The release of Apple’s cutting-edge M1 chips has consumers scrambling to buy Macs. The combination of speed, efficiency, and good old-fashioned Mac reliability has seen popularity skyrocket.
But while the new Macs are faster and cooler than ever, some problems are eternal. That’s right, users are still contending with the bugbear of hard drive space.
So, is your Mac’s hard drive full? Need some expert tips on cleaning it up and keeping it that way?
You’ve come to the right place.
1. Let Your Mac Handle It for You
Since macOS Sierra, your Mac has been able to optimize its storage itself with a handy suite of automated tools. Simply click the Apple Menu, go to ‘About This Mac’, then ‘Storage’. You’ll find tools that will enable you to do things like automatically delete Apple TV shows you’ve already seen from your hard drive and other similar things.
Your Mac knows its storage better than you do, so why not let it save hard drive space itself?
2. Get Rid of What You Don’t Need
Be honest, now: do you really need all those files and applications cluttering your downloads folder? Probably not, so take the time to go through and throw out the apps and folders you don’t use. Your Mac will thank you!
3. Remove Duplicates
While you’re clearing away the stuff you don’t use, make sure you haven’t doubled up on the stuff you do use. Scour your documents and download folders for file doppelgängers and get rid of them. This way, you can clear out a hard drive without even losing anything!
4. Hard Drive Full? Use Apple’s Instead
Your Mac comes deeply integrated with Apple’s best-in-class suite of tools and services. One of these is iCloud, Apple’s cloud storage solution that gives you a free 5GB to do what you want with.
So if your hard drive’s getting full and you can’t afford to delete stuff completely, offload it to Apple’s cloud!
5. Clear Out Your Photo Library
Your cat is cute, but you don’t need a thousand identical pictures of them. Tools exist to let you scan and delete duplicate photos and free uploads of storage. Read more on how to remove them here.
6. Clean Out Old Backups
Backups can take up massive amounts of space. Make sure you don’t have ancient copies of your iPhone from 8 years ago still lurking in your storage!
7. Clear Out Your Inbox
Emails are tiny, but when you have 50,000 of them, they add up. Take the time to go through your inbox and throw those Amazon receipts from 2013 into the trash.
Room to Grow
By following these simple tips, you’ll end up with more space on your Mac than you know what to do with. That will leave you with the time and space to get on with your life, and a hard drive full of possibilities.
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