How to Free Up & Optimize Mac Storage: 7 Proven Tips for macOS Performance

Part 1. How to Check Storage on Mac & What's Taking Up Space

How to See Storage on Mac

Unlike Windows 10, macOS is designed very well and allows users to check what’s taking up space on their drive. To see how much storage is on your Mac:

• Click the Apple menu in the top-left corner of the screen.

• Select "About This Mac" and go to the "Storage" tab.

• You will see a color-coded bar showing how your disk space is used and how much is available.

  

Tips:

Alternatively, you can open Finder, select your main hard drive (usually named “Macintosh HD”), press Command + I to get info on the disk, including storage details.

Storage Categories

The storage bar in the Storage tab divides your disk space into several categories:

• Apps: Space taken by installed applications.
• Documents: Files like PDFs, text files, and other personal documents.
• System Data: Essential macOS files and system caches.
• Photos: Photos and videos stored locally.
• Other: Files that don’t fit into standard categories, such as caches, plugins, extensions, and temporary files.
• iCloud: Files stored in iCloud but accessible on your Mac (may appear if you use Optimize Storage).
• Music, Movies, Backups: Media files and device backups.

Why Mac Storage Fills Up - Common Culprits

• Large files & old downloads (movies, ISOs)
• iCloud syncing duplicates local storage
• Other users can share Mac storage if multiple accounts
• Cached data from Mail, iMessage, and web browsers

These are common for both MacBook Air and MacBook Pro. You may open "Others" in storage settings to see temporary files, cache, and more. With this storage overview, it becomes very easy to clean up your drive more effectively.

Part 2. Free Up Storage on Mac Using Professional Mac Cleaner in Seconds (Clean System, Large Files & Other Storage)

Is Optimize Mac Storage not working? Or, you’re frustrated with manual methods to manage storage on Mac? Use one of the most powerful and user-friendly cleanup tools, Tenorshare Cleamio. If you are looking for how to get more storage on a Mac, Cleamio is the solution. It is powered by AI, capable of deep scanning and smart removing junk files, large files, duplicate files, and also similar photos on Mac. With it, you can clean up your Mac and optimize its performance dramatically.

Tenorshare Cleamio Makes It Easier To:

Cleamio offers multiple features to clear other storage on Mac and manage storage on Mac more effectively, including:

• System and application caches, logs, unnecessary installation packages, and junk files are scanned deeply
• Identifies and deletes large files effectively
• Removes duplicate files and other duplicate photos securely

How to Clear Storage on Mac Quickly and Safely Using Tenorshare Cleamio

Here is a step-by-step guide to using Cleamio as your best macOS storage optimizer:

• After opening Tenorshare Cleamio, click "Junk Files" and then click "Scan".

  

• After the initial scan is complete, you can choose the files you want removed, like system and app junks, unused installer or app leftovers, browsing data, hidden Trash Bin items, and more. Then click “Smart Cleanup” to clear Mac storage.

  

• Wait a few seconds as you optimize Mac storage with Cleamio and click “Ok” to finish the process.

  

This way you can enjoy Cleamio when Mac Photos' optimize storage feature does not work on your machine.

Part 3. How to Free Up & Optimize Mac Storage in 5 Effective Ways

Reclaiming space and boosting your Mac’s performance can be achieved with built-in tools and manual methods. Below are five effective ways to how to clean up storage on Mac, starting with macOS’s native optimization features.

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• Way 1. Use macOS's Built-in Storage Optimization Tools (Optimize Mac Storage & More)
• Way 2. Delete Unused Apps/Files and Old Backups
• Way 3. Clear Cache on Mac
• Way 4. Delete Time Machine Snapshots on Your Mac
• Way 5. Transfer Files or iMessages to iCloud or External Devices

Way 1. Use macOS's Built-in Storage Optimization Tools (Optimize Mac Storage & More)

If you’re looking for how to clean up storage on a Mac or perform iCloud storage optimization without third-party tools, macOS offers built-in features to manage your storage efficiently. One key option is Optimize Mac Storage.

What Does Optimize Mac Storage Mean

Optimize Mac Storage is a feature in macOS that helps save space by moving less-used files (e.g., documents, photos, and videos) to iCloud when your Mac is low on disk space. Only recently used or optimized versions of files remain on your Mac, while originals are kept in iCloud. This helps you free up local storage without deleting your data.

Where Is Optimize Storage on Mac & How to Use It to Clear Mac Storage

• Click the Apple menu > “About This Mac” > “Storage” tab.

• Click “Manage...” to open the Storage Management window.

• Under Recommendations, you will see options like “Optimize Storage”, “Empty Trash Automatically”, and “Store in iCloud” for iCloud storage optimization.

• Just tap the “Optimize” button next to “Optimize Storage”.

  

This is how to optimize iCloud storage for higher efficiency on your Mac.

Way 2. Delete Unused Apps/Files and Old Backups

Sometimes we have a lot of unused or old apps, files, and backups. Removing them can help free up a lot of space.

• Open Applications and drag unwanted apps to Trash, then empty Trash.

• Check “~/Library/Application Support/” for old app data and delete files that you do not need to optimize photo storage on Mac.

• Connect iOS device to Mac and click “Manage Backups” on Finder. Select old backups and click on “Delete Backup” to remove old backups.

  

Note:

For older macOS, go to “iTunes” > “Preferences” > “Devices”. Then select old backups and choose “Delete Backup”.

Way 3. Clear Cache on Mac

Not all cache files on your storage drive are necessary. So, locating and deleting them can help free some storage without impacting the performance.

• In Finder, press “Shift+Command+G”, type “~/Library/Caches”, and press Enter.

• Review and delete non-essential folders in the Caches folder carefully to free up storage on Mac.

• Don't delete the Caches folder itself.

  

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Way 4. Delete Time Machine Snapshots on Your Mac

Old-time Machine snapshots are not practically useful when you have newer versions. So, deleting them can free up a lot of space on your drive.

• Open Terminal via Applications → Utilities → Terminal. Then type “tmutil listlocalsnapshotdates” and press Enter see all local snapshots.

• Delete snapshots using: “sudo tmutil deletelocalsnapshots ” to optimize photo storage on Mac.

  

  Way 5. Transfer Files or iMessages to iCloud or External Devices

  If you cannot delete anything, then transferring it to external or iCloud drive is the only option with these steps:

  • Move to iCloud: Go to “System Settings” > “Apple ID” > “iCloud”, enable “iCloud Drive”. Then drag files (e.g., Documents, Desktop) to iCloud Drive to store them online.

    

  • Transfer to External Drive: Connect a USB drive or SSD, open Finder. Drag large files (e.g., videos, photos) to the drive, then delete the originals after verifying the transfer.

  • iMessages: Launch the Messages app on your Mac. Then go to “Messages” > “Preferences…” > “iMessage”. Then check the box next to “Enable Messages in iCloud” and click “Sync Now” to start.

    

• Delete those files from your Mac to optimize Mac storage.

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Part 4. Pro Tips: How to Manage Storage on Mac (Long-Term)

Here are some pro tips on how to get more storage on Mac by optimizing your files better:

• External drives or NAS can be installed to create large photo or backup archives.
• Automate the clean-up by creating Shortcuts or using Tenorshare Cleamio on a schedule.
• Check the storage using the Apple Solutions regularly to prevent storage accumulation.

These tips will help you to free up and optimize Mac storage consistently.

Part 5. People Also Ask about Optimizing Mac Storage

Q1: What are the best photo and NAS storage for Mac?

Look for an NAS solution such as Synology/WD My Cloud with Time Machine and use such services as iCloud and Google Photos for cloud backup.

Q2: Why is most of my Mac's storage system data?

This normally includes caches, logs, and snapshots, which are created by macOS. Utilities such as Cleamio can unveil and remove these junk files.

Q3: How to clear mail storage on Mac?

Open Mail and go to Messages. From here, you can click "remove attachments" to clear mail storage.

Q4: How to optimize iCloud storage?

Optimize Mac Storage is enabled in the System Settings. Place full files on iCloud and store compressed local original files to optimize Mac storage.

Q5: How to clear other storage on Mac?

Locate and remove cache files in ~/Library/Caches or resort to the professional tools like Cleamio, which know which files can be safely deleted as they are labelled as Other.

Q6: What happens if I turn off Optimize Mac Storage?

macOS maintains the full local copies of files, and this may take up gigabytes. Switching it off can assist in case you desire local accessibility at the cost of storage.

Q7: What does Optimize Mac Storage do?

It uploads full-resolution images to iCloud and keeps local thumbnails, allowing you to both save and clean up Mac storage, freeing up precious space without losing access.

Conclusion

Now you are aware of tips on how to free up and optimize Mac storage using built-in and beneficial applications such as Tenorshare Cleamio. Different ways to free space and enhance performance include Caching clearance, cloud offloading, one-click cleaning, and many others. Whether you're on a MacBook Air or Pro, start today to prevent clutter and ensure your Mac runs efficiently for years to come.