How to Free Up Disk Space on Windows and macOS

When your disk fills up, your computer slows down. Here’s how to clean it up without deleting anything important.

Windows

1. Storage Sense (Automatic)

Settings → System → Storage → Storage Sense → Turn on

Storage Sense automatically deletes temporary files and empties the Recycle Bin on a schedule.

2. Disk Cleanup (Manual)

# Open Disk Cleanup
Start menu → type "Disk Cleanup" → Select drive

# Or run from command line
cleanmgr

Click “Clean up system files” to find Windows Update cache, which can be several gigabytes.

3. Find Large Files

Settings → System → Storage → Show more categories

Or use File Explorer:

1. Open This PC
2. Type size: >1GB in the search box
3. Review and delete unnecessary files

4. Uninstall Unused Apps

Settings → Apps → Installed apps → Sort by size

Uninstall anything you haven’t used in months.

5. Clear Temp Files

# Run from Start menu
%temp%
# Select all (Ctrl+A) and delete (skip files in use)

Also clear the Recycle Bin — files there still take up space.

macOS

1. Storage Management

Apple menu → System Settings → General → Storage

macOS shows a color-coded breakdown of what’s using space.

2. Optimize Storage

Click the “i” button next to each category:

• Recommendations:
  • Store in iCloud — keeps recent files locally, older ones in cloud
  • Optimize Storage — removes watched Apple TV shows
  • Empty Trash Automatically

3. Find Large Files

# In Finder
File → Find → Search: "File size is greater than 100 MB"

Or use Terminal:

find ~ -type f -size +100M -exec ls -lh {} \; 2>/dev/null | sort -k5 -rh

4. Clear System Cache

# Cache files (safe to delete)
rm -rf ~/Library/Caches/*

Warning: Some apps may be slow immediately after clearing cache as they rebuild it.

5. Remove Language Files

# Remove unused language files (saves ~1-2GB)
sudo rm -rf /Applications/Xcode.app/Contents/Developer/Platforms/*.platform/Developer/SDKs/*.sdk/System/Library/CoreServices/SystemFolder/Locales/

Skip this unless you’re comfortable with Terminal.

Universal Tips

Analyze Disk Usage

Clean Package Managers

# npm
npm cache clean --force

# pip
pip cache purge

# Docker
docker system prune -a

# Homebrew (macOS)
brew cleanup -s

Move Files to External/Cloud

• Photos and videos — iCloud, Google Photos, or external drive
• Old projects — archive to external drive
• Downloads folder — review and clean monthly

What NOT to Delete

• System32 (Windows) or System (macOS) folders
• Library/Application Support on macOS (app data)
• Program Files or Applications (use uninstall instead)
• Unknown system files — research before deleting

Target Files by Size

Related: Check our computer speed-up guide and password security tip.