How to Get More MacBook Disk Space
Are you having performance issues with your Macbook?
The current health crisis pushed 71% of the workforce to do their tasks from their home. Nowadays,
Mac computers, MacBooks, and iPads are important tools for your daily survival. When your device
starts becoming slow, your productivity and efficiency take a plunge as well.
Your first task is to free up some clutter from your Mac. Continue reading for a quick guide on how to get more MacBook disk space.
1. Find Out What’s Taking up Disk Space
Before you do anything, identify what’s causing the lack of disk space. Is an app or software too bulky for your MacBook? Are unnecessary downloads eating up your disk space?
You may find that you have a ton of personal photos and video clips. A photo or video collection worth many years could take over your MacBook disk space. The tricky part about these files is that they’re difficult to let go of.
Transfer them to external media like an external hard drive instead. You can also buy storage
services from a cloud company. At least you’ll always have access to personal photos and videos
once they’re on the cloud.
The most logical solution is to delete files with no sentimental value. However, avoid deleting
important system files. These are files you’ll find in the “Users/[name]” folder.
2. Uninstall Unused Applications
Open Finder and click on the Applications shortcut on the left sidebar of the window. Browse through the list of applications on your MacBook. Next, pick out the applications you don’t use or open anymore.
Remove applications that take up a large amount of disk space. To find out the applications with the
largest size, click on the “Show items in a list” icon on the toolbar. Click on the Size heading to
arrange the list of installed applications by size.
If these massive applications are still useful, consider alternatives. It allows you to do your tasks on
similar applications while maintaining more disk space.
3. Remove Duplicate, Temporary, and Unnecessary Files
Another issue for many MacBook users is having too many temporary and duplicate files. Sometimes, these files no longer have a purpose. As a result, they take up disk space and slow down your MacBook’s performance.
Mac OS X has an automatic function that removes temporary files. If you want a faster solution, install an application to clear purgeable space on Mac. Open your Finder and use the Go to Folder feature to find them.
Open the “/Library/Caches” folder to enter the cache folder. Scour through the files that cause your
MacBook’s slow performance and low disk space. Delete the files worth removing and deleting.
If you don’t want to clean your MacBook manually, get apps to do it instead. These apps clear out
your Mac’s temporary cache files. It’s a good investment if you have no time to do this task.
As for duplicate files, they’re to find and delete. Use apps like Gemini 2 to find and remove them. If you have no dollar to spare, always go for the manual search and destroy.
4. Optimize Your Storage to Make MacBook Disk Space
If you optimize your storage, you’ll never run out of disk space. Storage optimization is when you take preventive steps to avoid keeping clutter on your computer. It’s all about taking the initiative, ensuring that you have enough space to maintain performance.
For example, deleting the movies and TV shows after watching them. It’s because your Mac won’t delete them automatically.
You can always download the movie again for free, provided you bought them from Apple. If you want the MacBook to remove these large files, turn on the Optimize button.
5. Erase Backups of Your Phone or iPad on Your MacBook
As more advanced smartphones appear, more people consider upgrading. In the United States, the
average iPhone stays active for 18 months. To make the transition easier, Apple users often store
backups on their Mac computers through iTunes.
While it’s important to create backups of your iPhone or iPad on your computer, they eat up space.
The more backups you create, the more MacBook disk space they’ll take. The solution is to delete
your old backup files.
It’s better to delete your older files when making newer ones. Aim to maintain one or two backups on your computer. Doing it will save a lot of space.
To find and delete your backup iPhone or iPad files, use the iTunes app. Open Preferences, select
Devices, and you’ll get a list of your stored backups.
You can also access your backup files using an alternative method. On Spotlight, enter
“~/Library/Application Support/MobileSync/Backup/” to find your backup folder.
6. Compress Files
Let’s say all the files in your MacBook are valuable. You can’t delete or remove any, meaning you
have no purgeable space. An alternative to removing files is compressing them.
Compressing files or folders can help you get regain disk space. However, keep in mind that the
amount of file compression will vary. Certain types of data are more compressible than others.
Also, if you opt for this solution, do it on files you don’t often access. Viewing compressed files is
harder because it becomes a ZIP file. Also, you can compress files/folders with Finder or use a third-party file compressor.
Enjoy Your MacBook’s Faster Performance With These Steps
We hope this guide helped you understand how to clear your MacBook. Clearing out more MacBook
disk space can be tricky, especially if you don’t know what to do. The tips mentioned above are easy even if you’re not tech-savvy.
Speaking of tech-savviness, don’t stop learning here.
For more tips and guides that have useful and informative content, check out our other guides now.
We have lots of Mac-related posts to help better understand your gadget.
