Do you find yourself constantly running out of storage space on your Mac? One culprit that often takes up a significant amount of space is the mysterious “Other” storage category. In this article, we will explore how to delete Other storage on your Mac and reclaim valuable disk space.
What is Other Storage?
Before we dive into the deletion process, let’s understand what Other storage actually is. When you check your Mac’s storage usage in the About This Mac section, you might notice a significant portion of your disk space being occupied by Other. This category includes various types of files that are not categorized under specific file types like documents, photos, or applications.
Why does Other storage accumulate?
The accumulation of Other storage can be attributed to temporary files, system caches, browser data, plugins, extensions, and other system-related files. Removing these unnecessary files can help free up a substantial amount of disk space.
Getting Started with Deleting Other Storage
Step 1: Close any unnecessary applications and save any important work you have open.
Step 2: Open Finder by clicking on the blue smiley face icon located in your Dock.
Step 3: In the menu bar at the top of your screen, click on “Go” and select “Go to Folder”. Alternatively, you can use the shortcut ⌘ + Shift + G.
Step 4: A small window will appear. In this window, type “~/Library” (without quotes) and click on “Go”.
Cleaning System Caches
The first step in deleting Other storage is to clean up system caches. These caches are temporary files that help your Mac run smoothly but can accumulate over time and take up significant space. Here’s how you can clean them:
Step 1: In the Finder window that appears after following Step 4 above, locate the “Caches” folder and double-click to open it.
Step 2: Inside the Caches folder, look for folders with names starting with “com.apple.” These are system cache folders.
Step 3: Select all these folders by holding down the Command key (⌘) and clicking on each folder.
Step 4: Right-click on any of the selected folders and choose “Move to Trash”. Confirm your action when prompted.
Delete Unnecessary Language Files
Your Mac comes with multiple language files for different languages. If you only use one or two languages, you can delete unnecessary language files to free up space. Follow these steps:
Step 1: Go back to the Finder window open at “~/Library”, as mentioned earlier.
Step 2: Open the “Preferences” folder.
Step 3: Look for folders named like “com.LaunchServices” or “com.spotlight” followed by a language code (e.g., en.lproj for English).
Step 4: Select all these language folders that you don’t need and move them to Trash.
Cleaning Browser Data
If you use web browsers like Safari or Google Chrome regularly, they might be contributing a significant portion to your Other storage. Here’s how you can clean browser data:
For Safari:
- In Safari, click on “Safari” in the menu bar and select “Preferences”.
- Go to the “Advanced” tab and enable the “Show Develop menu in menu bar” option.
- In the menu bar, click on “Develop” and select “Empty Caches”.
For Google Chrome:
- In Google Chrome, click on the three dots in the top-right corner and select “Settings”.
- Scroll down and click on “Privacy and Security” in the left sidebar.
- Click on “Clear browsing data”.
- Select the time range for which you want to clear data and check the types of data you want to remove.
- Click on “Clear Data”.
Conclusion
Congratulations! By following these steps, you should have successfully deleted a significant portion of Other storage on your Mac.
Remember to regularly perform these cleanup steps to keep your system running smoothly and maintain ample disk space. Enjoy your newfound storage space!
Note: Deleting system files can have unintended consequences or result in loss of data if not done carefully. Ensure that you follow each step correctly and double-check before permanently deleting any files. It’s always a good idea to backup your important data before performing any system-level operations.