Free Up Other Space On Mac

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Summary :

That's all on what is Other storage on Mac, how to find Other files on Mac, and how to get rid of them to free up storage space. If you end up deleting some important files by mistake while trying to delete Other files, then Recoverit can help you to get back your deleted files with ease. When your startup disk is full or you see the alert of your disk is almost full on your Mac, you can just try the methods mentioned in this article to free up disk space and remove the warning. If you mistakenly delete important files, you can use Stellar Data Recovery for Mac to get them back. The app(s) using large amounts of storage space in Other, and the best way to free up that storage space, will depend on the app(s) installed. Hopefully the above information enables you find the files on your drive that are taking up the most space. You can then free up needed space by deleting those files or moving them to an external drive. Is your Mac running low on storage and you can’t seem to free up space on Mac? Read on as we have listed 8 working solutions on how to clear space on Mac in this post. You can free up valuable disk space by cleaning the 'Other' storage on your Mac. Read this article to learn how to delete all the useless files occupying your precious storage. Let’s take a look at the Mac 'Other' section and optimize your storage.

From this MiniTool article, you can know what the startup disk on your Mac is, what is taking up space on the Mac startup disk, the influence of startup disk full, and how to clear the startup disk space when the startup disk is full or your disk is almost full on your Mac.

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What Is Startup Disk on Mac?

Like a Windows startup disk, the startup disk on your Mac is the disk that saved the operating system on your Mac. It is an important disk on your computer. If the operating system on the disk is corrupted or even the startup disk is damaged, your Mac computer will not boot normally.

What Is Taking Up Space on Your Mac Startup Disk?

As you know, a Mac computer’s disk is usually not as large as a Windows computer’s disk. As of 2020, Apple has improved the disk capacity and the maximum disk size can reach up to 8TB. But they are the Pro series, which are not widely used.

Most of the time, you should not worry about the disk space issue because macOS always do work online. This will not take up much disk space. However, what’s going on if you see a pop-up alert saying Your startup disk is almost full?

At this time, you should know what is taking up space on the startup disk of your Mac and then take some measures to clear the startup disk.

The hidden website cache takes much space on the startup disk. For example, statistics show that Google Chrome can create numerous cache folders after you visit some web sites. The size of the cache for one site can even reach up to 9 GB. This is quite surprising, but it is true.

As time goes on, the free space on the startup disk becomes less and less. One day, you may receive the startup disk full alert.

Besides, when a warning of Your disk is almost full pops up, it also means that there is not enough space on your Mac. It is equal to startup disk full. Likewise, you need to remove some files to free up disk space on your Mac computer.

What Does It Mean When Your Startup Disk Is Full?

When does it mean when you receive your startup disk is almost full alert?

It has two main influences:

1. You will soon run out of space on the startup disk.

Your startup disk is almost full is an early warning for you. It reminds you of cleaning up the startup disk. However, if you continue to use your Mac without cleaning up disk space, more and more data will be saved to the startup disk. One day, your Mac will run out of space and you will not use the machine as normal.

2. Your Mac computer will run slowly.

Some of you may think that your Mac computer will not be affected when there is space in the startup disk no matter it is much or less. It is wrong.

A Mac computer can convert the available free space on the startup disk into virtual memory that you use for day-to-day operations. In theory, there should be at least 10% of free disk space for your Mac to operate. If not, your Mac computer will run slowly and even face big trouble like Mac frozen.

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When the machine detects that the available space on the startup disk is insufficient, it will give you a warning. This aims to remind you it’s time to clear the startup disk on your Mac.

What should you do when your startup disk is full on your Mac? In the following part, we will show you some solutions.

How to Clear the startup Disk?

If you want to clear your Mac startup disk, you need to delete the unnecessary files on it. Before doing this, you can check the storage space on your Mac.

How to Check the Storage Space on Your Mac?

  1. Click the Apple menu from the top-left corner of the screen.
  2. Click About This Mac from the drop-down list.
  3. Switch to the Storage section.

After these three steps, you can see the storage information of your Mac disk, including the files’ types, the free space on the drive, and more.

If your Mac Startup disk is full, you can do these things to free up disk space:

How to Clean the Startup Disk on Your Mac?

  1. Remove the App Cache from your Mac.
  2. Empty Trash.
  3. Delete the unnecessary Time Machine backup snapshots.
  4. Delete browser cache.
  5. Remove language packs.
  6. Use Startup Disk Full Fixer.

Tip 1: Remove the App Cache from Your Mac

The app cache files are necessary when you want to speed up processes. Once you complete the process, the cache files become useless. But these cache files will stay on the startup disk for a long time unless you manually delete them. When they are useless, they are junk files. To clean up your Mac startup disk, you need to remove them from the machine.

  1. Go to Finder > Go > Go to Folder.
  2. Type ~/Library/Caches.
  3. Go into each folder and then delete the files in it. You can also choose to only delete the files that take up the most space.
  4. You can repeat the above three steps for /Library/Caches to remove the App cache.
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Tip 2: Empty Trash

When you delete files from your Mac, they will be moved to Trash. The files on Trash also occupy space on your Mac startup disk. As long as you are sure that you don’t need to use these files anymore, you can empty Trash to free up disk space.

To do this job, you just need to open Trash and then click the Empty button on the top-right side to remove files from your Mac. Since then, there will be more available disk space on your Mac.

Tip 3: Delete the Unnecessary Time Machine Backup Snapshots

Most people would like to use Time Machine to back up their Mac files to an external hard drive. You may think that the backup files are save to the external hard drive. But that’s not all. During the Mac data process, the local snapshots also automatically start once every 24 hours. That’s right. The snapshots are saved to your Mac, taking up disk space.

You can delete the unnecessary Time Machine backup snapshots to release space on the startup disk.

  1. Open Finder.
  2. Go to Go > Utilities.
  3. Double-click Terminal to open it.
  4. Type sudo tmutil disablelocal into Terminal, and press Enter.

Do you know how to delete Time Machine backups on your Mac computer? In this post, we will show you different cases and different methods.

Tip 4: Delete Browser Cache

Free up disk space on macbook air

Every time you visit a new web site using your web browser, some cache files will be created and saved to your Mac disk. This can help you to quickly a previous page again. But these files can also use up your disk space. So, you can delete these browser cache files to release more space on your Mac:

  1. Open your web browser.
  2. Click the History tab and then select Clear browsing data.
  3. Select the cache files you want to delete like Cookies, site data, Cached images and files.
  4. Choose how far back you want to delete
  5. Click the Clear browsing data button to delete the selected cache files.

Tip 5: Remove Language Packs

Most apps contain language packs (which are also known as localization files). These packs allow you to switch between languages when using the app. They are useful, but you need to admit that you only need one or two languages. The rest language packs just waste your disk space. You can choose to delete them:

  1. Open Applications.
  2. Right-click an app and then select Show Package Contents.
  3. Click Contents.
  4. Click Resources.
  5. Delete the language packs you don’t need to use. The pack files are ending in .Iproj.
  6. Repeat these steps for all other apps on your Mac.

Tip 6: Use Startup Disk Full Fixer

Startup Disk Full Fixer is the best free app for you to perform a quick Mac disk cleanup. It can help you to get more free storage space in less than a minute. You can go to the Mac App Store to free download this application. Then, you can open it and use it to clean up your startup disk to get rid of the low disk space warning. It is a safe program. You can feel free to use it.

How to Free up Disk Space on Your Mac?

Your disk is almost full is another alert that prompts you to clear disk space on your Mac computer. We have published a related article to free up disk space on Mac: How to Clear Disk Space on Mac and Recover Mac Data?

If you have some other good ideas to release disk space on Mac, you can share them with us in the comment. We will appreciate that.

If You Delete Some Important Files on Your Mac by Mistake

As you can see, it is a file deletion process when you clear the startup disk on your Mac. During the process, you may delete some of your important files by mistake. Once these files are permanently deleted from your Mac computer, you will be unable to restore them from Trash. If you want to retrieve them, you can try the free Mac data recovery software: Stellar Data Recovery for Mac.

This software has a trial edition. You can use it to scan the Mac disk you want to recover data from and then check whether it can find the files you want to rescue. If yes, you can upgrade it to a full edition and then use it to recover all your needed files to a suitable location. You can go to the MiniTool download center to get this trial edition.

1. Open this software.

2. Select the data types you want to restore. If you want to recover all, you can turn on the button for Recover Everything.

3. Click the Next button to continue.

4. This software will list all the drives it can detect. Then, you need to select the drive you want to recover from. If you want to perform a deep scan, you need to switch the button for Deep Scan to ON.

5. Click the Scan button to start the scanning process.

6. When the scanning process ends, you can see the scan results. By default, these files are list by Classic List. There are two other lists including File List and Deleted List. If you only need to recover the deleted files, you can switch to Deleted List and then find your needed items.

7. This software allows you to preview files. You can just double-click on one file to preview it and confirm whether it is your needed file.

8. If you are sure this software finds your needed files, you can go to MiniTool official site to get a license of an advanced edition to upgrade this software. After that, you can select files and then save them to a suitable folder. Here, you need to know that the destination folder should not be the original one. Otherwise, the deleted files could be overwritten and become unrecoverable.

Bottom Line

When your startup disk is full or you see the alert of your disk is almost full on your Mac, you can just try the methods mentioned in this article to free up disk space and remove the warning. If you mistakenly delete important files, you can use Stellar Data Recovery for Mac to get them back.

Should you have any related issues, you can let us know in the comment. You can also contact us via [email protected].

Startup Disk Full FAQ

If you can’t boot up your Mac, there should be something wrong with the startup disk. This article tells you what you can do: What to Do If Your MacBook Won’t Turn On? (Multiple Methods).
If you want to free up disk space on a Windows computer, you can do the things mentioned in this article: 9 Ways to Clean up Disk Space in Windows 10.
Why is my hard drive still full after deleting files?
The deleted files will be removed to Trash before you delete them permanently or empty Trash. The files in Trash still occupy space on the drive. That’s why your disk is still full after deleting files. If you want to make some changes, you can open Trash and click the Empty button to permanently delete files in it.
If your Mac computer can’t past the Apple logo, you can refer to this article to solve the issue: [Solved!] MacBook Pro/Air/iMac Won’t Boot Past Apple Logo!
October 11, 2019Nicole Jones

After drinking your first cup of coffee, it is time to start your day with your computer. However, the popping-up message says “Your disk is almost full”. You need to optimize storage to save space on Mac. The dreadful Mac storage is almost full message make you realize that how much stuff stored on your Mac. Well, you may get shocked that “Other” takes up the most storage space.

What is Other on Mac storage? It is easy to understand about “Audio”, “Movies”, “Photos”, “Apps” and “Backups”. But what does “Other” mean in Mac storage? Is there any way to clean up Other storage on Mac? Luckily, you can figure out what is Other storage on Mac and how to remove files from Other storage in details here.

  • Part 1: What You Need to Know about Other Storage on Mac
  • What Is Other on Mac Storage
  • How to Check Other Storage on Mac
  • Part 2: How to Delete Other Storage to Free Up Disk Space on Mac
  • 1. Remove Unwanted Documents to Free Up Other Storage on Mac
  • 2. Delete Cache Files in Other Mac Storage
  • 3. Clear Large Files and Folders to Clean Up Mac Other Files
  • 4. Clean Up App Plugins and Extensions from Other on Mac Storage

Part 1: What You Need to Know about Other Storage on Mac

Let’s solve the first question together. What is Other storage space in Mac OS X? Which category should Other belong to? Just read and get your answer.

What Is Other on Mac Storage

Generally speaking, all Mac files that cannot be divided into “Apps”, “Photos” and other categories are Other files. These are some data types that are stored in Other storage on Mac.

  • System and temporary files about macOS, like logs, preferences files and more.
  • Cache data from browser, apps, photos, system, etc.
  • Documents in pdf, doc, psd, csv, etc.
  • Personal information.
  • Browser history, cache, downloads and more.
  • Archives and disk images in zips, dmg, iso, tar, etc.
  • App support, app accessories, iCloud files, screen saver, fonts, updates and other file types not recognized by Spotlight.

How to Check Other Storage on Mac

Unfold the “Apple” menu.
Choose “About This Mac”.
Click “Storage” to check the Other storage space on Mac.

Part 2: How to Delete Other Storage to Free Up Disk Space on Mac

After knowing what is Other on Mac storage, you need to take measures to delete Other storage on Mac. It is impossible to entirely get rid of Other on Mac. But you can clean up your Mac Other storage in multiple aspects. It is true that you can find and delete each Other file manually. If you want to get a quicker way to clear Other storage on Mac, Aiseesoft Mac Cleaner is your first choice. You can download the free version from its official site.

1. Remove Unwanted Documents to Free Up Other Storage on Mac

Way 1: Manually Delete Other Documents on Mac

Free Up Storage Mac

Close all windows. Press “Command” and “F” keys on the desktop.
Click “This Mac” on the top.
From the first drop-down menu, replace “Kind” with “Other”.
Choose “File Size” and “File Extension” in the popping-up “Search Attributes” window.
Input different document file types and file sizes to access large documents.
Check and delete the files you don’t need.

Way 2: Quickly Delete Large and Old Files from Other

Free download, install and run Mac Cleaner.
Click “Cleaner” to access all Mac cleaning tools. Then choose “Large & Old Files” in the main interface.
Click “Scan” to start the scanning process.
Click “View” to review the classified files via “> 100MB”, “5 MB to 10 MB”, “> 1 Year” and “> 30 Days”.
Click “Clean” to delete the selected files and delete Other files on Mac.

2. Delete Cache Files in Other Mac Storage

Way 1: Manually Delete Cache files from Other Data Storage

Choose “Go to Folder” from the “Go” drop-down list in the Finder.
Type “~/Library/Caches” and press “Enter” to locate the “Caches” folder.
Make a copy of the Caches folder with your external hard drive if necessary.
Drag and drop all files within the Cache folder to Trash. Empty Trash on Mac.
Repeat the above steps with “/Library/Caches” and “~/Library/Logs” to clean up Other storage on Mac.

Way 2: Quickly Delete User Cache Files to Free Up More Space

Launch Aiseesoft Mac Cleaner.

Free Up Other Space On Macbook Air

In the “Cleaner” section, click “System Junk” in the first place.
Click “Scan” to find system cache, application cache and more junk files.
Choose “View” to have a check. You can preview and select the system cache and application cache you want to delete.
Click “Clean” to remove cache files from Other on Mac storage.

3. Clear Large Files and Folders to Clean Up Mac Other Files

Way 1: Manually Delete System and Temporary Files from Other on Mac

Open Finder. Unfold the “Go” list. Then choose “Go To Folder”.
Type “~/Users/User/Library/Application Support/” or “~/Library/Application Support”. Later, click “Go” to go to the destination folder.
Open the certain folder to find and delete useless system files.

Free Up Space On Mac

Way 2: Quickly Clean System Files and Logs from Other Storage Space

Open Mac Cleaner. Choose “System Junk” in the “Cleaner” section.
Click “Scan” to scan for all system junk files in a short time.
Click “View” to access system cache, application cache, system logs, user logs and localization. You can see how many Other storage those files use.
Select and preview the outdated system files.
Click “Clean” to delete Other on Mac flexibly.

4. Clean Up App Plugins and Extensions from Other on Mac Storage

Way 1: Remove Extensions and Plugins from Safari

Open Safari. Choose “Preferences” from the list.
Click “Extensions” to access all Safari extensions.
Click “Uninstall” to uninstall a Safari extension.

Way 2: Remove Extensions and Plugins from Google Chrome

Run Google Chrome.
Find and click the three-dot “More Tools” on the top right corner.
Choose “Extensions” from its submenu.
Disable any Chrome extension or plugin you do not want to use anymore.

Furthermore, you can also use the built-in app uninstaller, duplicate finder, file manager, unarchiver, file hider, system performance monitor and more here. In a word, you can delete Other on Mac and speed up Mac in clicks. Mac Cleaner is 100% safe to use. You can preview, filter, organize and select any Mac file before cleanup. The whole process will not cause data overwritten. You will never know how fast your Mac computer can be before running Aiseesoft Mac Cleaner. Well, why not free download the program to have a try right now!

Free up space on mac el capitan

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How To Free Up Other Space On Macbook

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