How to find and delete large files on a Mac

Most of the space on a full Mac is taken by a handful of big files, not thousands of small ones. Find the big ones and you can often free tens of gigabytes in minutes. Here are three ways to do it.

Method 1: Finder search by file size

Open a Finder window and press Command-F. Click 'This Mac' so it searches everywhere. Click the plus button to add a rule, choose 'Other', find 'File Size' in the list and add it. Then set it to 'is greater than' and enter 500 MB. Switch Finder to list view and click the Size column to put the biggest files first.

The results can include system files you should not touch. To keep it simple, start in your own folders: Downloads, Documents, Desktop and Movies.

Method 2: Storage settings

Open System Settings, then General, then Storage. Click the info button next to a category, such as Documents, to see a list you can sort by size. This is the safest place to start because macOS only lists files you own.

Method 3: Terminal, if you like it

Open Terminal, go to a folder with cd ~/Downloads and run du -sh * | sort -h. It lists everything in that folder with its size, and the biggest items appear last. Change the folder to look somewhere else. This only reads sizes. It does not delete anything.

Deciding what is safe to delete

• Old screen recordings, movies and exported videos you already have somewhere else.
• Disk images (.dmg) and ZIP files of apps you have already installed.
• Virtual machine images and old project archives you no longer open.
• Anything you can download again from the original source.

Leave alone anything inside the Library or System folders unless you know exactly what it is, and never open your Photos library in Finder to delete things. If you are unsure, move the file to an external drive first. If nothing breaks in a few weeks, delete it.

Check before you empty the Trash

Deleting a file moves it to the Trash, and it keeps using space until you empty it. Take a quick look through the Trash before you do, because emptying it cannot be undone. Our guide to freeing up space on a Mac covers the rest of the routine.

A faster way

If you want the same result in one place, we make an app for it, Speed Up My Mac. Its Home screen shows what fills your disk by type, and Clutter Studio finds big files you have not opened in a while, plus duplicate files and similar photos. You review everything first, and you pick the Bin or delete.