the name of one of the listed backups).
4. Press the Return button again.
5. You can repeat step 3 and step 4 to remove those backups you'd like to clear out.

Method #2. Clean Up Your Mac's Cache

Caches are one of the biggest culprits as to why your Mac’s system storage is getting full. So for you to know how to delete system storage on Mac, go ahead and clean up your Mac’s cache:

1. Launch Finder on your Mac.
2. Then go ahead and click on “Go to folder”.
3. From there, go ahead and type in ~/Library/Caches then remove all the files that are taking up most space.
4. After that, go ahead and click on “Go to folder”.
5. Then type in /Library/Cache and then once more, go ahead and remove all the files that are taking up most space.

Method #3. Remove Your Old iTunes Library Backups

Whenever you make a backup on your iTunes, the more backup file is stored on your Mac. And with that, these backups that you no longer use will be piled up on your Mac and this can cause your system storage to get full as well.

So, for you to remove system storage on Mac, go ahead and remove all those old iTunes Backup that you no longer need:

1. Go ahead and launch Finder on your Mac.
2. Then go ahead and click on the “Go” button located at the menu bar.
3. Then choose “Go to Folder”.
4. Then go ahead and enter the following: ~/Music/iTunes/Previous iTunes Libraries
5. Once done, you will be able to see all of your iTunes back-ups. The date they were made is also indicated so you can go ahead and choose your old backups and delete them.

Method #4. Take Out All Unused Applications

This method is one of the most common ways on how to clear system storage on Mac. All you have to do is to go through all of the applications that you have on your Mac and sort out which are the ones that you no longer use and uninstall them. You just have to make sure that you are removing them correctly and not just by merely dragging them over to your Trash bin.

You have to make sure that when you uninstall any application on your Mac that you no longer need, you should also find all the files or folders that are associated with that application. If not, then you are still leaving data behind and that will still eat up space on your Mac.

Method #5. Clean Up Your Photo Library

Photos are one of the most common data that we have on our Mac. And keeping them is keeping memories. However, these photos actually take up more space on your Mac’s system storage. So you have to make sure that you sort things out.

So how to clear space on Mac system? You can delete all the photos that you think you no longer need and as well as those photos that have more than one copy. You also have the option to transfer them over to another hard drive or USB drive for you to free up space on your Mac.

Method #6. Delete Any Old iOS Backup

Just like your iTunes backup, the old iOS backup that you have on your Mac is also one of the reasons as to why your Mac’s system storage is getting full. That is why it is a good idea that you should also remove your old iOS backup from your Mac. Let's check the steps on how to clear system storage on Mac below:

1. Go ahead and launch Finder on your Mac.
2. After that, go ahead and click on the “Go” button located at the menu bar.
3. From there, go ahead and choose “Go to folder”.
4. Then once that you are in, go ahead and type the following: ~/Library/Application Support/MobileSync/Backup

Once that you have opened the window, go ahead and choose all the old iOS backup that you have on your Mac. Dates of the backup are already indicated so that you will be able to know which of them are the old ones.

Part 4. In Conclusion

As you can see, it is an easy thing to do on how to clear system storage on Mac. Though doing this manually will take more time and effort. But all thanks to the PowerMyMac, you will be saving more of your time and effort as it will only need a few clicks to do the cleaning process and optimize system storage.

Make it a habit of cleaning up your Mac every now and then so that you will not be able to experience having full storage and a slow Mac. 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.

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.

ExcellentThanks for your rating.

Rating: 4.8 / 5 (based on 73 ratings)

People Also Read:

PowerMyMac

A powerful all-in-one App for Mac

Clean Up Free Space Mac

Free Download

Clean up and speed up your Mac with ease

Free Download

Summary

How to clear storage on Mac? Delete trash from trash bin folder; delete useless apps from Mac; store a large number of videos and photos to an external hard drive to get more space on Mac; erase app cache on Mac regularly, but if you want to free up space on Macbook in one step, use EelPhone Mac Master.

“I bought one Macbook two years ago, the Mac runs so slowly now, I deleted all trash on trash bin folder, and uninstall some apps from Mac at the same time also, but the hard drive is still almost full, how to free up space on Mac hard drive thoroughly?”
free up space on Macbook is easy, and we can free up space on Macbook air in different ways, or we can also use the tool to free up space on Mac with one click.

Tip 1: How to Free Space on Mac With One Click

Different from all tips below, EelPhone Mac Master will make space on Mac with one click, and according to your needs to clear up storage on Mac.
First of all, download EelPhone Mac Master on Mac, and then launch it after the installation. From the left side of the master, different type to free up storage on Mac.

Clean Up Junk

It's useless if we only remove app from Mac home page, and even we remove apps from Mac settings, junk files are still on Mac, EelPhone Mac Master will clean up junk files on Mac deeply to clear space on Macbook.
Step 1: The Mac will scan all junk files on Mac, from the scanning result, select the junk files that you want to erase.
Step 2: Once junk files were selected, click on Clean button on the upper right corner.
Note: The Full Disk Access permission only required for MacOS 10.14 and later versions. So if your Macos is 10.14 or later, go to Mac's System Preferences through Apple menu, on the home page of System Preferences, click on Security & Privacy, switch to Privacy menu, scroll down to the Full Disk Access from the left side, tap on it, then at the right side, click on +icon to locate and add EelPhone Mac Master form the app list. Don't forget to add EelPhone Mac Master to Full Disk Access list to allow the Mac cleaner to scan full disk on Mac.

Delete Large File

Large file on Mac occupy large space on Mac, use EelPhone Mac Master to scan out the large file on Mac, check the scanning result, and select the useless large file to clean from Mac.
Step 1: Switch to the second feather on the left side of the Mac master, then the master will scan all large files on Mac over 50 GB on Mac by clicking on Scan button.
Step 2: From the scanning result, select the useless large files, then click on Delete button on the right upper side.
Note: But we should be careful before deleting large files on Mac, don't delete system files! If you aren't sure if the large files are useful or not, you can turn to another type on the left side to free up space in Mac.

Delete Duplicate Files

We always re-install app on Mac but are you sure that you have deleted previous app files on Mac, or you have duplicate files of the same app on Mac? Use the Mac master to detect all duplicate files on Mac to clear hard drive space Mac.
Step 1: Switch to the third feather on the left side of the Mac master, then select the location of the scanning, click on Scan button to start to scan duplicate files on the Mac.
Step 2: The scanning result will present the original file and the duplicates at the same time. Select the duplicates files from the result, and then click on Delete button to remove useless duplicate files from Mac.

Erase Private Data

Cache data, mail attachment, online traces, chat history..large number of private data on Mac, we can also use Mac master to erase private data to free up space on Mac.
Step 1: Switch to the fourth feather on the left side of the master, and then click on the Scan button to start scan out all private data on Mac.
Step 2: From the scanning result, select the privacy data to delete from Mac.
Like privacy data on chrome, keep it if you are the Mac owner, otherwise you will take more time to enter personal account and information.

Manage Apps & Extensions

We installed so many apps on Mac, but some of them are used one time a year, why not uninstall it to get more space on your Mac, when need, re-install it again, it's easy also.
Step 1: Switch to the last feather of the Mac master, and Uninstall APPS or Remove Extension, select one to scan.
Step 2: Whichever you selected, the Mac master will scan apps or extensions from the scanning result, select the items to remove.
All feathers above will free up space on Mac, it's better to clear hard drive space Mac from time to time, so many apps useless for you will be attached to one app you want to download, app cache will increase over time, so if we want to free up space on Mac, use EelPhone Mac Master regularly. Or use the free tips below to clear up space on Mac.

Tip 2: How to Free Up Storage on Mac-Uninstall Useless Apps

From the Finder on Mac, we can locate app save folder and then erase app from Mac permanently, but the attached cache and data can be moved but still stored on Mac.
Go to Finder, from the home page of Finder, on the left side, find out Applications, tap on it, all apps on Mac will appear on the right side.
Select the app you want to erase, then right-click on it, tap on Move to Trash.
Return to the Trash icon on the home page of Mac, right-click on it and click on Empty Trash to remove app from trash folder.

Tip 3: How to Clear Space on Macbook by Erasing Cache Data on Mac

Cache is one large part of Mac, internet browsing history, chat history data including messages/videos/photos/audios, email account attachment, personal account data like gmail account on chrome, and we can also locate cache data on Mac, and then we can delete cache data form Mac to free up storage on Mac.
Close up all apps on Mac you have opened, and then run Finder, from the top of Finder, click on Go menu to locate Library.
From library, we can find cache folder from the top, log in cache folder, all cache data of Mac are in the folder, select useless cache data, then right-click, tap on Move to Trash, don't forget to go to Trash folder on Home page to Empty Trash.
Don't erase useful data on cache, check it carefully before erasing cache data from Mac Finder.

Tip 4: How to Create Space on Mac by Moving Data to External Hard Drive

If you don't want to erase cache data or uninstall apps from Mac, to clear space on Mac, if you have stored so many videos and photos on Mac, considering to move videos and photos to external hard drive or USB storage to backup large videos and photos.
Bought one external hard drive with large capacity, then insert the hard drive to Mac.
Find out all videos and photos on Mac you want to backup, Ctrl+C to copy videos and photos on Mac, then go to the hard drive, create a folder to save videos and photos from Mac, Ctrl+V to paste copied videos and photos to external hard drive.
It's a nice method to clear disk space Mac, no need of erasing any data from Mac, just change the room for videos and photos on Mac.
From all tips above, select the preferable way to free up space on Mac, the quickest method is EelPhone Mac Master, the free methods are also available, clear up space on Mac from time to time to make Mac run faster.

Alex Scott

This article was updated on 29 December, 2020