You can never have enough free space when using a Mac or Windows computer. With time, your system is bound to gasp for air as you download files, install apps, store pictures, etc. Fortunately, there are practical and quick ways to free storage space so your system doesn’t become sluggish and continues performing optimally.
Before learning how to free storage space, you need to know how you can check disk space.
- On Mac, you need to click the Apple logo in the menu bar and select About This Mac. Then, select Storage. You can see how much space is left on your Mac and can even go through the different files and documents burdening your device. To learn how to dig deeper, click https://setapp.com/how-to/check-disk-space-on-your-mac.
- You need to click the Start button on Windows and then choose Settings. Then, click System and select Storage. Here, you will find out how much space is occupied with get an idea of your next steps.
Now that you have checked the disk space on your Windows or Mac system and know you need to quickly free storage space, here are the simplest methods to reclaim disk space. Let’s take a look.
Free Space Clearing the Trash/Recycle Bin
The Recycle Bin on Windows is equivalent to the Trash on a Mac. Rather than permanently deleting documents and files from within the Finder/drive, the files are sent to the Trash or Recycle Bin. Users can restore the files from here if they change their minds. However, files that remain with the Recycle Bin or Trash occupy a significant space on your drive. Therefore, it is important to delete these files.
You can empty the Recycle Bin on Windows by opening Start and searching for Recycle Bin. Then, click the Recycle Bin Tools tab and the Empty Recycle Bin option. Once you have clicked OK, the system will free around 10% of the drive’s capacity.
On Mac, multiple trash cans must be emptied. To empty the main trash cash, you have to Control + Click or right-click on the Trash icon and choose Empty Trash to delete all the files you sent to the Trash from the Finder. You must note that once you do this, the files will be deleted permanently, and you cannot restore them.
After emptying the main user’s trash can, turn your attention to the trash cans of individual applications, such as Mail, iMovie and iPhoto. If you have deleted media from within these apps, you will have to empty their trash cans. For instance, if you have deleted pictures from the iPhoto app, you need to Control + Click on the Trash option in that particular application and choose Empty Trash.
Uninstall the Apps you don’t Use Anymore
Whether a Mac or Windows user, you must be guilty of downloading too many applications. The applications might have come in handy, but you don’t need them anymore. So, what do you do?
You can delete the apps you no longer use so they don’t take up precious storage space on your device. You can click on the app icon and remove them. Alternatively, you can go to the App Store or the Windows App Store and uninstall the applications you wish to remove.
Remove Temporary Files
Your system’s hard drive is probably filled with temporary files you don’t need. These files are taking up a lot of space. Although clearing these files will not speed up your system, it will free some space.
On Mac, temporary files can be seen by opening Finder. Then, use Go > click Go to Folder on the menu and use ~/Library/Caches to get to the cache folder. You will see a folder with tons of folders within it, and you must go through it to delete the ones you don’t need.
On Windows, temporary files can be deleted by going to Settings > Storage and navigating to the Temporary Files option. You need to click on the Delete temporary files that my apps aren’t using option by utilizing the Storage Sense feature.
Furthermore, you must remove web browser data, such as cache files and cookies. These are temporary files that take up a lot of space.
Optimize the Downloads Folder
While it is evident that you must optimize the Downloads folder on your system, not many people pay heed to it. It is one of the folders that users forget about, which is why it is often full of huge files you no longer need. So, you need to open this folder on your Mac or Windows device and delete the files and attachments you don’t use anymore.
Conclusion
Don’t let lack of space stifle the performance of your Windows or Mac system. Use this simple guide to free space quickly and continue with your tasks.