My MacBook Pro downloads folder shows it's taking up 24GB of storage, after I emptied it

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mihir2024 Author

Level 1

4 points

My MacBook Pro downloads folder shows it's taking up 24GB of storage, after I emptied it

Hello,

I have a MacBook Pro, and I'm trying to free up some memory space. When I checked my storage, it indicated that 24 GB is occupied by downloads. However, upon inspecting my Downloads folder, I found only a few items, none of which accounted for 24 GB. I deleted all those items, but the storage still shows that Downloads is taking up 24 GB. Is there a way to free up this space.

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MacBook Pro 13″, macOS 14.2

Posted on Apr 21, 2024 11:53 AM

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Answer 1

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Mac Jim ID

Level 9

62,864 points

Apr 21, 2024 5:42 PM in response to mihir2024

After emptying the trash, restart your Mac in Safe Mode to clear caches followed by another normal boot and compare the results.

Start up your Mac in safe mode - Apple Support

It appears from the scroll bars that there are files at the bottom of the Downloads Folder. Does it show anything in there when you right-click the Downloads Folder and choose Get Info?

If there are hidden files in there, you can toggle that with Shift-Command-[period]. It is a toggle, so do it one more time to return to the default of not showing the hidden files.

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