Our resident Mac Help guru, Peter Cohen, previously told us about the 'Other' storage category on Mac computers and what it catalogs: In short, you're seeing space taken up by plug-ins, documents, and caches stored by OS X.
Jun 25, 2020 How to Clear Other on Mac Storage. You can manage Other storage on macOS catalina via multiple ways. One of which is using Apple’s Optimized Storage settings. Head over to this complete guide to free up some space on your Mac running macOS Sierra or later. The other method includes manual cleaning or using a third-party apps. Mar 27, 2019 How to free up space used by the Mail app on the Mac. If you use the built-in Mail app on your Mac, you might be clogging up your iCloud storage with useless junk and deleted mail. You can quickly clear out some space by erasing the old stuff. Launch the Mail app on your Mac. Click on Mailbox in the upper left side of your Mac's screen. Oct 11, 2015.Connect and manage files in Amazon S3 storage and S3-compatible storages.Mount as many Google Drive accounts as needed and manage your files and folders, including “Shared with me” folder, without copying data on your Mac.Map unlimited number of WebDAV connections and access your online files.
It's worth noting that these files aren't normally harmful or wasteful to your computer's system; most are intended to help your Mac run efficiently, and ideally, you shouldn't ever have to clear out your Other files. Unfortunately, they can quickly clog up a computer low on storage — especially if you're storing a large number of iPhone or iPad backups.
Whether you're looking to free up space on your hard drive or just want to do some spring cleaning, here are some simple steps to get your Mac free and clear.
A note on what happened to 'Other' space in macOS Sierra and higher
When Apple added its storage management feature to macOS Sierra, called Optimize Storage, it reorganized what 'other' storage is and where it's located on the Mac. Much of it has been divided out through other categories so it's easier to find and remove.
The 100GB of Other storage I used to carry on my iMac is whittled down to just 5GB. You can still clean out old and unnecessary content from your Mac with macOS Sierra and High Sierra by using Optimized Storage. It's just a little easier to find those unused files than it was before.
A lot of the features of Optimized Storage remove content from your Mac and store them in iCloud. If you're concerned with how much storage you're using up in iCloud, you can customize or disable some Optimized Storage features to keep a balance between what's on your Mac and what's in iCloud.
Manage My Storage In Settings
What's this 'Purgeable' category all about?
If you check your system storage graph in macOS, you'll probably discover a category called Purgeable. This is part of Apple's Optimized Storage service. When you move your Documents into iCloud (part of the Store in iCloud component) and your hard drive gets low on storage, only recently opened files are kept on your Mac. Software find duplicate files mac. Older documents are stored in iCloud, while a shortcut icon is kept on your Mac (files are automatically re-downloaded to your Mac as soon as you open them). The Purgeable files are what Optimized Storage will move to iCloud and delete from your hard drive only if your hard drive starts to get full. Purgeable files also include caches and temporary files that used to fit into the Other category, which will also be deleted as your hard drive starts to fill up.
Though your Other storage might have been spread out across categories in macOS Sierra and higher, you can still follow the below steps to manually clean up your Mac and get rid of unnecessary files.
How to check your storage space on your Mac
If you are concerned with how much storage space you have remaining on your Mac computer, you can check its usage folder to see how much space each category is taking up, including Other.
- Click on your desktop or the Finder icon from the Dock.
- Select the Apple Menu icon in the upper left corner of the screen.
Click on About This Mac.
Select Storage.
Your Mac breaks down its storage categories as follows: Apps, Movies, Photos, Audio, Backups, and — that annoying, undescriptive category — Other.
How to remove cached files
Now that you know how much space your Other files are taking up, it's time to reduce their footprint on your Mac. You can start by removing items you don't need, including caches for your web browser, saved Apple Music streams, and photo previews.
A note on deleting cache folders: You only want to delete old and unnecessary files, as current cache files store your preferences. We strongly recommend only deleting cache files from old apps.
- Click on your desktop or select the Finder icon from the Dock.
- Select the Go menu in the upper left corner of the screen.
Click on Go to Folder.
Type ~/Library/caches into the text box. A list of caches from active apps will appear on your desktop.
- Select the app folder you wish to remove the cache from.
- Right-click (or control-click) on the app folder.
Select Move to Trash.
How to remove downloaded files
Chances are, your Downloads folder is stuffed with Other-type files, including installer packages, documents, and folders you have already made copies of somewhere else. If you want to make some room on your Mac, it may be time to clean out your Downloads folder.
- Click on your desktop or select the Finder icon from the Dock.
- Select the Go menu in the upper left corner of the screen.
Click on Downloads.
- Select the file you wish to remove.
- Right-click (or control-click) on the file.
Select Move to Trash.
If you want to save a file from the Downloads folder but don't want it clogging your drive, consider moving it to an external hard drive or flash drive, or uploading it to an online storage option like Dropbox.
How to delete old device backups in iTunes
If you tend to get new iOS devices fairly regularly, you may have unnecessary device backups stored on your computer via iTunes. Backups take up 4-5GB each, on average; there's no need to hold on to older device backups if you no longer have the device or have it stored in iCloud.
Third-party software that can help
While you don't need any third-party app to 'clean' your Mac, there are some very handy system access tools out there that make it easier to regularly remove unwanted files.
CleanMyMac 3
With CleanMyMac, you have easy access to a list of features that help you keep your Mac free of unnecessary junk. It scans your entire system and recommends files you should delete based on how old they are and whether they are considered unnecessary to your workflow. It's a lot like Apple's Optimized Storage, but with a few additional features. My favorite is the recommendation to delete all content related to an application. Sometimes, you'll end up with a couple of files left behind by an app when you delete it. CleanMyMac provides a one-button purge of everything associated with that app.
DaisyDisk
DaisyDisk scans your Mac and gives you a pie chart that makes it easy to see what files are using up the most space. You can identify files that are in the Other storage category and drag them to the delete box.
Onyx
Onyx is a robust Mac system access tool that, in-part, can delete caches, logs, temporary items, and other files that find their way into the Other storage category.
Cocktail
Cocktail is another useful system access tool that you can use to clear caches, purge memory, and manage hidden Apple app settings, which might be automatically sending files into the Other category abyss.
Questions?
Still having trouble with Other? Let us know in the comments.
Updated June, 2018: Updated the section on deleting iPhone and iPad backups in iTunes to direct people to the article about doing that. The rest of these steps are still correct.
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If you are not sure how to manage your iCloud storage efficiently, the following guide offers some of the tips on managing your storage as well as how you can free up some of the storage in your iCloud account. Read on to learn how.
iCloud Data Tips & Issues
iCloud Data Management
Fix iCloud Problems
iCloud is one of the cloud storage providers that allow you to upload and keep your files on the cloud. You can then fetch these files from any of your compatible and authorized devices. With its high-grade security, iCloud has been able to attract a large number of users to use their service and store data. If you use an Apple device, you likely use iCloud to store your device’s files on the cloud.
In the following guide, you are going to learn how you can best manage your iCloud storage so you always have enough space available for the important files. You will also learn how to free up iCloud storage so you do not run out of storage in your iCloud account.
Part 1. How to Manage iCloud Storage
Part 2. How to Free Up iCloud Storage
Part 3. How to Increase iCloud Storage
How to Manage iCloud Storage
Managing your iCloud storage is pretty easy as you can do so from your iPhone, iPad, Mac, and even from a web browser using the iCloud website. This section shows how you can manage your iCloud storage on an iOS-based device.
Step 1. Launch the Settings app from the springboard of your device.
Step 2. When the app opens, tap on your name at the top to open your account settings. On the following screen, tap on iCloud to access your iCloud account settings.
Step 3. You will be able to briefly see your storage data on the current screen. Tap on the data graph to get more details about your storage.
Manage iCloud Storage – Access iCloud Storage on iPhone
Step 4. Tap on Manage Storage on the following screen and you will get insights on the data you have stored in your iCloud storage. You may now manage your data however you want from here.
Some of the things you can do are change your storage plan, get rid of iCloud data for various apps, and manage your email data. That is how you manage your iCloud storage on your iPhone and iPad.
How to Free Up iCloud Storage
Upon checking your iCloud storage you find that you are running out of storage, you may want to free up some of the space by removing unwanted stuff from your iCloud account. Getting rid of various file types from an iCloud account is often a tedious task to do on an Apple device. Therefore, it is highly recommended to use a third-party dedicated app to get the task done for your iCloud account.
Enter AnyTrans for iOS, an application that allows you to fetch data from your iCloud account over to your computer. Once the data is available on your computer, you can get it removed from your iCloud account and that should free-up your storage space.
The app is capable of letting you transfer various types of content but we are going to show you how you can use it to get your iCloud contacts transferred over to your local machine. Steps for transferring other file types are similar so you should not have any issues.
Step 1.Free Download AnyTrans for iOS on your computer > Launch it.
Manage Storage On Mac Yosemite
Free Download * 100% Clean & Safe
Step 2.Click on iCloud Manager > Enter your Apple ID and Password in the app.
Tap iCloud Manager and Sign in to iCloud
Step 3. Click on the categories icon on the following screen. Here we will take Contacts for an example.
Step 4. Select the contacts you wish to manage > Click on the Download to Computer button or Delete button at the top to manage the selected photos and free up iCloud storage.
Free up Storage from iCloud Contents
When the app has downloaded your photos to your computer, you may remove those contacts from your iCloud account. You can do the same procedure to remove any other types of files from your iCloud account and free-up your memory space.
How to Increase iCloud Storage
If you are still short of storage in your account even after deleting files, you may want to switch to a higher storage plan to store your files. Apple provides various account options so you can store more files in your account.
Increase iCloud Storage – Upgrade iCloud Storage Plan
To buy extra storage for your iCloud account, head to Settings > [your-name] > iCloud > iCloud > Buy More Storage on your iPhone and select the plan you would like to subscribe to. You will be charged a fee depending on the upgrade you choose from the list.
The Bottom Line
Managing your iCloud storage is not a difficult task and the above guide is evidence of it. We hope the guide has been able to explain how you can conveniently manage your storage, add more storage, and free-up storage by removing files from the account.
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