- How To Find Out What Other Is On Mac Storage System
- How To Find Out What Other Is On Mac Storage Management
Have you noticed that 'Other' files take too much storage on your Mac? Well, we will tell you what are 'Other' files and provide you 5 solutions to remove them. If your MacBook Pro is running out of storage, and you're not willing to buy an external or internal hard drive for now, here's how you can free up some of disk's space using the macOS High Sierra's built-in storage management tool: Get to the About This Mac box Click the Apple logo from the menu bar, and click About This Mac. Next, tap on iPhone/iPad Storage → Now, check out how much storage has been used and how much space is left. Have a look at the thing that has consumed most space on your device. The most obvious villains would be Other, apps, photos, media and even mail.
Use A Third-Party Mac Cleaner App - Editor's Pick. The efficient way to delete other files on Mac is to. On a Mac Open System PreferencesiCloud and you will see all the services you have enabled on your iCloud account. At the bottom of this window you'll see a multi-coloured horizontal bar that depicts your storage and shows how much of each kind of item there is stored in iCloud according to the following categories: Photos and Videos (Yellow).
You may have the same problems as the above one. Even though you have no idea of what 'Other' files are, they have already taken up a large amount of storage on your Mac. However, there is no need to worry about. Because we are going you tell you what 'Other' on your Mac storage is. What's more, we are going to share 5 solutions to get rid of it and well maintain your Mac performance.
Part 1. What Is 'Other' on Mac Storage and How to Find It
'Other' is taking up a lot of space on your Mac, similar to Other on iPhone. Generally, Mac OS X will classify files into Audio, Movies, Photos, Apps, Mail, Backup and Other automatically. The files that Mac OS X doesn't allocate or recognize will be regarded as 'Other' files.
To check the storage on your Mac, you can open Finder, click Apple icon on the menu bar, then click on About This Mac. You can select Storage to check your Mac storage.
You can check the following 'Other' files to help you know better 'Other' on Mac storage. They may include:
- Documents and files types like DOC, PDF, PSD, etc.
- Disk images and archives like zips, dmg, iso, etc.
- Files like Fonts, App Accessories, App Plugins, and App Extensions.
- User library items like Application Support, Screen Savers, iCloud files, etc.
- Anything in the Mac OS X system folder, including temporary files, swap. Voices, etc.
- Files that cannot be found by Spotlight, including a virtual machine hard drive, Windows Boot Camp partitions, etc.
Part 2. Remove 'Other' files with Third-Party Software on Mac
When talking about deleting 'Other' files on Mac, nothing could be more convenient than installing a third-party program. No matter you want to delete caches, or remove unused apps, you can try the professional software Mac Cleaner. It is an all-in-one app to clean and optimize your Mac.
- Monitor your Mac performance and delete 'Other' files in 1-click.
- Check disk utilization, memory usage, battery status, and CPU usage.
- Remove junk/old/large files, clutter, shred files and uninstall apps on Mac.
- Compatible with Mac/Mac Pro/Mac mini/iMac/iMac Pro/MacBook, etc.
Free download, install and launch Mac Cleaner on your Mac. You can click 'Status' to preview the status of CPU, Memory and disk usage. You can clearly check 'Others' is taking up your Mac storage.
Step 2How To Find Out What Other Is On Mac Storage System
Remove junk filesYou can clean your Mac by click 'Cleaner'. Here, you can check and delete System Junk, iPhone Junk, Email Junk, Similar Photo, iTunes Junk, Trash bin, Large & Old Files, Duplicate Files.
For example, System Junk includes System Cache from DNS, Application Cache, System Logs, User Log, and Localization. You can click 'System Junk' to remove 'Other' files.
Step 3Scan System JunkClick 'Scan' to scan system junk on your Mac. After scanning, click 'View' to preview the 'Other' files.
Step 4Delete junk filesCheck the 'Other' files you want to delete and click 'Clean'. To make sure you have though thoroughly to delete the selected system junk, a pop-up window will show up to notice you to confirm the deletion. Just click 'Confirm' to remove 'Other' files.
To remove 'Other' files like downloads on Mac, you can go to 'Toolkit' > 'Privacy'.
To erase the Login settings, you can go to 'Toolkit' > 'Optimize'.
To uninstall unneeded apps, you can go to 'Toolkit' > 'Uninstall'.
Part 3. Delete 'Other' Storage with Built-in Features on Mac
If you want to delete 'Other' files manually, you can find them and drag them to Trash Bin.
How To Find Out What Other Is On Mac Storage Management
1. Remove cache files on Mac
Step 1Click Finder icon on your Mac, and select Go > Go to Folder…
Step 2Type ~/Library/caches into the text box. A lot of cache files will show up.
Step 3Select the App folder and drag the 'Other' files you want to remove to Trash.
2. Delete downloaded files on Mac
Step 1Click Finder icon on your Mac.
Step 2Find and click Downloads to view all downloaded files on Mac.
Step 3Choose the downloads you want to remove and right-click on the selected files. Then, choose Move to Trash to delete downloaded files.
3. Delete temporary files on Mac
It is inevitable to maintain temporary files as long as you use Mac. You can remove the temporary files manually on Mac.
Step 1Navigate to Go to Folder, and type in '~/Users/User/Library/Application Support/'.
Step 2You can view applications and the temporary files. Select the files and drag them to Trash.
4. Remove app plugins and extensions
Plug-ins or add-ons are commonly used in web browsers to display new type files, play video, or scan virus (e.g. Safe Finder). You can delete extensions and plugins from Safari, Chrome, and Firefox.
Safari
Step 1Launch Safari browser and tap on Safari menu.
Step 2Click Preferences… > Extensions
Step 3Click Uninstall to remove the extensions.
Chrome
Step 1Launch Google Chrome and type the three-dot icon.
Step 2Click More Tools > Extensions.
Step 3Select and delete the extensions as you want.
Firefox
Step 1Open Firefox and click on the three-line icon.
Step 2Click Add-ons > Extensions.
Step 3Click Remove to delete the extensions
Conclusion
After reading the passage, it seems easier to delete 'Other' files on your Mac. With the professional Mac cleaner, you can delete the 'Other' files on your Mac storage in one click. You can also need to protect your Mac clean and organized by monitoring and cleaning your Mac regularly.
System cleanup in one clickSometimes, you need to know how much storage space in on your Mac. Apple doesn't make this info readily available because not many of us need to know about Mac storage often enough. It's really easy to check, though – and there are even some alternatives that give you better options for managing your on-board memory!
People need to check their storage space for a variety of reasons. Sometimes it's just good device management; sometimes your computer is running slowly, and storage is the first culprit you think of. Ideally, about ten percent of the storage space on your Mac should be free at all times so your computer can run smoothly.
Depending on which model you have, this can be tricky to accomplish routinely. Maybe you need to delete some older apps you're not using, or the app isn't supported anymore. Maybe you're just holding onto old documents you no longer need.
Whatever your use-case, here's how to check disk space on Mac.
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How To Check Storage on Mac
It's actually really simple to check your device's memory! Here's how:
- On the menu bar, click the Apple logo in the top left
- Select ‘About this Mac'
- Select ‘Storage'
This is the easiest method for how to see storage on Mac – but you can go deeper! If you need a closer look at your Mac's memory use, there are a few ways to go about it.
From the Storage screen, you can select ‘Manage,' which takes you to a new window. Applications, Documents, Photos, and other sections can be found on the left of this window, and a detailed view of those files on the right.
You can also use Finder! To do so, Open Finder, go to the View menu item in the menu bar, and select ‘Show toolbar.' You'll see a new bar at the bottom of the Finder window showing the number if items for the section you have selected on the left-hand pane and the total amount of storage your Mac has available.
Check out how to use time machine
Disk Utility is another resource. Open Disk Utility, and it will launch into a view of the volume(s) on your Mac, which also shows how much space is used, and how much is free. (Keep in mind Disk Utility is meant for power users who want to manage their storage, and is a bit of overkill for most users.)
How To Manage Storage in macOS
There are also easy ways to manage the files or applications taking up room on your Mac.
In Finder, select the category from the left side pane, then the application or file you want to delete. Right-click on that file or app, select ‘delete,' and it'll be removed. From the System Information menu, simply select the file or app you want to get rid of, and select the ‘delete' button on the bottom right of the window.
But these two methods often doesn't solve the issue! One clever way to better manage the storage on your Mac is to use cloud storage options like iCloud, Dropbox, Google Drive, and OneDrive. Apple's iCloud is woven into your AppleID, and using it is a very straightforward approach; it's automatically added to the storage options for your Mac!
But iCloud is not the only solution for cloud storage on Mac. If you have something else, CloudMounter is the easiest and best way to manage all your cloud storage containers. It lives in your menu bar for easy access, and shows all your cloud storage options in Finder. It helps your Mac treat cloud storage as a local disk, making access and managing files really simple!
Best of all, CloudMounter uses 256-bit encryption, so your documents are always safe.
If all the menus and file size jargon of Apple's Finder and System Information options is confusing, we've got a great solution for you. iStat Menus is a handy app that also lives in the Menu Bar, and gives a graphical overview of CPU and GPU use in real-time, network connections, and memory use. Instead of dipping and diving through Apple's hierarchal menus, you can just click on iStat Menus to get the same information in a much better interface!
iStat Menus also allows you to keep the data surfaced directly on your menu bar. Instead of clicking the icon, you can choose to have things like CPU or memory usage as icons so the information is always available in real-time. Awesome!
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Probably the best (and definitely the most powerful) option for managing your Mac's memory is CleanMyMacX. Like iStat Menus, it has a drop-down window from the menu bar showing details like CPU or memory use, as well as which apps may be kicking your Mac into overdrive.
CleanMyMacX really shines when you open it up. The app scans your system and identifies unused files, random system junk, mail attachments – and also manages your trash bins. It scans for malware, checks for privacy leaks, optimizes your system for speedy performance, and does routine maintenance.
That's a lot, but we're not done! An option within CleanMyMacX named ‘Space Lens' is a lot like Apple's Finder, only better looking and much easier to use. Here you'll see all your applications and files divided into sections, and broken into sub-menus. You can also manually delete apps or files.
‘Large & Old Files' is a feature in CleanMyMacX which – you guessed it – finds large files and files you haven't touched in a long time. The goal is to help you identify which files might be worth deleting, or at least shuffling off to cloud storage. It even tells you how long its been since you used a file!
But let's be honest: most of the space on your Mac is probably taken up by apps. And chances are, you don't want or need most of those apps anyway. This is where CleanMyMacX shines bright! Under the ‘Applications' menu, you can update and manage apps and extensions with ease.
The ‘Uninstaller' option is a lot like the ‘Large & Old Files' option, just for apps. It shows you which apps are old, which may be abandoned (32-bit apps are no longer supported on Mac!), and which are just plain unused. It even shows you how large the apps are, letting you do the quick math on which will free up the most space when deleted.
To get rid of apps or files, simply select them from the CleanMyMacX menu, and select the ‘Uninstall' or ‘Delete' option at the bottom of the window. It's that easy!
Keep your Mac in top shape
Checking and managing the storage on your Mac is simple. While viewing your Mac's storage is easy to do without having a separate app, there are good reasons to have something beyond Apple's own options to manage your Mac's memory.
Apps often have files and folders embedded deep in your Mac's memory, which don't always go away when you simply delete the app from Apple's menus. Sure, you got rid of the main offender, but many apps (like those from Adobe) have nuisance files that linger long after you delete the app.
Similarly, moving an app to the trash bin doesn't actually delete it. The ‘Trash' app is little more than a place you put apps you don't want; it doesn't delete them. You have to manage your trash bin separately, which can balloon out of control.
CleanMyMacX is a great bet for handling it all. It's smarter at deleting files, folders, and apps, and gives you a much better view of what may be occupying your Mac's storage. It also removes associated files for apps you delete.
There's no silver-bullet solution, though! We also like CloudMounter for those with multiple cloud storage solutions, and iStat Menus is really sharp at surfacing the right data when you need it. Best of all, all three options are available for free as part of a seven day free trial for Setapp, along with dozens of other great apps.
Meantime, prepare for all the awesome things you can do with Setapp.
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