Freeing up storage space can be beneficial, in the case when you are downloading or installing new software, or when you are experiencing a performance issue linked to a full system drive. To tackle these issues, you can use our guide and further decide which approach will work for you. There are many companies available in the market like stew mac. With Woodcraft and others, I see the same business model (my opinion) as with Stew Mac, although Woodcraft probably has a wider market for its products. Prices for woodcraft products are not competitive. Franchises need to be able to afford their overhead, so they set prices so franchisees can succeed. Their prices are high, they probably receive franchise fees from the non-company stores, and if I were to guess, I would guess that most of their customers are beginners. Stew Mac’s customers are mostly beginning makers. Without them, none would survive.
How to recognize your storage is full?
When HDDs (Hard Disk Drives) or SSDs (Solid State Drives) get full, then you will notice that program performance and overall computer performance will get slow down. About 20 percent of the hard drive’s space is needed to find existing information and to write new information. The limitation on space might also prevent you from installing new applications.
Check storage capacity on macOS
The first step is to check how much space is available on your storage drive.
- Open the Finder window by Double-clicking on the disk icon which is on your desktop
- Or, you select the Get Info option easily, by doing a Right-click on the disk icon
With both steps, you can easily know about the total capacity of the drive, and also the remaining capacity of it.
Delete unused data and storage hungry apps
A few things can be done to help free up space on your hard drive, the biggest one being deleting or moving items to an external storage device or the cloud that are no longer needed. With the help of these activities, you can easily speed up Mac of yours, and other OS devices too.
Check for unused applications
The following instructions will show you your applications and their sizes:
- Select the applications option, by clicking on the drive icon on your desktop
- Then, click on the drive icon to show items in a list, and further click Arrange, and Size
- All applications get sorted after this step, and now look for the largest files
- After that, think about its relevance and then delete any that you don’t have a use anymore.
- Additionally, you can filter files with the Last Used option, andget a quick view of old files which you might want to clear from your Mac.
Delete old and no-use downloads
You can clean out the Downloads file by clicking on the drive icon on your desktop, selecting your user name, and then looking for the Downloads file. Delete anything that has been saved anywhere else or that you don’t need further, because these unnecessary files in the storage lead the devices to slow-Mac issues
Delete unnecessary E-mail attachments
Make sure that you delete all the attachments that you don’t need or have saved from your email. You can sort the list by Attachments in Mail by selecting View, then Sort by, and Attachments. This will make the emails with attachments appear at the top. Lastly, open all your Document files to see if there’s anything that you can delete.
Remove duplicate and redundant pictures
You may have duplicate libraries in iPhoto and Photos, if you switched from one to the other gadget. Comparing the photos in each application will help you to identify the photos you can delete.
Organize your photos so that you can decide which ones you want to keep but don’t need constant access to. Some photos can be uploaded to the cloud or onto an external drive.
Always empty the trash-can
As soon as you’ve gone through your applications and files for space optimization, empty your trash cans. Any items in the trash cans remain on your hard drive until they’re emptied.
For proper deletion of items, right-click on the trash icon and select Empty Trash. Moreover, iPhoto, iMovie, and Mail apps have their trash. So, for cleaning them fully, Right-click on Trash in each program and select Empty Trash. It will easily optimize the macOS and further speed up in a significant manner. For this purpose you can also use Mac Optimizer Pro software, this app automatically clean up the trash of Mac and optimize all things.
You can also utilize other storage tools
With macOS X Sierra or later versions, you can specify the storage options available to you in the gadgets. You can find these options by clicking the Apple menu > About this Mac > Manage > Storage Tools. There are four options to use by which you free up your Mac systems:
- Store data in iCloud
Store files in iCloud to free up space on your computer. This option takes items off your computer’s storage drive and puts them in your Apple account in the cloud.
- Optimize your device’s storage
By choosing this option, all movies and TV shows purchased on iTunes and downloaded items will get deleted. In the future, if you would like to see that item again, you can download it again at your convenience.
- Automatic Empty Trash
This option permanently deletes items in the trash after 30 days so you’ll never need to worry about them again.
- Reduce Clutter
By using this feature, you can sift through your files to learn which ones can be transferred to alternative storage, such as the cloud or an external drive.
Enhance the storage with an upgraded drive
Consider upgrading to a larger drive if you still need more space after completing the above procedures. If you have an HDD in your gadget, then now is probably a good time to upgrade from a hard disk drive (HDD) to a solid-state drive (SSD). Because, SSD drive is a non-volatile storage media tool, which stores persistent data on solid-state flash memory. Majorly, SSDs replace the traditional hard disk drives (HDDs) in computers and laptops because it further helps the gadgets to enhance their performance while having the same basic functions as a hard drive disk. SSDs are significantly faster in comparison to HDDs. When you utilize an SSD, your operating system will boot up very faster, programs will load quickly, and files get stored even faster. So, please upgrade your HDDs with SSDs.
But, if you already have a solid-state drive, upgrade that with another one that has more space. In case, you want to use the same, then your storage disk should be properly cleaned up and ready for new data and applications.