A lot of times we notice that the disk space of our Mac is nearly full but we don’t have a lot of data in use. Many people think that it might be happening because of some virus or bug in their system, but these are the unnecessary large files that are using a lot of space in our device.

1. Find Large Files Mac App Store
2. Mac Find File Command
3. Apple Mac Find Large Files
4. Mac Os Find Large Files

Some apps may show a list of recent files at the bottom of the File menu instead. After you find the document, you can tag it, or drag it to a new location. See also See and organize your files in the Finder on Mac Ways to quickly see items in the Finder on Mac Recover files using Time Machine and Spotlight on Mac Narrow your search results on Mac. Jun 26, 2019  RAR is a proprietary archive format, so you need third-party software to open and extract it on your Mac. In this post, we show you our favorite software to use for this, as well as some alternative ways to open.rar files in macOS. If you use macOS Sierra, you can find the biggest files faster. Go to Apple Menu → About This Mac → Storage. Click the Manage button. Select “Reduce Clutter”, and click “Review Files” in the Storage Optimizing window.

These unnecessary large files are just filling up our disk space when we don’t even need them, which is also one of the reasons for bad performance of our Mac. The best thing is to remove all of the unneeded large files to free up some space in your Mac and enhance its performance. Do you know how to find and delete large files on Mac? We will discuss the best ways to get this done in this article.

• How to Find Large Files Manually? 3 Ways Available

How to Find Large Files Manually

There are some manual ways to find Mac’s large files. According to the different macOS versions, the ways to locate big files are also different. You need to confirm the Mac’s operating system version first, and find the right way that fits your device. We have mentioned 3 of them below. Just have a look each by each.

1. Use 'Reduce Clutter' （Available for macOS Sierra）

Difficulty: Medium

With the macOS Sierra, you can easily detect and delete all of the unnecessary large files from your Mac. It has a build-in feature called Reduce Clutter, which means that you can easily find large files on Mac that you may be no longer need and might have forgotten. Deleting them can help you free up a lot of disk space. Let’s learn about this feature of macOS Sierra in details.

How to find large files on macOS Sierra

• Go to Apple Menu that is located in the left bottom corner, and click on the About This Mac.
• Go to the Storage Tab. In the Storage tab, you will have a Manage button in right corner of the tab. Click on the Manage button.
• In the next window, you will notice the Storage Optimizing suggestions. You have 4 options available here. Go to the Reduce Clutter and click on the Review files to see the oldest and largest files that are of no use anymore.
• In the Review Files, you can select the types of files you want to see from the sidebar. For example, iTunes, Trash, Applications, Documents or others.

Note

Disadvantages of this method

• Some types of files display the size of each file only.
• This feature is only available for macOS Sierra.
• The capability to remove the files from the window is not available for all types of files.

2. Use 'Finder' （Available for Any Version of Mac's Operating System）

Difficulty: Medium

The Finder on Mac has a built-in function to locate large files on Mac with the Spotlight search. You can click on the folder or hard drive that you want to search. Just go to the search window, and click on the + option present next to the Save button. You can go to the drop-down menus to choose the File Size and Greater Than choices. Then type the minimum file size that you need to look for and all of the files over that minimum size will be shown in the next window. At last, you can then easily select the large files that you want to remove.

Note

Disadvantages of this method

• The Finder only displays the single files over particular file size, not the folders that are full of smaller size files, for examples program installs or Downloads.
• It is very difficult to choose the particular files to delete as you are not provided a proper display for the exact locations of the files and how important these files might be.

3. Use Terminal (for Advanced Users)

Difficulty: Hard

If you’ll ask experienced Mac users how to find big files on mac, they will suggest using the built-in commands to perform a number of different tasks. These commands typed into the Terminal offer almost unlimited access to maximum files that are saved on the computer. To start, open the Terminal by using the Spotlight shortcut of Spacebar and Command, or simply go to the Utilities folder in the Applications by using the Finder. You can carefully type or copy and paste the below command in Terminal:

sudo find / -type f -size +100000k -exec ls -lh {} ; | awk '{ print $9 ': ' $5 }'

When this command is executed, it will show all of the files associated with the files that are equal to or greater than the 100 Megabytes in size. Click Return to perform the command. As you are using the superuser permissions, you will have to confirm the actions by providing the account password. To remove the files, type in this command: rm “path” (add the path of the file you wish to delete).

Note

Disadvantages of this method

• It is a little hard to perform with tough commands.
• It cannot be carried out by a newbie because a beginner can delete important files on the Mac.

Is There A Way to Find and Delete Large Files Automatically and Easily

We have discussed some manual ways to deal with the large files on your Mac device. But are these methods easy to perform? No, these methods are not easy to complete and a lot of people make mistakes performing the above methods. So, what is the best solution to deal with the unwanted large files? You can use a reliable software like Umate Mac Cleaner to do the job easily. It can detect and efficiently delete all of the large files on your device.

Use Umate Mac Cleaner to Find and Remove Large Files

Difficulty: Very Easy

There are a lot of Mac users that have been using the Umate Mac Cleaner for a very long time. This tool is 100% effective and is also very simple to use. You might have used other tools with a very complex layout, but Umate Mac Cleaner can even be used by a new person. This app can perform a lot of functions on your Mac device. Maybe you don’t like to spend money on the paid tools, but this one is really worth every penny you spend on it.

You can follow the below steps to remove all of the unnecessary large files from your Mac device:

Step 1: Download the Umate Mac Cleaner, then install and launch it on your Mac. The app is compatible with Macbook/iMac that are running macOS 10.15-10.9.

Step 2: Select the “Delete Large Files” tab and click on the big Scan button, then Umate Mac Cleaner will start to search for all the large files that are over 50MB on your Mac.

Step 3: Once the process of scanning is finished, you can choose those large files that you want to delete and hit the Delete button to remove all of them with 1 click. So easy!

Hear the voices from the real users of Umate Mac Cleaner

In addition to users, the app is also highly recommended by famous technology websites, like Cult of Mac, Macworld, techradar, etc.

Find out Some Important Large Files? Try to Compress Them to Save Space

If you discover some large files on your Mac that are important, and you do not want to remove them, then here is a method – to compress these files. This will help you to save some more free space on your device, as the size of a compressed file is very much smaller than the original files.

In the past, the people who used Mac devices had to spend money on costly tools to compress folders and files. These apps are still availabl, however, they are no longer needed the way they once were. In fact, the macOS X has the built-in functions that help you to zip or compress, folders and files in real-time.

Below are the simple steps on how to compress large files and folders:

1. Find the folders or files that you want to compress and then choose more than one file or folder by holding down the Shift and clicking.
2. Once you have selected all of the items, press the right-click button on the mouse, and then choose Compress.
3. Then a window will come up next and indicates that the Mac has started compressing the selected items. This process may take some time, depending on the size of those files that need to zip.

When your Mac has completed the process of compressing the folders and files, you will notice a little zipped file. This file has all of the folders and files you selected to be compressed by the Mac. You can simply forward to any of your contacts, and they will be able to see all of the data available on it. All Mac device users have to do is perform a double-click on the zip file to open it.

Get into Action

Deleting the unnecessary large files on your Mac can free up plenty of space in your system. A lot of people prefer to use the manual ways to find big files on Mac as they are free, but they are difficult as well. If you ask experts about the best method, they will suggest you use the Umate Mac Cleaner as it is super easy to use. You can easily detect and delete all of the large files with a few clicks. Just get into action and download the app now!

Optimized Storage in macOS Sierra and later* can save space by storing your content in iCloud and making it available on demand. When storage space is needed, files, photos, movies, email attachments, and other files that you seldom use are stored in iCloud automatically. Each file stays right where you last saved it, and downloads when you open it. Files that you’ve used recently remain on your Mac, along with optimized versions of your photos.

* If you haven't yet upgraded to macOS Sierra or later, learn about other ways to free up storage space.

Find out how much storage is available on your Mac

Choose Apple menu  > About This Mac, then click Storage. Each segment of the bar is an estimate of the storage space used by a category of files. Move your pointer over each segment for more detail.

Click the Manage button to open the Storage Management window, pictured below. This button is available only in macOS Sierra or later.

Manage storage on your Mac

The Storage Management window offers recommendations for optimizing your storage. If some recommendations are already turned on, you will see fewer recommendations.

Store in iCloud

Click the Store in iCloud button, then choose from these options:

• Desktop and Documents. Store all files from these two locations in iCloud Drive. When storage space is needed, only the files you recently opened are kept on your Mac, so that you can easily work offline. Files stored only in iCloud show a download icon , which you can double-click to download the original file. Learn more about this feature.
  
• Photos. Store all original, full-resolution photos and videos in iCloud Photos. When storage space is needed, only space-saving (optimized) versions of photos are kept on your Mac. To download the original photo or video, just open it.
  
• Messages. Store all messages and attachments in iCloud. When storage space is needed, only the messages and attachments you recently opened are kept on your Mac. Learn more about Messages in iCloud.

Storing files in iCloud uses the storage space in your iCloud storage plan. If you reach or exceed your iCloud storage limit, you can either buy more iCloud storage or make more iCloud storage available. iCloud storage starts at 50GB for $0.99 (USD) a month, and you can purchase additional storage directly from your Apple device. Learn more about prices in your region.

Optimize Storage

Click the Optimize button, then choose from these options.

• Automatically remove watched movies and TV shows. When storage space is needed, movies or TV shows that you purchased from the iTunes Store and already watched are removed from your Mac. Click the download icon next to a movie or TV show to download it again.
  
• Download only recent attachments. Mail automatically downloads only the attachments that you recently received. You can manually download any attachments at any time by opening the email or attachment, or saving the attachment to your Mac.
  
• Don't automatically download attachments. Mail downloads an attachment only when you open the email or attachment, or save the attachment to your Mac.

Optimizing storage for movies, TV shows, and email attachments doesn't require iCloud storage space.

Empty Trash Automatically

Empty Trash Automatically permanently deletes files that have been in the Trash for more than 30 days.

Reduce Clutter

Find Large Files Mac App Store

Reduce Clutter helps you to identify large files and files you might no longer need. Click the Review Files button, then choose any of the file categories in the sidebar, such as Applications, Documents, Music Creation, or Trash.

You can delete the files in some categories directly from this window. Other categories show the total storage space used by the files in each app. You can then open the app and decide whether to delete files from within it.

Learn how to redownload apps, music, movies, TV shows, and books.

Where to find the settings for each feature

The button for each recommendation in the Storage Management window affects one or more settings in other apps. You can also control those settings directly within each app.

• If you're using macOS Catalina, choose Apple menu  > System Preferences, click Apple ID, then select iCloud in the sidebar: Store in iCloud turns on the Optimize Mac Storage setting on the right. Then click Options next to iCloud Drive: Store in iCloud turns on the Desktop & Documents Folders setting. To turn off iCloud Drive entirely, deselect iCloud Drive.
  In macOS Mojave or earlier, choose Apple menu > System Preferences, click iCloud, then click Options next to iCloud Drive. Store in iCloud turns on the Desktop & Documents Folders and Optimize Mac Storage settings.
• In Photos, choose Photos > Preferences, then click iCloud. Store in iCloud selects iCloud Photos and Optimize Mac Storage.
• In Messages, choose Messages > Preferences, then click iMessage. Store in iCloud selects Enable Messages in iCloud.

• If you're using macOS Catalina, open the Apple TV app, choose TV > Preferences from the menu bar, then click Files. Optimize Storage selects “Automatically delete watched movies and TV shows.”
  In macOS Mojave or earlier, open iTunes, choose iTunes > Preferences from the menu bar, then click Advanced. Optimize Storage selects “Automatically delete watched movies and TV shows.”
• In Mail, choose Mail > Preferences from the menu bar, then click Accounts. In the Account Information section on the right, Optimize Storage sets the Download Attachments menu to either Recent or None.

Empty Trash Automatically: From the Finder, choose Finder > Preferences, then click Advanced. Empty Trash Automatically selects “Remove items from the Trash after 30 days.”

Mac Find File Command

Other ways that macOS helps automatically save space

With macOS Sierra or later, your Mac automatically takes these additional steps to save storage space:

• Detects duplicate downloads in Safari, keeping only the most recent version of the download
• Reminds you to delete used app installers
• Removes old fonts, languages, and dictionaries that aren't being used
• Clears caches, logs, and other unnecessary data when storage space is needed

Apple Mac Find Large Files

How to free up storage space manually

Even without using the Optimized Storage features of Sierra or later, you can take other steps to make more storage space available:

Mac Os Find Large Files

• Music, movies, and other media can use a lot of storage space. Learn how to delete music, movies, and TV shows from your device.
• Delete other files that you no longer need by moving them to the Trash, then emptying the Trash. The Downloads folder is good place to look for files that you might no longer need.
• Move files to an external storage device.
• Compress files.
• Delete unneeded email: In the Mail app, choose Mailbox > Erase Junk Mail. If you no longer need the email in your Trash mailbox, choose Mailbox > Erase Deleted Items.

Learn more

• The Storage pane of About This Mac is the best way to determine the amount of storage space available on your Mac. Disk Utility and other apps might show storage categories such as Not Mounted, VM, Recovery, Other Volumes, Free, or Purgeable. Don't rely on these categories to understand how to free up storage space or how much storage space is available for your data.
• When you duplicate a file on an APFS-formatted volume, that file doesn't use additional storage space on the volume. Deleting a duplicate file frees up only the space required by any data you might have added to the duplicate. If you no longer need any copies of the file, you can recover all of the storage space by deleting both the duplicate and the original file.
• If you're using a pro app and Optimize Mac Storage, learn how to make sure that your projects are always on your Mac and able to access their files.