Macbooks are pretty notorious when it comes to what storage space you have available. Those few gigabytes that you have will disappear in no time if you are not careful.
The whole issue becomes even more problematic for people who are not that familiar with Macbooks or have switched from another computer. And if you do not pay attention, it will not take too long before you have next to no storage space on the hard drive.
Leaving only a few gigabytes of free space will significantly reduce the overall performance. Therefore, you need to create a proper maintenance strategy, and here are some ideas to help you with that.
Idea #1 – Remove Temporary Junk Files
Temporary junk data might not seem like the biggest issue at hand, but you will still notice a difference after cleaning the system and getting rid of these files. On top of that, the system will have less stuff to process and can dedicate its resources to other matters.
These junk files accumulate all the time, so removing them manually might prove too much eventually. Thankfully, you have the option of getting yourself a cleanup utility tool and letting it do all the work. Automatically removing caches, old backups, app extensions, and plugins will reduce the time you would spend creating backups and deleting everything manually.
Idea #2 – Get Rid of Useless Applications
Macbook applications can be reinstalled whenever you want, so there should not be any problems deleting ones that you have not used for some time.
If you were to look at the information on the Activity Monitor, you might find that there are multiple apps you can replace or remove. And not just because of how much drive space they are taking. Resource usage is also worth considering.
Idea #3 – Delete Language Files
Some applications will come with language packs. It might seem like a neat feature. However, looking at how much space this data takes makes one reconsider everything.
Keeping anything but the English version is more or less a waste. There might be some instances when you might need another language that you are a native speaker of, but how often would that happen? And even if so, keeping the other 50 or more languages around certainly makes no sense, especially if you are looking to free up drive space.
Idea #4 – Clear Downloads and Email Attachments
Working and communicating via email might lead to a lot of attachments that get saved on the computer by default. The same thing can be said about various downloads that you have done over the years.
The folders for each email attachments and downloads could be bigger than you expect. Take a look at what you have there and remove any files that are no longer of any use.
Keep close tabs on what you save on these folders. It might seem like one small file does not make any difference, but when you have 10 or 100 hundred, the situation changes quite a lot.
Idea #5 – Scan for Potential Malware
Given how many different cybersecurity threats there are, it should not be that surprising to find out that there are those who consume storage space as well.
If you notice that the available storage space is shrinking every day without you installing or downloading anything, malware could be one of the potential causes.
Scan the system of your computer with an antivirus and delete any corrupted files in case the software finds them.
Being more aware of potential dangers on the internet is something you should strive for in the first place. Be more wary of the links you click. Enable the firewall if you have not done so already. Also, install an ad blocker extension so that you can avoid pop-ups while surfing the web.
Idea #6 – Transfer Data to Clouds
Dropbox and iCloud are free unless you are willing to upgrade the plan by spending some money and getting extra storage. The files you keep in clouds will be safe, and you can access them whenever you want, provided that you are connected to the internet.
Idea #7 – Purchase External Storage Devices
Similar to clouds, devices like flash sticks also work great if you have certain data you want to keep outside the computer’s hard drive.
You will have to spend some money, but the investment is well worth it if you are looking to free up the disk space.
Idea #8 – Reinstall the OS
If you still encounter various issues despite your best efforts and none of the ideas have worked, you still have the option to reinstall the OS. Doing so will wipe the data that you do not back up and give the Mac a fresh start.
