You can view details about your Mac storage space and increase its availability in the Storage settings. You can see a graphic of storage usage, recommendations for optimising storage availability and options for removing unneeded files taking up storage space.
To change these settings, choose Apple menu > System Settings, click General in the sidebar, then click Storage.
Shows used and available storage on your Mac. The graph shows the amount of storage used by different apps and file types, and lists the amount of free storage available for use.
All Volumes
Shows a more detailed bar graph showing the storage space used and available for each volume and container of your internal hard disk.
Store in iCloud
Turns on iCloud Drive and stores most files in iCloud, saving storage space and keeping only recent files in their entirety on the Mac.
Optimise Storage
Automatically removes movies and TV shows that you’ve already viewed from your Mac.
Empty Bin automatically
Sets your Mac to automatically remove files that have been in the Bin for more than 30 days.
Categories by file type
Use the categories to select and remove files. To delete files, open a category, select an unneeded file, then click Delete; click Show in Finder to view the file in the Finder. Click to open a category.
Applications: Contains all the apps installed on your Mac (excluding system applications).
Documents: See all the documents on your Mac. You can quickly view large files or downloads by clicking the corresponding button, and sort files by clicking Name, Kind, Last Accessed or Size near the top of the dialog. You can also click File Browser to view the contents and amount of storage used by various folders in your file system.
The Documents category contains files in your home folder that aren’t included in other categories, such as Pages documents and PDFs. It also includes videos and photos that aren’t managed by your photo library (for example, an image that a friend shares with you using AirDrop).
iCloud Drive: Contains all files stored in iCloud Drive. It may also contain files in your Desktop and Documents folders if you store them in iCloud Drive.
iOS files: Contains iOS backups and firmware.
TV, Music, Books and Podcasts: Each app category contains purchases from that specific app, which can be removed from your Mac and downloaded again.
Mail: Contains emails and attachments.
Messages: Contains content from Messages conversations, including attachments.
Music Creation: Contains content from GarageBand, Logic and MainStage.
Bin: Contains items you deleted (items deleted from iCloud Drive aren’t included in the amount of storage space).
Other Users, macOS and System Data
Shows categories that only list the amount of space that they occupy. You can’t select and delete files in these categories.
Other Users & Shared: Contains files created and modified, or shared by other user accounts on your Mac.
macOS: Contains macOS system applications and files. Examples include Mail, Terminal and Calculator.
System Data: Contains files that don’t fall into the categories listed here. This category primarily includes files and data used by the system, such as log files, caches, VM files and other runtime system resources. Also included are temporary files, fonts, app support files and plug-ins. You can’t manage the contents of this category. The contents are managed by macOS and the category varies in size depending on the current state of your Mac. You can manage your data that falls outside the other categories using the Finder or the third-party apps that created it.
to open a category.