Nov 09, 2018 If your MacBook or iMac has a relatively small storage space, the huge system storage can be quite troublesome. This article will tell you what is System in Mac storage and how to clear System storage on Mac. You May Need: What Is the Other in Mac Storage and How to Delete Other on Mac. What Is iOS Files and How to Clean iOS Files on Mac. Oct 02, 2017 Use Gemini to Clear space on Mac Duplicate files likes to take up a lot of space, which is even made it worse, if you are using your mac after a long hiatus. There are many apps that will help you eliminating those pesky duplicate files, but we suggest you to go with the Apple’s Editor Choice app.
You can clear the 'other' storage on your iPhone to free up space and make it run more efficiently. The other storage category is mostly filled with cache and system files created by Safari, the.
Storage on your Apple Watch may not be something you usually think about. But if you’re hitting up an error message when attempting to update your wearable, freeing up storage space on your Apple Watch is the first thing you want to do.
Apple Watches can run out of storage, depending on how you use your device. This usually causes problems for owners of older Apple Watch devices when it comes time to update them. Without enough free storage space, an Apple Watch won’t be able to update.
But it’s actually fairly easy to free up storage space on the Watch. Here’s what you should know.
Contents
- 5 Deleting apps to save storage
- 8 Review your synced photos
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Check Apple Watch Storage on your iPhone
Like any device, an Apple Watch has a finite amount of onboard storage space. How much storage your particular Watch has depends on the model.
The Apple Watch Series 4 ships with 16GB of storage, while all other Apple Watch models pack 8GB.
By default, the Apple Watch will use some of that storage for system processes and features. But it still leaves you quite a bit for other purposes — like music, apps and podcasts.
When it comes down to actually figuring out what app is taking up so much storage on your Apple Watch, you’ll need your iPhone handy.
- On your iPhone, navigate to the Watch app.
- Tap on General.
- Scroll down and find Usage.
From here, you can see which apps are using up the most storage space on your device. Once you figure out what the culprits are, you can go about deleting content to free up space.
Check Storage using Apple Watch
If you dont have your iPhone handy, you can directly check your Apple Watch storage using the device itself.
- On your Watch, tap on Settings app to open it
- Tap on General
- Tap on Usage
This shows you the summary of the available storage on your Apple Watch along with the list of Apps and their corresponding storage on your device.
Remove Music from Apple Watch to free storage
The Apple Watch is a handy companion to an iPhone, letting users control music playback on their primary device. But users can also add playlists to their Apple Watch for listening without an iPhone nearby.
- On your iPhone, open the Watch app.
- Tap on the My Watch tab in the bottom menu bar.
- Scroll down and tap on Music
- Tap the Edit button in the upper-right corner.
- Under the Playlists & Albums heading, tap on the red – button to remove any music.
- Tap Delete to confirm.
In this same menu, you can also hit the toggles next to Heavy Rotation and the other options under Automatically Add. This can save a bit of space if you’re particularly tight on storage.
Remove Podcasts
For some reason, removing podcasts from an Apple Watch is a bit trickier than removing music.
That’s because, by default, the Podcasts app will download some of the newest episodes from podcasts that you subscribe to and sync them to your Apple Watch.
This, of course, can take up quite a bit of space depending on how many podcasts you usually listen to. And unlike playlists and albums synced from Apple Music, there isn’t a way to manually remove podcasts from your Watch.
Clear Up Space On A Mac App Store
- On your iPhone, open the Watch app.
- Tap on the My Watch tab in the bottom menu bar.
- Scroll down and tap on Podcasts
- Tap on Custom. This will allow you to select specific podcasts to sync to your Apple Watch.
- Try hitting the toggle next to all of your podcasts. Place your Apple Watch on a charger and let it sync to your device.
This should “de-synchronize” all of those unplayed episodes that are sitting around on your Apple Watch.
While podcasts are automatically removed when they’re played all the way through, the Listen Now setting will usually download an episode or episodes form each podcast you’re subscribed to — taking up a lot of space.
You can also go into the Podcasts app itself and change some settings. Tap on any Podcast, tap the three-dot menu button, and select Settings. You can select
It’s all a bit confusing and honestly feels half-baked. If all else fails and you’d like to save storage on your Apple Watch, consider deleting the Podcasts app and using a third-party solution like Outcast or Overcast.
If you use Voice Memos and Audio Books with your Apple Watch, that is another area to check as well if you are running low on available storage.
Deleting apps to save storage
Another way to free up some storage space on your Apple Watch is to delete apps. But apps come in two flavors: third-party apps you download from the App Store and baked-in, native Apple apps. When it comes to deleting them, there’s a major difference between the two.
Deleting third-party apps
If there’s a third-party app that’s taking up storage on your device, you can delete those pretty easily. In fact, you can delete them right from your Watch.
Just press the Digital Crown to go to the app grid. Then press and hold lightly on an app until the app grid goes into “wiggle mode.” Tap the app you’d like to delete and confirm by hitting Delete App.
You can also go to the Watch app on your iPhone and navigate to My Watch —> Installed on Apple Watch to delete apps.
Deleting first-party apps
Technically, it’s possible to remove first-party Apple apps from your Apple Watch. But the process is a bit unclear. Apple’s own guidance on the matter is a bit confusing, too.
Basically, the only thing Apple notes is that you can delete native apps from on iPhone. If your iPhone is paired to an Apple Watch, then it will delete those native apps on your Apple Watch, too.
This has changed with the introduction of watchOS 6. Now you can easily delete some of the Apple apps directly from your Apple Watch. There are some apps that you cant delete but apps such as Podcasts, Radio, Walkie-talkie and camera can be deleted.
Purchased Apps Auto-Update on Apple Watch
This is another area to check in or order to free up storage. When you purchase an app using your iPhone or iPad, and if a corresponding app is available for Apple Watch, this one setting will automatically download the app onto your Apple Watch. Check and make sure if you want this setting on:
- On your watch, Tap on Settings
- Tap on App Store
- Toggle off ‘Automatic Downloads
This will prevent your Apple Watch from automatically downloading apps that are purchased on your other Apple devices.
Delete health data on Apple Watch
Your Apple Watch, by default, collects a lot of data on your health, fitness and activity. It will then share this data with your synced iOS device.
This data is eventually deleted from your Apple Watch if it has a chance to offload it to your iPhone (charging and connected via Bluetooth). But you can also remove the Apple Watch’s fitness tracking entirely.
Keep in mind that this may cause issues with the Watch tracking your health and fitness data, which is kind of a core feature of the platform.
With that being said, if you have a particular reason to delete health data on your Apple Watch, here’s how to go about it.
- Open the Health app on your iPhone.
- Select Sources.
- Select and open your Apple Watch.
- Scroll to the bottom to where it reads “Delete All Data from (Your Watch)” and then select it.
- Confirm by hitting Delete.
- Close the health app and reopen it.
Delete old messages in Apple Watch
If you’ve owned an iPhone for any amount of time, you probably know that old message threads can become a quiet storage hog. The same goes for the Apple Watch.
Luckily, you can easily delete aging threads in Messages directly on your Apple Watch.
- On your Apple Watch, open Messages by using Siri or going to the Home screen and tapping on the Messages app icon.
- In the conversation list, swipe left on any message thread.
- Tap on Delete to remove the message thread from your Apple Watch.
Review your synced photos
By default, your Apple Watch will automatically sync photos from your iPhone’s Favorites album to your wearable.
But if you have a lot of images in your Favorites album, it can quickly eat up storage space. While you can change the album it’s synced to, an easier way of dealing with this may be to limit how many photos will sync.
- On your iPhone, open the Watch app.
- Tap on the My Watch tab at the bottom.
- Navigate to Photos.
- Tap on Photos Limit.
- From here, select a lower limit. This will restrict how many images are synced to your device, potentially saving storage.
We hope that we have provided you with an exhaustive list of items to check for if you are trying to manage free storage on your Apple Watch.
Are there some tips and tricks that you use to better manage storage on your Apple Watch that we have not covered? Please feel to share your favorite tips and tricks using the comments below.
Mike is a freelance journalist from San Diego, California.
While he primarily covers Apple and consumer technology, he has past experience writing about public safety, local government, and education for a variety of publications.
He’s worn quite a few hats in the journalism field, including writer, editor, and news designer.
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It all starts with “Disk is almost full”
If you are reading this you are probably familiar with the “Disk is almost full” message on Mac. Even newer Macs are prone to lack of disk space. So it’s not just an old Mac’s disease, so to say.
Let's take the new MacBook Air 2020 edition that offers startling capacities of 256 GB. That’s roughly the storage of the previous year’s iPad! And how soon you will fill that space full, given today’s media consumption trends, is a different question.And as of Spring of 2020, iCloud storage still remains a paid option and 50GB will cost you $0.99 per month.
How To Clear Disk Space On Mac
So whether you have a new or older Mac, it’s critical to know how to clear system storage on Mac. Further below I’ll show you my favorite methods of recovering disk space on Mac. They are a bit like alchemy because we’ll be turning junk into free space.
Okay, let’s go.
How to check storage on Mac
It’s good to check your storage details before we get down to deleting things. For example, this my disk space structure:
Documents: You have too many downloads and media files on your drive
Apps: There are probably tons of hidden and forgotten apps on your Mac
System: Your OS + caches, temporary files, and app localizations that waste space Dancing man wearing a horse mask cooks wild mushrooms download.
Apps: There are probably tons of hidden and forgotten apps on your Mac
System: Your OS + caches, temporary files, and app localizations that waste space Dancing man wearing a horse mask cooks wild mushrooms download.
To view your storage details, click on the Apple icon > About this Mac > Storage
How the full hard drive affects your Mac?
If your drive reaches about 80% of its capacity, your Mac will get noticeably slower. Partly, this is because of the so-called fragmenting. When there is only so much space left on disk, your Mac will split every new file into pieces or fragments and fit them into available slots elsewhere on your Mac. This slows down how your Mac processes these files. Also, some amount of your RAM (virtual memory) will be taken out to compensate for the loss of disk space.
According to MacWorld magazine, nearly full hard drives performed 17% slower in the test.
So, how do you free up space on your Mac?
1. Find large files you don’t need — a fast way to clear space on your Mac
Potential space reclaimed: 2-5 GB
- Go to your desktop and press Command + F
- Choose “This Mac”
- Select Other in the dropdown menu
- Under the Search Attributes menu, tick File Size and File Extension
Well done! Now you can type in different file extensions and sort the results by size. I recommend starting with the .DMG files or application installers. They are just dead weight and you can live without them. The same goes for .ZIP archives
2. Remove unused apps and all their leftovers
Potential space reclaimed: up to 5 GB
Did you know there are 3 ways of deleting apps on Mac? One is dragging them straight to the Trash from Applications, the other involves Launchpad. And, finally, you can use a third-party Uninstaller tool, which also makes sense because the first two methods leave parts of old apps on your drive.
Delete apps via Launchpad
Still, I prefer deleting apps via Launchpad because it’s more fun. Open Launchpad from your Dock. Now, press the Command key and hold any app icon until they start shaking. You will see the [X] symbol above the icon — click it to delete the app.
Delete your unseen apps
That was easy but here’s the deal. https://siteinsider975.weebly.com/internet-speed-test-app-on-mac.html. Every Mac has apps that don’t show up anywhere. They may have installed themselves as parts of other apps or be small supporting applications that programmers call “Launch agents” or “Daemons.” In total, they may eat up a whole lot of disk space.
In my experience, of all app cleaners, CleanMyMac X still tops the list. My personal record — 30 GB I was able to clear up on my Mac that had been taken by unused and suspicious programs. So what can you do
- Download CleanMyMac X free edition here
- Click the Uninstaller tab.
From there you can delete apps on a massive scale - simply select the ones you don’t need. Make sure to check the Leftovers section. These are parts and pieces of your old apps that you can’t otherwise access.
3. Remove browser cache
If you are a heavy internet user (like I am) your Mac’s drive is full of the browser cache. These are kinds of bookmarks left on your drive by every site that you visited. What’s your primary browser? Here are the solutions for Chrome and Safari.
To clear Chrome cache
While you are in Chrome,
- Click the three-dot icon at the top right
- Click More tools > Clear browsing data
- Choose a time range to clear the browsing data
- Also, clear “Cached images and files.”
To clear Safari cache
- Click Develop in the top menu
- Click Empty caches
Clear Up Space Mac
4. Delete your system junk
Potential space reclaimed: 2-5 GB
There are tons of articles written about system junk and some Mac users claim the system junk is pure evil and slows your Mac down. In my view, it’s only an excess burden to have on your machine — outdated files, browser caches, app localizations, and old-time machine backups.
To delete system junk manually, would be a hot mess, even for an experienced user. So if you want to free up space on Mac quickly, just run CleanMyMac X once, and forget it. This app, unlike some Mac-Saviours, is actually notarized by Apple so you’re safe running it.
- Run CleanMyMac X — download the app’s free edition here
- Click the System junk tab.
After you run the Scan, review the files and click Clean.
What else can you delete with this tool:
- Time machine backups
- Temporary documents versions
- Outdated system logs
- App localization files
5. Use Optimized Storage
Since the arrival of macOS Sierra Apple introduced the storage management tools that come pre-installed on your macOS.
Click on the Apple logo > About this Mac Click the Storage tab > Manage.
How to manage storage on Mac with built-in options
First, inspect the tabs in the sidebar on the left. Your largest files will most likely be stored in Documents. Go inside this category to find files you can scrap. A quick tip: You can mass-select and delete screenshots on your Desktop right from here.
Then, click Recommendations in the top left corner.
Here Apple offers you 4 options, more generic than practical, really. The first option “Store in iCloud” is self-explanatory. Is iCloud paid? Yes, if your storage needs exceed 5 GB which in 2020 is laughably small. The second option “Optimize Storage” will remove your already watched content from iTunes and the old attachments in Mail. This may help you free up a couple of gigabytes. When you need to clear disk space on Mac, every little helps.
6. Create the map of your drive
This method was shown to me by my programmer friend, who also happens to be a fan of CleanMyMac. There is a tool in CleanMyMac called “Space Lens” that builds a map of your entire drive. Posligne printer driver for mac. You can see all your disk’s contents in the form of interactive bubbles that represent your big and small folders. It’s the most exciting way to clear space on your Mac. Wow!
Here you can spot the folders that hog the most space. You’ll also find your “Russian dolls” folders that are hidden inside other folders.
Get this app here for free.
7. Delete your duplicate files
Potential space reclaimed: N/A
Think of how often we download the same file over and over by mistake. In case of doubt, I always copy my pictures once again before formatting an SD-card, because they are valuable to me. This results in gigabytes of duplicates in all places. A few years ago I started using MacPaw’s Gemini 2 app to delete duplicates. Download wattpad app for mac. Give this software a try on your Mac.
Can you see hidden folders on your Mac?
Some system folders on your Mac aren’t visible. But you can use a keyboard shortcut to highlight them. When in Finder, press Command + Shift + Period. This way you can find grayed out malicious files that eat up your disk space.
Some system folders on your Mac aren’t visible. But you can use a keyboard shortcut to highlight them. When in Finder, press Command + Shift + Period. This way you can find grayed out malicious files that eat up your disk space.
8. Take out the Trash
This advice is easiest of all. Nevertheless, people forget to do it all the time. We throw things down the Trash and think they are over with. But that’s just moving things from one pocket to another. To free up Trash, Command + click the bin icon. Then, choose Empty Trash.
How to empty the Trash automatically on Mac
If you don’t like to empty the Trash every time, there is a scheduled option. Your Mac will auto-delete Trash every 30 days if you tell it so.
- Click on Finder > Preferences (in the upper menu).
- Now choose Advanced.
- Check this box “Remove items from Trash every 30 days.”
9. Delete extra language files
Potential space recovered: 1 GB
There are 180+ languages in the world and most of your Mac’s applications can operate in these languages. However beautiful the language diversity is, people usually use just one or two. When you need to clear space on Mac, extra localization files are another target. How to see your language files? Language files end with “lproj” extension, which stands for “language project”. Unfortunately, finding them manually is problematic. Still, if you want to recover 1 GB of free space out of thin air, get hold of CleanMyMac X. It deletes extra localizations automatically.
- Get CleanMyMac X here — a link to a free edition
- Click System Junk and Scan.
- Then press Review Details.
After you click Review Details you’ll see the tab called Language Files. As one can see, each of those files takes up about 30 MB. You can only guess how much more will it be with 180+ languages.
10. Clear your Desktop
Desktop may not seem a big deal in terms of storage space but only because people rarely visit it. It’s a well-known fact that a messy desktop wastes tons of space — and most importantly — slows your Mac down.
To see your Desktop, press Command + F3
On a MacBook with a Touch Bar, press Fn + F11
If you running macOS Mojave or Catalina, you can click anywhere in the middle of the Desktop and then choose “Use Stacks” in the window that appears. Everything there will be neatly sorted by categories like Screenshots. Now you can delete all the thousands of screenshots that most of us have.
To see your Desktop, press Command + F3
On a MacBook with a Touch Bar, press Fn + F11
If you running macOS Mojave or Catalina, you can click anywhere in the middle of the Desktop and then choose “Use Stacks” in the window that appears. Everything there will be neatly sorted by categories like Screenshots. Now you can delete all the thousands of screenshots that most of us have.
If you are using macOS High Sierra, or older, you can clear disk space on your Mac Desktop manually.
What software does mac demarco use mean.
What software does mac demarco use mean.
- Click Finder > Desktop.
- Under View, choose the 3-line icon
Now you can sort all items by size and delete the largest files.
11. Compress your files
Archiving or compressing files is a nice alternative to permanent deletion. Not all file types compress similarly well, though. For example, documents and presentations can be substantially reduced in size by compression, while movies are harder to shrink.
Luckily, you don’t need a third-party solution to zip things up — your macOS has its built-in tool.
Did you know
Zip is the lossless compression format that keeps file quality intact.
Zip is the lossless compression format that keeps file quality intact.
How to free up disk space on Mac using compression?
- Open Finder and go to your Documents.
- Command + click on a folder (or multiple folders).
- Choose Compress.
Be aware that macOS leaves the original file untouched, so once you have the archive, the original folder can be deleted. After you’re done, you may transfer the newly-created archive onto an external drive.
Well done, you’ve just saved some space!
12. Slim down Time Machine snapshots
If you have Time Machine set up properly, it creates backups of your whole system in any given time. I’m not recommending you to delete these backups completely but to trim down their size. This doesn’t affect your user-created data. I movie free download torrent. I’ll show you how to do it with a free version of CleanMyMac, the tool I mentioned in the previous section.
- Get a free edition of CleanMyMac X
- Click the Maintenance tab.
- Choose 'Time Machine Snapshot Thinning'.
Here you are after you click Run you will successfully reduce the size of backups on your Mac.
13. Trash the old iPhone backups
Potential space reclaimed: 10-20 GB
Outdated iPhone backups may take enormous space. Once your iPhone is synchronized with iTunes, iTunes will be backing up your data without your knowledge. So, it makes sense to check your drive for the outdated backups before they grow out of proportion. Download bbc iplayer video mac.
If you have macOS Mojave or older macOS:
- Click Finder > Go to Folder…
- Paste in:
~/Library/Application Support/MobileSync/Backup
- Move the insides of the folder to the Trash and that’s it.
If you have macOS 10.15 Catalina you can do it even easier.
Open Finder > Preferences > General.
Click Manage Backups.
Open Finder > Preferences > General.
Click Manage Backups.
Right-click the name of the backup to see “Show in Finder” command. Move the backup someplace else or delete it using the Delete option.
Note: do this only if you are 100% sure you don’t need your iPhone backed up.
14. Get rid of your junk Mail
Potential space reclaimed: 50 MB
Everyone hates junk email. Apparently, Apple hates it too because they included automatic junk mail deletion to their Mail app. Junk mail doesn’t weigh much but still, deleting it is good for the hygiene of your Mac.
- Open Mail app.
- Click on the Mailbox tab.
- Choose Erase Junk.
- Beware that this operation cannot be undone.
Other great tips to automatically reduce clutter
- Use Safari. Starting version 10 it automatically removes duplicate downloads.
- Backup your pictures to Photos.Google.com — it offers unlimited storage. Really.
- Delete extensions in browser — you can use a free version of CleanMyMac X.
- Delete desktop apps for services that offer online analogues, like Figma.
Okay, I’ve told you my favorite ways to free up disk space on your Mac. You can bookmark this article and revisit next time when the annoying “Your disk is almost full” message pops up. Decluttering your Mac can add a fresh spark to your digital life — so try it today.