How to Clean Your Mac Manually to Free Up Disk Space

If you run out of free storage space on your Mac, it’s time to clean junk files. Not only will it help you reclaim valuable storage space, but you will also get rid of annoying “Startup disk full” or “Your disk is almost full” messages. Dive into our definitive guide to manual junk files removal on a Mac.

The advice you’ll find inside this article can help you manually clean system logs, caches, and other junk files to free up gigabytes of free storage space. The best thing? You don’t have to be technically savvy to clean your Mac because our solutions come complete with step-by-step instructions and helpful screenshots. Without further ado,  let’s dive into our definitive guide to manual junk files removal on a Mac.

How to check available storage space on your Mac

Before you start decluttering your Mac, check how much free space it has. Not only will it serve as an incentive to finally clean your Mac but it will also help you measure your progress. Here’s how to do it:

1. In the Apple menu, select About This Mac
2. Click Storage
3. Hover your pointer above color bars to check space occupied by different data types

How to clean junk files on a Mac in 5 steps

Manual cleaning of junk files on a Mac can feel like a daunting task. But don’t get discouraged, you can do it if you follow the steps I laid out for you.

1.      Optimize storage

macOS offers neat Optimized Storage features for decluttering your Mac and reclaiming a few gigabytes for useful files you might want to store there. To optimize your Mac’s storage, follow these steps:

1. In the Apple menu, select About This Mac
2. Click Storage and click Manage
3. In the Reduce Clutter section, click Review Files
4. Select the files you no longer need and click Delete
5. Empty the Trash   

2.      Clean caches

Caches can gobble up hundreds of megabytes of storage space on your Mac. Here’s how to clean them:

1. In the Finder, select Go
2. Click Go to Folder
3. Type ~/Library/Caches and click Go
4. Drag the largest files and folders to the Trash
5. Type /Library/Caches and hit Enter
6. Drag the largest files and folders to the Trash
7. Empty the Trash

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3.      Clean caches

Caches can gobble up hundreds of megabytes of storage space on your Mac. Here’s how to clean them:

1. In the Finder, select Go
2. Click Go to Folder
3. Type ~/Library/Caches and click Go
4. Drag the largest files and folders to the Trash
5. Type /Library/Caches and hit Enter
6. Drag the largest files and folders to the Trash
7. Empty the Trash

4.      Clean localization files

Chances are you don’t need multiple language packs that reside on your Mac, hogging its valuable storage space. Do the following to remove localization files:

1. In the Applications folder, right-click an app
2. In the context menu, select Show Package Contents
3. In the Contents folder, open the Resources folder
4. Delete files ending with .lproj, leaving only en.lproj, es.lproj and other language packs you use

5.      Clean old iOS backups

Old iOS backups can be overwhelmingly large. You will be surprised how much storage space you can reclaim by following these simple steps:

1. In the Finder, select Go
2. Click Go to Folder
3. Type ~/Library/Application Support/MobileSync/Backup/and click Go
4. Select all files except the newest backups and drag them to the Trash
5. Empty the Trash

Also Read: How to Download osu on Mac – Tutorial

Do Mac cleaning apps actually work?

If manual junk files removal seems like too much of a hassle, it’s only because it is. Let’s face it: not everyone has time to methodically remove every single useless file macOS is hoarding. Perhaps, for this reason, the Mac applications market is brimming with cleaning utilities. How useful are they?

Judging from the Apple community discussion of a popular cleaning app MacKeeper and our professional experience, Mac cleaning apps do work. They help to remove not only caches and language logs but also duplicate files, app leftovers, and virtually all kinds of digital junk in just a few clicks. What’s the catch?

If you want to clean your Mac without exerting much effort, prepare to shell out a few bucks. Some cleaning utilities are more affordable than others, but no decent Mac cleaner is free. And that’s the long and short of it. If you have money to spare, don’t waste another minute on junk file removal. Instead, leave the chore to the professional app that can tackle it more thoroughly and, which might be crucial for you, much faster.

Conclusion

A few clicks here and macOS caches are gone. A few clicks there and system logs go poof. A few clicks … Well, you got the gist. Removing junk files from your Mac is not that difficult and we hope our advice effectively guided you through the process. Let me know in the comments below if it was helpful or request additional guidance, if necessary.

Have a Great Day!