MacBook Pro disk is nearly full

You'd think by now Apple would have a reasonable way to solve the problem of identifying and removing unnecessary files without being a tech genius .

Yes, you would: Optimize storage space on your Mac - Apple Support

I see there are clean disk program one can download from the internet. I would rather avoid them if possible since I am not sure how safe or effective they are.

They are neither. They're scams.

jojoprince wrote:

I have a Macbook Pro using Catalina 10.15.6. My disk is nearly full (12.GB left). I have gone into storage/manage files/ large files and removed them. Still pretty full. I am sure I have a lot of unnecessary files still on my hard drive however I don't know how to identify them. Is there an Apple app or program that helps to identify unnecessary duplicate files, system and hidden files from downloaded programs I uninstalled. I am not sure which files to remove that won't destroy my disk. I see there are clean disk program one can download from the internet. I would rather avoid them if possible since I am not sure how safe or effective they are.

You'd think by now Apple would have a reasonable way to solve the problem of identifying and removing unnecessary files without being a tech genius .

See used and available storage space on your Mac

https://support.apple.com/guide/system-information/see-available-storage-space-syspf9b375b9/10.14/mac/10.15

How to free up storage space on your Mac - Apple Support

https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT206996

User tip: "Other and What Can I Do About It ?"

https://discussions.apple.com/docs/DOC-5142

Thin local snapshots :

ref: https://eclecticlight.co/2020/04/09/where-did-all-that-free-space-go-on-my-apfs-disk/

Try something like OmniDiskSweeper for a GUI to get a good look at itemized file size and location:

OmniDiskSweeper http://www.omnigroup.com/more