Published 2023-10-30 by TechNet New England
When macOS shows "Your disk is almost full" or applications fail with "no space left on device," you need to free storage quickly. ## Quick Fix: Empty the Trash The Trash on Mac does not auto-empty by default. Right-click the Trash icon in the Dock and select **Empty Trash**. This alone can free up several GB if you have been "deleting" files without emptying. ## Check What Is Using Space 1. Click **Apple menu > System Settings > General > Storage**. 2. Review the color-coded bar showing what categories consume the most space. ## Free Space Fast ### Delete Old Downloads Open Finder > Downloads. Sort by date. Delete old installer .dmg files, .pkg files, and zip archives you already used. ### Remove Unused Applications Open Finder > Applications. Sort by size. Delete apps you no longer use by dragging them to the Trash. ### Clear Cache Files 1. Open Finder, press **Command + Shift + G**. 2. Type `~/Library/Caches` 3. Select all folders inside and move to Trash. 4. Empty Trash. These are temporary files that applications will recreate as needed. ### Clear System Logs 1. Open Finder, press **Command + Shift + G**. 2. Type `~/Library/Logs` 3. Delete old log files. ### Delete Old iOS Backups If you back up your iPhone to your Mac: 1. Go to **System Settings > General > Storage**. 2. Click **iOS Files** or find backups under the storage breakdown. 3. Delete old backups you no longer need. ### Delete Time Machine Local Snapshots macOS stores Time Machine snapshots locally. These are usually managed automatically but can consume significant space. In Terminal: ```bash tmutil listlocalsnapshots / ``` To delete a specific snapshot: ```bash sudo tmutil deletelocalsnapshots YYYY-MM-DD-HHMMSS ``` ### Check for Large Files In Finder, press **Command + F**. Change "Kind" to "File Size" and set "is greater than 500 MB." This shows large files you may have forgotten about. ## Prevent Future Issues Enable **Optimize Mac Storage** in System Settings > General > Storage. This moves old files to iCloud when local space is low. Enable **Empty Trash automatically** (after 30 days) in the same section. Regularly review your Downloads folder and delete files you no longer need. ## When to Contact IT If you have deleted everything you can and the disk is still full, your IT provider can check for: Large hidden files or system data consuming space. MDM profiles or software packages taking up storage. Whether the Mac needs a larger drive or should be replaced with a model that has more storage.