What should I delete first when my Mac storage is full?

Start with the Trash, your Downloads folder, old disk images and installers, and large videos you no longer need. Then check old iPhone backups, apps you never use and developer build files.

What files should I never delete on a Mac?

Never delete anything in /System, /Library or /private, and never delete whole folders like ~/Library/Application Support, ~/Library/Containers or ~/Library/Mail. Those hold your apps, settings and data, and removing them can break apps or lose mail and messages.

Why is my Mac storage still full after emptying the Trash?

Finder and Storage settings can take a while to update, and some space may be held by local Time Machine snapshots until they expire. Restart and check again in Disk Utility, which shows the most accurate free space.

How much free space should a Mac have?

Apple does not publish a single number, but macOS needs room for updates, swap and temporary files. If you regularly drop to a few gigabytes free, updates can fail and apps can slow down, so aim to keep a comfortable margin.

Is it safe to delete caches to free space?

Mostly, but it rarely helps for long because apps rebuild their caches. Clear caches for specific apps you know are oversized rather than wiping all of them at once.

Mac storage full? What to delete first (and what to leave alone)

Delete in this order: empty the Trash, clear out Downloads, remove old installers and disk images, then large videos, old iPhone backups and apps you don’t use. Developers should check Xcode, Docker and node_modules next. Leave caches until last because they grow back, and never delete system folders or whole Library folders.

First, see where the space went

Open System Settings > General > Storage. The bar at the top shows space by category, and each category below has an info button that opens a list you can sort and delete from. Note the two or three biggest categories. That’s where your effort pays off.

The Recommendations section is also worth a look. Empty Trash Automatically erases items that have been in the Trash for more than 30 days. Optimize Storage removes Apple TV movies and shows you’ve already watched. Store in iCloud keeps only recently opened files on the Mac, which helps only if you pay for enough iCloud storage.

The big wins, in order

1. Empty the Trash

Files in the Trash still use space until you empty it. Check it first for anything you want back, then Control-click the Trash in the Dock and choose Empty Trash. Some apps, like Photos and Mail, have their own Recently Deleted or Trash folders too.

2. Clear out Downloads

Downloads is usually the easiest place to find gigabytes you don’t need: installers you already ran, zip files you already unpacked, videos you watched once. Open it in Finder, switch to list view, and sort by Size. Anything ending in .dmg, .pkg or .zip that you’ve already installed or unpacked can go.

3. Find large files anywhere

In Finder, press Command-F, set the first menu to File Size (choose Other if it’s not listed), and set it to greater than 1 GB. Or use Terminal. This lists files over 1 GB in your home folder. It only reads:

find ~ -type f -size +1G 2>/dev/null

Old screen recordings, exported videos, virtual machine images and “Install macOS” apps are the usual finds. Our guide on finding large files on a Mac covers more ways to search.

4. Remove old iPhone and iPad backups

Device backups made to your Mac can be large. Connect the device, select it in the Finder sidebar, click Manage Backups on the General tab, and delete the ones you don’t need. Backups for devices you no longer own are safe to remove.

5. Delete apps you don’t use

In Storage settings, click the info button next to Applications and sort by size or by last used. Some games and creative apps are tens of gigabytes. Drag apps you don’t need from the Applications folder to the Trash. Their support files in ~/Library often stay behind, so check ~/Library/Application Support for a folder with the app’s name.

6. Developer files

If you write code, this is often the biggest category of all. Xcode build data and simulators, Docker’s disk image and old node_modules folders regularly reach tens of gigabytes, and all of it can be rebuilt. See freeing up space from Xcode, shrinking Docker.raw and deleting node_modules.

7. Messages attachments and duplicates

In Storage settings, the Messages category lists large attachments you can delete. Duplicate photos and downloads add up too, but be careful: on APFS, copies made in Finder are often clones that share space, so deleting one frees nothing. Our duplicate files guide explains how to tell.

8. Local Time Machine snapshots

If you just deleted a lot and the space didn’t come back, local snapshots may be holding it. macOS removes them within about a day or when space is needed, but you can delete them yourself if you can’t wait.

Things that come back on their own

Some things look like easy wins but grow back, so clearing them buys you very little:

App caches. Apps rebuild them, often within days. macOS also clears caches itself when space runs low. Clear a specific oversized cache, not all of them (see clearing cache safely).
Swap files. These are virtual memory. A restart clears them, and they come back as you use memory-heavy apps.
Local snapshots. New ones are made every hour while Time Machine is on.
Logs. Usually small, and macOS rotates them.

Spend your time on your own files instead. A forgotten 40 GB video folder is worth more than every cache on the Mac.

What to leave alone

These hold macOS itself, your settings, or your data. Deleting them can break apps or lose things you can’t get back:

/System, /Library, /private and /usr. System folders. Most are protected anyway, but don’t try.
Whole ~/Library subfolders, especially Application Support, Containers, Group Containers, Mail, Messages and Keychains. Remove a single app’s folder inside them only when you know what it is.
Your Photos library (Photos Library.photoslibrary). Delete photos inside the Photos app, never files inside the library package.
Anything a cleaner app wants to remove that you can’t identify. If you don’t know what it is, look it up first.

Why emptying space doesn’t always show up

Finder and Storage settings update slowly and count some space (like snapshots) as available even before it’s freed. If the numbers look wrong, restart and check Disk Utility: choose View > Show All Devices and look at the free space of the container that holds Macintosh HD. That’s the most reliable figure.

When you’re too full to do anything

If your Mac is so full that apps won’t open or an update won’t install, start by emptying the Trash and deleting one large file you’re sure about. Apple also notes that starting up in safe mode clears certain system caches, which can buy a little temporary room. Once you have some breathing space, work through the list above.

Then keep a comfortable margin free. macOS needs room for updates, swap and temporary files, and a Mac that lives at a few gigabytes free will keep running into the same wall.

Questions people ask

What should I delete first when my Mac storage is full?: Start with the Trash, your Downloads folder, old disk images and installers, and large videos you no longer need. Then check old iPhone backups, apps you never use and developer build files.
What files should I never delete on a Mac?: Never delete anything in /System, /Library or /private, and never delete whole folders like ~/Library/Application Support, ~/Library/Containers or ~/Library/Mail. Those hold your apps, settings and data, and removing them can break apps or lose mail and messages.
Why is my Mac storage still full after emptying the Trash?: Finder and Storage settings can take a while to update, and some space may be held by local Time Machine snapshots until they expire. Restart and check again in Disk Utility, which shows the most accurate free space.
How much free space should a Mac have?: Apple does not publish a single number, but macOS needs room for updates, swap and temporary files. If you regularly drop to a few gigabytes free, updates can fail and apps can slow down, so aim to keep a comfortable margin.
Is it safe to delete caches to free space?: Mostly, but it rarely helps for long because apps rebuild their caches. Clear caches for specific apps you know are oversized rather than wiping all of them at once.