macformat.com @macformatApplications folder
Some apps use only a few megabytes of
disk space, others much more. Check the
Applications folder to see what’s no longer
needed. Remove using Launchpad (if from
the Mac App Store – see p41), the app’s
uninstaller, or CleanMyMac X (opposite).Library folder
Your Mac’s main Library folder houses
system settings, third-party panes for
System Prefs, fonts and much more, which
are shared by all users. You shouldn’t
need to touch it. If you do, use a specialist
app to work out what can be removed.System folder
The System folder contains files that are
essential for macOS to function. Never
tamper with files in it. If your Mac reports
system files are damaged, you can start
up in Recovery (see bit.ly/mfrcvry) and
reinstall macOS over itself to fix them.Clear out the leftovers
Keeping your drive clear of unnecessary files can make it more efficient
aving a startup disk
chock-full of files can,
in some cases, slow
down your Mac. That’s
because macOS and apps need
free disk space for a variety of
tasks. Most importantly, macOS
needs to be able to use disk
space as a proxy for memory,
so it can swap data back and
forth when tasks need more
memory than is available.
If you have a portable Mac,
macOS can also, in the event of
your battery running out of
power before you connect a
charger, shove all the contents of
memory into a cache file on disk.
Apps also need disk space
to download updates and other
files in the background or to save
temporary files to disk as you
work. If you’re editing audio orvideo, those temp files can be
quite large. How much space
should you keep free? It used
to be said that you should leave
10 to 15% of the startup disk’s
capacity unoccupied. However,
if you have a 2TB hard drive,
for example, that’s overkill.
At the very least, on a
MacBook keep a bit more than
the equivalent of its installed
amount of memory free. If you
work with video and audio, aim
for tens of gigabytes.macOS suggests...
One easy way to free up space
is to go to > About This Mac,
click on the Storage tab and
follow the recommendations for
things like removing watched
iTunes videos and reducing
clutter from old and large files.
You can also delete
Mail and Messages
attachments, and get
rid of GarageBand’s
library of sounds
from this window.macOS needs to use
disk space as a proxy
for memoryFight the file and folder flab
H
The Storage tab in About This Mac provides
recommendations for sorting space hogs.