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How to Access 'Other' Storage on a Mac

How to find and delete files in 'Other' storage on your Mac

By Evan Killham Evan Killham Writer University of Nebraska Evan Killham has been writing about tech and pop culture since 2008. His work has appeared in publications that include Fandom, VentureBeat, and ScreenRant. lifewire's editorial guidelines Updated on February 21, 2022 Reviewed by Jerrick Leger Reviewed by Jerrick Leger Jerrick Leger is a CompTIA-certified IT Specialist with more than 10 years' experience in technical support and IT fields. He is also a systems administrator for an IT firm in Texas serving small businesses. lifewire's editorial guidelines Tweet Share Email Tweet Share Email Apple Macs iPad

What to Know

To see how much "Other" storage you're using, click the Apple menu and then About This Mac > Storage. "Other" is the far-right block.Many "Other" storage items are in the Caches of the Library folder—access by holding Option while opening the Go menu in Finder.You can also clear browser caches, quit applications, and search for installer files (.dmg) or old backups (MDBACKUP). The mysterious "Other" category in your Mac storage can take up a chunk of your storage space, and while some of it may be necessary, you can delete a lot of it if you're running out of room. Here's how to manage "Other" storage in macOS Sierra (10.13.2) and later.

How Do I Access ' Other' and System Storage on Mac

To see how much "Other" storage you're dealing with, you'll need to check your Mac's System Storage. Here's where to find it.
Click the Apple menu in the upper-left corner of any application.
Select About This Mac.
Choose the Storage tab.
At first, you'll just have one gray bar showing all of the space in use in your Mac's storage. After a moment, however, the bar will split up into several colored blocks.
"Other" is the light-gray section on the right side. Mouse over it to show how large it is.

How Do I Find Out What ' Other' Is in My Mac Storage

Along with taking up a non-trivial part of your Mac's hard drive, "Other" storage can be frustrating because nothing in About This Mac tells you what exactly it is. Generally, however, "Other" is anything that doesn't fit under the supplied categories on the Storage screen, including things like apps, documents, attachments from Mail and Messages, and system files like macOS itself. Some examples of what may be in "Other" include: iPhone and iPad backups.App caches.Installer files.Browser caches. It's hard to make an exhaustive list of what is and isn't "Other," which means it's hard to figure out exactly where to look if you need to clear up some space. But you can check a few reliable places.

How Do I Clear ' Other' Storage on My Mac

One spot you should look at if your "Other" storage is claiming too much of your hard drive is the Caches section of your Library folder, but you have to take some special steps to get there.
Be extremely careful which files you delete from the Library folder. We'll specify which ones to look for in the following instructions. In the Finder, hold Option while clicking the Go menu.
Select Library.
Another window will open with the Library folder selected. Open Caches.
The Caches folder will have a lot of subfolders in it. You should be careful which ones you modify or delete because some contain important preferences your Mac and apps need to run. For example, you shouldn't touch anything with that starts with com.apple. Instead, look for apps you don't use anymore and delete those.
Another folder you should check in Library is Application Support, which also probably contains some old info from apps you don't use anymore. Just make sure you know exactly what you're deleting before you send anything to the trash.
If you've ever backed up your iPhone or iPad through iTunes, you might also have some old backup files in the Library folder that can go. To find them, go to Library > Application Support > MobileSync, and you'll see a Backups folder. You should delete backups from devices you don't own anymore, especially since each one can be several gigabytes in size.
Backups may appear under their own category in System Storage instead of "Other."

What Else Can You Remove From " Other" Storage

You can also do the following to remove items from "Other" storage: Clear the cache from your web browsers: How you do so depends on the platform, but you'll usually open Preferences and go to the Privacy section. Delete installation files: Your Downloads folder can quickly accumulate a lot of stuff you don't need, but you should especially look out for files macOS used to install an app. They typically have a file type of .dmg. Quit applications you aren't using: Applications can create temporary files that use some storage while the application is running. The application(s) often delete temporary files once you quit them. Some of those temporary files will show up in your "Other" storage.

How Do I Get Rid of ' Other' Storage

Since some of the files under "Other" are important for keeping your Mac and apps running smoothly, you wouldn't want to remove this block of storage altogether. If you regularly clear your backups, caches, downloads folder, and other places we've described, however, you should be able to keep it under control.
FAQ How do I optimize storage on a Mac? To take advantage of the Mac's Optimize Storage capability, go to the apple menu > About this Mac > Storage > Manage. After the Mac finishes calculating the space used by different categories, choose from the available recommendations on how to optimize your Mac's storage, such as Empty Trash Automatically and Reduce Clutter. How do I delete Mail storage on a Mac? To free up storage space for email accounts on your Mac, launch the Mail app, and choose View > Sort by > Size. Select a message and choose Remove Attachments to delete space-hogging attachments. You can also empty your Trash mailbox and limit the time message copies are saved on your account. To do this, go to Mail > Preferences > Accounts. Click the account, choose Advanced, and choose a shorter storage timeframe. Was this page helpful? Thanks for letting us know! Get the Latest Tech News Delivered Every Day Subscribe Tell us why! Other Not enough details Hard to understand Submit More from Lifewire How to Delete System Storage on iPhone How to Remove Junk Files From Windows 11 How to Fix It When WhatsApp Isn't Working How to Delete Temporary Files in Windows How to Clear Your iPhone Cache How to Uninstall Skype How to Uninstall Dropbox on a Mac How to Delete Streamlabs on Mac How to Free Up Space on Your Phone Fast How to Fix it When Roblox Is Unable to Download on a Mac How to Clear the Cache in IE11 How to Clear Purgeable Space on Mac How to Clear Cache Data on Your Android How to Clear Cache on an iPad How to Check Free Hard Drive Space (Windows 11, 10, 8, +) How to Clear the Cache on a Fire TV Stick Newsletter Sign Up Newsletter Sign Up Newsletter Sign Up Newsletter Sign Up Newsletter Sign Up By clicking “Accept All Cookies”, you agree to the storing of cookies on your device to enhance site navigation, analyze site usage, and assist in our marketing efforts. Cookies Settings Accept All Cookies