How To Check Space On Startup Disk Mac

/PowerMyMac /How to Clear Disk Space on Mac (Best Tips in 2021)

1. Check Disk Space Windows 7
2. Check Disk Space Windows 10

Your Mac has started to slow down, you are looking for ways to speed it up, one of the methods is to learn how to clear disk space on Mac, and that's why you are reading this guide.

Disk space is the space that we place all of our information, pretty much your programs, apps, user preferences, documents, videos, music, and so much more.

When your disk space is too full, your Mac will start to slow down as it has to go through so much information. So if you want to get a faster processing Mac or maybe you are just in it to do some 'spring cleaning' then you've definitely come to the right guide on how to clear disk space on Mac.

Article GuidePart 1. How to Clear Disk Space on Mac - Quickest WayPart 2. Other Tips on How to Free up Space on Mac Startup DiskPart 3. Final Conclusion

Part 1. How to Clear Disk Space on Mac - Quickest Way

So, how do I free up disk space on my Mac to make it run faster? There are quite a few ways to really clear out your disk space, and all of them can be quite a bit of trouble or time-consuming.

If you really don't have the time to bother or just don't want to go through the hassle, we can offer you a very fast solution: iMyMac PowerMyMac. PowerMyMac is a maintenance tool that can really help you clear out your disk space with a few clicks here and there.

PowerMyMac has a lot of handy little tools that can get your Mac game going in an instant. Some of the handiest tools of PowerMyMac are as follows:

1. Feb 06, 2016 Choose the 'Storage' tab (older versions of OS X need to click on ‘More Info' before the Storage tab appears) Review the storage usage to see what is eating up space and where you can focus your initial efforts on reclaiming some storage capacity. You'll often see things that are immediately actionable in this list.
2. Please also note that freeing up space will likely increase your Mac's performance. 1.How to check the current space on your Mac. First thing you should do is to check how much free space is available on your hard disk. You can easily check your disk usage from the About This Mac box.
3. Apr 16, 2020 How to Check Disk Space on Your Mac Step 1. On a desktop, click the Apple icon and select 'About This Mac'. At the About This Mac window, click on the 'More Info' button. Choose the 'Storage' tab to check the disk storage overview and capacity.

Performance Monitor

Solution 2: Try to boot in Safe Mode. If the internal hard disk drive is not found by Mac, booting Mac to Safe Mode can check the errors in the directory of your internal hard drive. To boot in Safe Mode, you need to restart the Mac and hold 'Shift' immediately, and release it until you see the login window. These instructions are not meant for novice Mac users. If you aren't at least a bit comfortable in Terminal, you may want to stick to the graphical user interface applications like Disk Utility. Locating the Disk. All of the disks that are attached to the Mac are located within the Volumes directory in Terminal. This directory is located one.

Maybe you aren't 100% sure about needing disk space as of yet, maybe something else is slowing down your Mac, with the Performance Monitor of PowerMyMac, you won't have to guess anymore. As soon as you start up the program, you will be treated to a comprehensive and easy to understand overview of your entire system. There you can verify CPU, Memory and Disk usage. Just having that information in one place makes it so much easier to know what you really need to do or if you were right and need to learn how to clear disk space on Mac.

Cleaner

Cleaning up files one by one is going to be a bit troublesome, to say the least. PowerMyMac has a collection of Cleaners to handle pretty much every known type of mess known to any and all Mac users. Having the ability to delete these junk folders can help you clear system storage on Mac as quickly as you were hoping for. Plus within this tool, you will find the Duplicate Finder, which can help you find repeat files and help you get rid of them accordingly, a pretty useful tool to have.

Uninstaller

Having several useless programs just sitting around on your Mac is something that really takes up a bit of disk space. How to play steam games for windows on mac. Sure, you can uninstall them using the traditional method, simply dragging the icon into the trash bin and then clearing it out. Unfortunately, however, when you do that, several folders related to that program are left behind, once again, these folders are still taking up your precious disk space.

Using the Uninstaller of PowerMyMac, on the other hand, gives you the chance to wipe out all of the other files along with the program, making sure that the uninstall is both clean and very sufficient.

Assuming you really want to know how to clear disk space on Mac, then using PowerMyMac will not only make your life easier, but it will also make things proficient and will streamline most of your needs. What more could you ask for?

Part 2. Other Tips on How to Free up Space on Mac Startup Disk

Delete the Duplicates

Having your Mac for a while and using it for the longest time, it is likely that you've placed a lot of files in it. With all the available options made to us, duplicate files have a high chance of occupying some much-needed disk space.

Check Disk Space Windows 7

Maybe the duplicate is a movie, a song, a photo, or something else, but one way or another you don't need them and you should hunt them down, then delete them permanently. For example, you can delete duplicates in iTunes to save some space.

Clear Out the Trash Bin

Much like when you have to take the trash, you have to make sure that you clear out your trash bin every so often.

Otherwise, even though the files are not in their original locations, they are still taking up some very important disk space. Only when you clear out the trash bin, that's the only time when they are officially removed from your Mac.

Uninstall Unused Applications and Programs

Uninstall useless apps is an efficient way on how to clear disk space on Mac. Much like clearing out the trash bin, if apps and programs are just sitting around and taking up some disk space, you might as well uninstall them.

That way you can not only get back the disk space you need, you could also be saving on processing power as a number of programs and apps update in the background, which could also be one of the main reasons why your Mac is slowing down.

As mentioned earlier, however, if your primary method of uninstalling is dragging the program into the trash bin and deleting it, this option leaves a lot to be desired for, so you may want to explore other ways of uninstalling if you really want to maximize getting back your disk space.

Clear Out the iTunes Backup Files

iTunes is a handy little program that comes with most Macs. Most users tend to use it and store videos, music, and other items, while that's great and all, iTunes tends to back up automatically from time-to-time. These backups are very handy if you ever plan to reformat or maybe even need your information back for some other reason.

How to clear disk space on Mac bu removing iTunes backup files? You can find the iTunes backup on your Mac and delete the older ones, they usually have a date attached to the file when it was backed up so the older ones are likely useless to most users.

Deleting them can really free up a lot of disk space, especially if you are a heavy iTunes user.

Remove Old iOS Backups

Considering the age of your Mac, it is more than likely that you've updated your iOS a few times over. It is also possible that a backup of the older iOS systems might still be sitting around on your Mac.

Scan through your Mac, assuming you are sure that you will never ever need them and delete them as soon as you are sure of your decision. Getting rid of those files will once again free some more disk space and if you updated your iOS a few times over, it could be rather large files.

Clear Out Temporary Files

It's important to know how to clear disk space on Mac by cleaning the temporary files. Because when you are using a Mac, temporary files or caches are created and these take up a bit of space.

Even using your browser has some temporary files, but clearing them out can help you retrieve that disk space you've been trying to get back.

You are welcome to find all of them one by one, but to be honest, a lot of cleaners can really make your life a lot easier with a few clicks here and there.

Clean Out the Download Folder

One of the folders that can really snowball into a space-consuming monster is the download folder. Some people tend to download a lot of files and just leave it in the folder, sometimes they only use the file once or twice and leave it in the download folder for a long time, forgetting it's even there.

Sure, sometimes a few documents won't really matter here and there, but when you start to count them the files could be hundreds of different documents, images and more, it will really eat a lot of your disk space.

The suggestion is to maintain your download folder daily, delete what you don't need and move files you need to other files, it takes a little bit of time, but in the long run, at least you won't have to spend a day or two sifting through your download folder.

Check Out What Is Taking Up Most of Your Disk Storage

Before doing somethings to clear disk space on Mac, you can check your disk space and find out what is taking up the bulk of your Mac's disk space.

Unfortunately, checking the current disk space on your Mac is the easiest part, having to go through the section that is taking up most of the space is what will take a lot of time.

It could be that your documents are taking up most of the space or maybe videos or music, whatever it is, you will likely have to go through it manually, find duplicates or older files you no longer need and delete it accordingly.

Part 3. Final Conclusion

Now that you know how you can find and how to clear disk space on Mac, you just have to take the time to actually do all of the steps above, especially if you are in dire need of disk space.

Of course, you are always welcome to use iMyMac PowerMyMac to make things easier to recover your disk space, but even other maintenance needs as well.

Whatever you choose to do in order to clear disk space on Mac, you just need to decide what option best fits your needs.

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A full startup disk is something that every Mac user will experience. This problem used to be known as 'Startup disk full' notification. However, on newer macOS versions this message has been changed to 'Your disk is almost full.'

But luckily, it's a problem that has many solutions. And in this article, we'll go over:

• What is startup disk full?
• What's causing 'Your disk is almost full' alert?
• How to fix startup disk full?
• How to prevent 'Your disk is almost full' problem?

However, we also understand that some people are short on time and just want to fix startup disk full. So, if you're not really interested in what it is and why it happens, just skip the next two sections and head to 'How to Clean Your Startup Disk'.

Or, even better, if you're looking how to clear space on Mac, we'd highly recommend a utility called CleanMyMac X. It'll help you clean up gigabytes of disk space in just minutes (you can download it here).

Note: if you're running macOS Sierra (or higher), it has a built-in option of Optimized Storage that is supposed to solve the problem of the full hard drive by moving files into the cloud.

By clicking 'Manage' you can open the menu and see what Optimized storage offers. However, it moves junk and useless files to the cloud together with your files, and eventually, you end up paying for iCloud storage to store junk. So we still recommend getting CleanMyMac and actually dealing with extra files rather than simply moving them.

Now, with all that said, let's get into what exactly 'Your disk is almost full' means.

Understanding What 'Your Disk is Almost Full' Means

What is a startup disk?

A startup disk, as taken from Apple Support article, is a volume or partition of a drive that contains a usable operating system. Still confused? Let's break it down for you.

Your Mac hard drive consists of disks (or partitions). Each disk (or partition) has your Mac data on it, which consists of your operating system, applications, etc. Most Mac users have just one disk but power users may have two or more.

Let's look at an example of a Mac with only one hard disk:

• Your Mac's hard drive is 500GB.
• It has one 'disk' on it, so all 500GB of storage is on that disk.
• The disk has an operating system (OS X El Capitan), and user data (apps, etc).
• And since you only have one disk, this is your startup disk: all 500GB.

A Mac with two disks will have the storage divided between them. The Mac drive with the OS on it is the startup disk while the other drive is just used for storage of files. It's possible to have multiple startup disks, but most Macs will only have one.

Why your disk is almost full?

This is easy. It's a lot like why is your fridge full? There is no more space! Your disk is almost full and this is very bad news for any drive. A hard disk should never get beyond 85% capacity (especially a startup disk) as you will experience slowness and errors the further you get above that mark.

If your startup disk is full and you get a message of warning from your Mac, this is a serious indication that you need to clear up storage immediately.

What to do when your disk is almost full?

So how do you fix your almost full startup disk? The same way you solve the problem of a packed fridge - you need to clear up storage, of course. To make more space on your startup disk you will need to:

1. Delete files from your Mac.
2. Move files to an external hard drive or cloud storage.
3. Or install a second internal hard drive on your Mac.

So, now that we know what a startup disk is, we need to talk about how to fix it. Let's take a closer look at your disk space to see exactly what is causing your disk to be almost full.

What's Causing 'Your Disk Is Almost Full' Alert?

Short version: Take a look under-the-hood of your Mac.

Before we can see what is taking up space on your startup disk, first we have to find it:

1. Hover on the Dock at the bottom of your screen and open Finder.
2. Click on 'Finder' in the menu bar at the top of your screen.
3. Then select 'Preferences…'
4. In the window that opens, checkmark the 'Hard disks' checkbox.

After selecting this box, your desktop should now show the hard disks on your mac, in the form of icon(s), like this:

These are disks on your Mac that you can 'startup', this is because they have operating systems on them. If there is more than one of these hard disk icons that show up on your desktop, it means you've got multiple hard disks on your Mac. If you only have one, skip the down to 'What is taking up all of my startup disk space?' section.

If you have more than one, continue with the next step:

Check Disk Space Windows 10

Click on the Apple icon at the top left of your screen System Preferences > Startup Disk.
Here, again, you'll find your hard disk(s); they're probably named something like MainSSD or MainHD. It will also display 'OS' and the version number of that OS. If you have more than one OS drive, your startup disk should be the one with the latest version of macOS running on it, but we're going to make sure of that in the next step.

I only have one and it looks like this:

To make 100% sure that you know what drive is your startup disk, follow these steps:

1. Click on the Apple Icon in the menu at the top-left of your screen.
2. Select 'About This Mac.'
3. Under macOS, you'll find a version number. Mine is 10.15.1, like so:

See how my version number in the 'About This Mac' window matches the number in my Startup Disk section? Yep — That's my startup disk. Found yours? Good.

What is taking up all of my startup disk space?

Now that we've identified our startup disk, let's take a closer look at how to clear up space on Mac:

1. Click the Apple Icon in the menu at the top-left corner of your screen.
2. Choose 'About This Mac.'
3. Click Storage.
   Note: If you are running an older version of OS X you may have to first click 'More Info…' and then 'Storage'.

Take a look at my hard drive disk:

I've got 500GB of storage, and about 275GB of it is free.

So, how big is your hard disk? How much free space do you have (if any — *gulp*)? And what's taking up the most space? It is important to consider drive capacity and data storage needs for future storage plans — we're not just here to fix the problem, for now, we're going to make sure you never have this problem in the future as well.

Now that we have the knowledge, it's time to take action and fix your Mac's 'Startup Disk Full' problem.

Let's go over 11 things you can do to help fix 'your disk is almost full.' These should also give you other ideas as to how else to fix it — You know your Mac better than we do!

1. Clear system storage on Mac

System storage cleanup sounds like a serious undertaking. But, technically, it boils down to just one thing: having the courage to scrap the old files.

1. Search for large ZIP/RAR archives in Downloads
2. Open your Desktop (Command + F3) and delete screenshots
3. In Applications, sort your apps by size. Delete the largest ones
4. Get rid of system junk files with a free version of CleanMyMac X
5. Restart your Mac to free up RAM.

2. Clean up cache files on your Mac

Cache files are files that help your Mac run programs a bit more smoothly. Think of them like blueprints for a house: your Mac has the blueprints for how a program is supposed to load/run/look, so it loads it faster; without them, it'd be like building it from scratch. However, over time, these caches can start to take up some serious space. Periodically, removing them can help clear storage. And don't worry, your Mac will create fresh, new ones after you restart your Mac. To remove caches:

1. Open a Finder window and select Go in the menu bar.
2. Click on 'Go to Folder…'
3. Type in ~/Library/Caches
   Delete the files/folders that are taking up the most space.
4. Now click on 'Go to Folder…'
5. Type in /Library/Caches (simply lose the ~ symbol)
   And, again, delete the folders that take up the most space.

Deleting cache files is generally safe for your Mac. And once you delete them, the applications and processes you run on your Mac will generate fresh, new ones. But, when deleting, worry more about removing them based on size rather than just removing all of them.

Also, you can check the /System/Library/Caches folder as well, but it might be better not to touch this folder without knowing what the items are. A utility that correctly cleans up these files (and pretty much everything else on this list) is, you guessed it, CleanMyMac X. It cleans up even your system caches with just a few clicks.

Oh, and once you're done with this list, restart your Mac so it can create these new cache files.

Read more: How to Clear Cache on a Mac?

3. Get rid of localization files

Localization files are also known as 'language packs.' Lots of apps come with other languages that you probably don't need. To clear up space on your Mac, delete the ones you don't need:

1. Open a Finder window.
2. Go to Applications.
3. Ctrl+click on an application.
4. Select 'Show Package Contents.'

From here, go to Contents > Resources and look for files ending in .lproj. These are the languages your app has just in case you want to use it in another language, like Spanish (es.lproj). Drag the ones you'll never use to the Trash.

Again, a safer alternative to this would be to use CleanMyMac X. It gets rid of all of them with a click. No digging through application folders, just a cleaner Mac.

Read more: How to Delete Language Files from macOS?

4. Delete duplicate files

Even if you have the most organized Mac on a planet, duplicates happen one way or another. It can be a file you've mistakenly downloaded twice or a mail attachment you've opened several times. Regardless of how they appeared, those files sit on your Mac and gobble up storage.

But finding and deleting them is a time-consuming process if you do it one by one. So here's what you can do to save up time:

1. Open the Finder app on your Mac
2. Move cursor over File and click New Smart Folder
3. Click the '+' button in the upper right corner and choose the type of files you want to see
4. Now sort them by name to quickly spot duplicates.

Remember to pay attention to the date of creation to make sure you keep the true original, not the copy.

While this is the best way to remove duplicates manually, it takes lots of your time and dedication. It'd be much easier to leave this to Gemini 2: The Duplicate Finder.

This app quickly scans your Mac for duplicate and similar files and allows you to delete them within minutes. It keeps your originals safe and helps you easily retrieve files deleted by accident.

5. Remove old iOS backups

Backups can tend to take up a lot of space. You can find and remove them by:

1. Launching a Finder window.
2. Clicking 'Go' in the menu bar.
3. Selecting 'Go to Folder…'
4. Then, type in ~/Library/Application Support/MobileSync/Backup/

Get rid of all the old, outdated backups your Mac has been storing for a bit more extra space.

6. Remove iOS software updates

You can find all the unnecessary data for your devices by:

1. Opening Finder.
2. Selecting 'Go' in the menu bar.
3. Clicking on 'Go to Folder…'
4. And entering for iPad ~/Library/iTunes/iPad Software Updates
   or entering for iPhone ~/Library/iTunes/iPhone Software Updates

Delete downloaded files for any of the devices that you are not using anymore, or ones which software just already updated. Remember that after any of your devices have been updated, you don't need those files.

Read more: How to Delete iOS Software Updates from Mac?

7. Remove unnecessary applications

This isn't often overlooked, but definitely under-appreciated. Removing old, unused applications is a great way to get some extra space on your startup disk. Go through your applications folder and get rid of all the apps you rarely use. But make sure you remove them correctly, don't just drag them to the Trash. If you do, you'll leave behind tons of leftover parts and pieces, and we're trying to get back startup disk space — It'll kinda defeat the purpose, no?

This is another place we'd suggest using CleanMyMac X. To completely remove any application, just launch CleanMyMac X, click Uninstaller, select your application, and then click Uninstall. You won't have to search all over for development junk that's left behind when Trash'ing an application. It's incredibly easy and saves you tons of time.

8. Clean up your photo library

Photos, photos, photos. Talk about tons of space! Firefox for mac high sierra. First and foremost, select only what you can get rid of, like image copies and maybe some photos that were mistakenly taken. You know, ones of the ground or something?

Ok, once your own files are taken care of, it's time to get rid of the files your system created. In Photos for Mac, it's cache files. In iPhoto, it's service copies. Both are a pain to find, but here's how you can get rid of them.

Photos cache includes iCloud local copies (created when you view pics from your iCloud photo library on a Mac), Faces cache (generated when you use Faces), and other app-related caches. You'd be surprised how much all that takes up if you regularly use Photos. For OS versions prior to macOS Sierra, here's the path to locate the cache:

1. Open Finder and navigate to your Photos library (normally, it's in the Pictures folder).
2. Ctrl+click your Photos library, and select 'Show Package Contents.'
3. Open resources, and then modelresource.

You should now see a lot more folders in your Finder window. Photos cache sits in these folders, but the tricky thing is that it's really hard to say what is safe to remove and what isn't. Deleting the wrong file can compromise the performance of Photos, which is why we highly suggest you use CleanMyMac X to clear the cache and system junk. It only removes files that are safe to delete, never a critical file or important image.

You can download CleanMyMac X for free and see how it works, it's so much safer than cleaning up system junk manually.

9. Clean up your Downloads, Movies, and Music folders

Have a closer look at these three folders. You'd be surprised at how many downloads can accumulate when you aren't paying attention. Clean out anything you don't need (or don't know) and organize the rest. It'll take a load off your mind to know that there's nothing excess there.

The Movies folder can be a pain, not because you're searching through tons of files, but it can be difficult to choose what to delete. Personally, I never want to get rid of Top Gun. It's amazing. I watched it 3 times in a row last weekend. But alas, sometimes you need to make sacrifices for the health of your Mac. Though, what you can do with movies you want to keep is to archive them. So, archive what you wish to keep and remove the rest.

How to archive/compress a file

Archiving a file doesn't mean to store deeper into the abyss of your Mac — but to turn the file into something smaller, into a compressed file (like .zip or .tar). By archiving a file, you shave off some memory. Archiving is essential for things you want to keep on your Mac, but don't often use, and helps you clear up some space. And that's what this is all about right? We're essentially doing the hokey-pokey on your Mac. To archive a file, just:

1. Ctrl+click the file you want to compress (recommended for movie files).
2. Select, 'Compress .'

The last place to sweep through is the Music folder. Find and remove duplicate music files first, and then clean up all the songs you downloaded on a weird Sunday afternoon cleaning the house.

10. Clean your Desktop

'Clean my desktop… but why?' Because some people's desktops are hard to look at, that's why. Organize your desktop and get rid of the stuff you just don't need on there. It looks better and helps your Mac act a bit faster (I don't know the rocket science behind this one, but it feels too good to be false). Your Mac doesn't waste time loading all those icons and junk, just… Just clean it, please.

11. Empty out the Trash (No, we're not joking…)

Seriously: It may sound incredibly basic, but it could clear a surprising amount of storage. I forget to do it all the time. The thing is, that when you delete something, your Mac doesn't remove it — it just moves it to the Trash. Plus, you've probably deleted way more than you realize, and all that could be sitting in the Trash, wasting space. So get rid of all that junk by emptying the Trash:

1. Ctrl+click your Trash in the Dock.
2. Select 'Empty Trash.'
3. And click 'Empty Trash.'

And, the easiest step is done.

A few more tips to clear storage on Mac

1. Manage your Optimized Storage

This option comes with your operating system starting macOS Sierra. Go to the Apple menu > About this Mac > Storage

Now, click on Manage to reveal the space-saving options:

2. Erase your Junk Mail

Open your Mail app, and click Mailbox in the upper menu. Here you can erase spam and already deleted items.

3. Delete system junk with CleanMyMac X
Again, this is an incredible utility when it comes to cleaning your startup disk. And this app is notarized by Apple, meaning it's safe.

To avoid the annoying 'your disk is almost full' error, download the free edition of CleanMyMac X.
Once you've installed the app, click on the System Junk tab. It will clean up caches, logs, language packs, binaries, duplicate photos, outdated backups, Trashes, and more.

Full Startup Disk Prevention

We've cleaned up a few things on your Mac, and hopefully, it's given you more ideas as to what else you can clean. But, let's take a look at how much space you saved from cleaning the list above. Remember how we checked your Mac's free space? Open that window again and see how much space you've cleared up:

1. Click the Apple Icon in the menu at the top-left corner of your screen.
2. Choose 'About This Mac.'
3. Click Storage.
   Note - If you are running an older version of OS X you may have to first click 'More Info…' and then 'Storage'.

You've probably got a bit more space, and you'll want to keep it that way. The only way to prevent a 'your disk is almost full' is by keeping your Mac clean. We'd recommend a complete cleaning every 2–3 weeks.

Say goodbye to the 'Your startup disk is almost full' message.

This is another place we'd suggest using CleanMyMac X. To completely remove any application, just launch CleanMyMac X, click Uninstaller, select your application, and then click Uninstall. You won't have to search all over for development junk that's left behind when Trash'ing an application. It's incredibly easy and saves you tons of time.

8. Clean up your photo library

Photos, photos, photos. Talk about tons of space! Firefox for mac high sierra. First and foremost, select only what you can get rid of, like image copies and maybe some photos that were mistakenly taken. You know, ones of the ground or something?

Ok, once your own files are taken care of, it's time to get rid of the files your system created. In Photos for Mac, it's cache files. In iPhoto, it's service copies. Both are a pain to find, but here's how you can get rid of them.

Photos cache includes iCloud local copies (created when you view pics from your iCloud photo library on a Mac), Faces cache (generated when you use Faces), and other app-related caches. You'd be surprised how much all that takes up if you regularly use Photos. For OS versions prior to macOS Sierra, here's the path to locate the cache:

1. Open Finder and navigate to your Photos library (normally, it's in the Pictures folder).
2. Ctrl+click your Photos library, and select 'Show Package Contents.'
3. Open resources, and then modelresource.

You should now see a lot more folders in your Finder window. Photos cache sits in these folders, but the tricky thing is that it's really hard to say what is safe to remove and what isn't. Deleting the wrong file can compromise the performance of Photos, which is why we highly suggest you use CleanMyMac X to clear the cache and system junk. It only removes files that are safe to delete, never a critical file or important image.

You can download CleanMyMac X for free and see how it works, it's so much safer than cleaning up system junk manually.

9. Clean up your Downloads, Movies, and Music folders

Have a closer look at these three folders. You'd be surprised at how many downloads can accumulate when you aren't paying attention. Clean out anything you don't need (or don't know) and organize the rest. It'll take a load off your mind to know that there's nothing excess there.

The Movies folder can be a pain, not because you're searching through tons of files, but it can be difficult to choose what to delete. Personally, I never want to get rid of Top Gun. It's amazing. I watched it 3 times in a row last weekend. But alas, sometimes you need to make sacrifices for the health of your Mac. Though, what you can do with movies you want to keep is to archive them. So, archive what you wish to keep and remove the rest.

How to archive/compress a file

Archiving a file doesn't mean to store deeper into the abyss of your Mac — but to turn the file into something smaller, into a compressed file (like .zip or .tar). By archiving a file, you shave off some memory. Archiving is essential for things you want to keep on your Mac, but don't often use, and helps you clear up some space. And that's what this is all about right? We're essentially doing the hokey-pokey on your Mac. To archive a file, just:

1. Ctrl+click the file you want to compress (recommended for movie files).
2. Select, 'Compress .'

The last place to sweep through is the Music folder. Find and remove duplicate music files first, and then clean up all the songs you downloaded on a weird Sunday afternoon cleaning the house.

10. Clean your Desktop

'Clean my desktop… but why?' Because some people's desktops are hard to look at, that's why. Organize your desktop and get rid of the stuff you just don't need on there. It looks better and helps your Mac act a bit faster (I don't know the rocket science behind this one, but it feels too good to be false). Your Mac doesn't waste time loading all those icons and junk, just… Just clean it, please.

11. Empty out the Trash (No, we're not joking…)

Seriously: It may sound incredibly basic, but it could clear a surprising amount of storage. I forget to do it all the time. The thing is, that when you delete something, your Mac doesn't remove it — it just moves it to the Trash. Plus, you've probably deleted way more than you realize, and all that could be sitting in the Trash, wasting space. So get rid of all that junk by emptying the Trash:

1. Ctrl+click your Trash in the Dock.
2. Select 'Empty Trash.'
3. And click 'Empty Trash.'

And, the easiest step is done.

A few more tips to clear storage on Mac

1. Manage your Optimized Storage

This option comes with your operating system starting macOS Sierra. Go to the Apple menu > About this Mac > Storage

Now, click on Manage to reveal the space-saving options:

2. Erase your Junk Mail

Open your Mail app, and click Mailbox in the upper menu. Here you can erase spam and already deleted items.

3. Delete system junk with CleanMyMac X
Again, this is an incredible utility when it comes to cleaning your startup disk. And this app is notarized by Apple, meaning it's safe.

To avoid the annoying 'your disk is almost full' error, download the free edition of CleanMyMac X.
Once you've installed the app, click on the System Junk tab. It will clean up caches, logs, language packs, binaries, duplicate photos, outdated backups, Trashes, and more.

Full Startup Disk Prevention

We've cleaned up a few things on your Mac, and hopefully, it's given you more ideas as to what else you can clean. But, let's take a look at how much space you saved from cleaning the list above. Remember how we checked your Mac's free space? Open that window again and see how much space you've cleared up:

1. Click the Apple Icon in the menu at the top-left corner of your screen.
2. Choose 'About This Mac.'
3. Click Storage.
   Note - If you are running an older version of OS X you may have to first click 'More Info…' and then 'Storage'.

You've probably got a bit more space, and you'll want to keep it that way. The only way to prevent a 'your disk is almost full' is by keeping your Mac clean. We'd recommend a complete cleaning every 2–3 weeks.

Say goodbye to the 'Your startup disk is almost full' message.

So, we've now covered everything that we wanted to share with you. Hopefully, this has helped you fix that full startup disk problem. Your startup disk should now be quite a bit lighter (we hope). Oh, and if you liked this article, get social with it to help others in need. And if you really liked this article, subscribe to our email list — we've got more guides on the way. And we've also got a utility that'll help you out a ton in the long run: CleanMyMac X. It helps you clean your entire Mac with just the click of a button. It's incredibly easy to use and works like a charm.