What is best way to clean up a Mac and get more storage?

System Data isn’t something you “clean” directly because it’s mostly your apps quietly dumping stuff into places macOS doesn’t categorize well, on a 256GB machine, ~45GB is honestly normal, but it feels wrong because it’s opaque.

Stop guessing and look at what’s actually sitting under ~/Library (especially Application Support, Containers, and Caches) using a visual tool like DaisyDisk or even OmniDiskSweeper—you’ll usually find one or two offenders (old iPhone backups, Xcode data, Adobe caches, WhatsApp/Telegram media, etc.) eating tens of GB.

Also check local Time Machine snapshots (tmutil listlocalsnapshots /) because those can silently grow and get counted here. I’d avoid “cleaner apps” that promise one-click fixes, they mostly wipe caches that macOS will just rebuild.

What actually works is identifying large, persistent data and either deleting it or moving it off the internal SSD, everything else is just temporary churn that comes back.

Other than this in System Settings > General > Storage >

Check if there is something not to your use.

Now, click on the Documents (i) button. You will see all the large files there, which are occupying most of your storage. If some of them are not of use anymore, then you can delete them.

[Edited by Moderator]

256 GB probably wasn’t enough when you bought it, usage typically only increases, and system data at 46 GB is pretty good. And having too little storage means ongoing manual management of storage, as projects and tasks and activities change.

You’re using system data right now: “The category named System Data (or Other) is a general category that measures the storage space used by all Apple and third-party files that don’t belong to any more specific category.”

Best way? Replace this Mac with one that has sufficient storage for your current and likely future usage.

Next best: Review your own usage. GrandPerspective or OmniDiskSweeper are useful (free) tools, here. Offload what you don’t immediately need elsewhere. Load what you do.

Apple’s general recommendations: Free up storage space on Mac - Apple Support

I am skeptical around cleaner apps too, as they’ve sometimes caused corruptions, and sometimes freed up space by deleting caches. Caches which then get rebuilt.

dassar_ali009 wrote:

The free storage is not enough on my MacBook Pro M2 so I go to the storage settings to check what are taking up the space. Surprisingly, the system data is accounted for 46.64 GB whereas the total storage on this Mac is only 256GB.

47 GB for System Data is pretty good, actually. My Macs use between 50 GB and 95 GB. Much of that "System Data" are actually files from applications that you run, e.g. "user data" might be a better label than "system data."

You might start by sorting your user Library folder based on size to see what the large contributors are. For me, I saved space by deleting OLD (and no longer useful) backups of old iPhones, download files for iPhone system updates, old Garmin device map files. My daughter (on her Mac) eliminated some very large Lightroom catalog backup files, saving close to 100 GB by retaining only the latest ones. In some instances, large files or folders from email programs can take a lot of space.

As others suggested, you can move some files (especially photo and music files/libraries) to external drives. But then you may need additional drives to back up those externals.

I don't trust or use "cleanup" apps, they can corrupt your system by over zealously deleting files that are needed.

Apple offers storage in iCloud for Photos, Documents, Messages, Desktop, and Download files. I don't like that because I prefer to have all files physically on my Mac where I can back them up. But I do use iCloud for synchronization between devices, not to save storage.

dassar_ali009 wrote:

The free storage is not enough on my MacBook Pro M2 so I go to the storage settings to check what are taking up the space. Surprisingly, the system data is accounted for 46.64 GB whereas the total storage on this Mac is only 256GB.

Why there is no option to free up the system data? I can see other items under storage settings have a ! mark and I can use it to get more details and delete the unwanted items.

My question: what is best way to clean up a Mac now?

System Data is an issue ?

Reducing System/Volume/Data is a common question. 

Part 1 of 3

A -  System data taking too much in MacOS Sono… - Apple Community

B - Time Machine Local Snapshot won't delete - Apple Community

C - Over 60% storage blocked by System Data - Apple Community

D - Running out of storage - system data is huge after upgrade to macOS Tahoe 26.2

How to free up ‘System Data’ and other storage on your Mac from a fellow colleague  @ neuroanatomist

Use another application to see where space is being used  Storeograph  Directly from the Developer 

View APFS snapshots in Disk Utility on Mac

Suggest getting an External SSD Drive and start moving your Pictures, Videos, Music and any other large files you have control over, OFF the Internal drive and Onto the External

Understanding iCloud Drive from a well written User Tip from @ Richard.Taylor

Part 2 of 3

 Quick Fix ??

For Apple Silicon computers, use Disk Utility to erase a Mac.

Always make a Time Machine backup before proceeding.

Migrate only the user account, not the entire system.

Reinstall only the necessary applications from the Apple App Store or directly from the developers.

Part 3 of 3

When the user discovers this issue, it’s likely because the computer’s internal drive capacity is small, such as 256 GB or 512 GB.

The user’s storage needs may have increased since the computer was purchased.

To future-proof the computer, consider spending extra money upfront on a larger drive capacity and adding more unified RAM.

Note - On Apple Silicon and newer computers. The SSD Drive and the Unified RAM are Soldered to the Logicboard and can not be upgraded.

The "i" icon only appears next to categories containing user-manageable files. System Data is excluded because it contains both junk and essential system files—Apple doesn't trust users (or itself) to draw that line correctly with a one-click solution.

46.64 GB is high but not extreme for a 256GB Mac. One user reported their System Data reached over 100GB before clean up a Mac. The good news is you can safely reduce it using the methods below.

1. Restart your Mac first: This sounds too simple, but restarting forces macOS to flush temporary files that apps leave behind while running. Many users see System Data drop by several GB immediately after a reboot.

2. Delete Time Machine local snapshots: Time Machine stores snapshots on your internal drive even when no backup disk is connected. Your Mac is supposed to delete these automatically.

3. Remove old iOS backups

iPhone/iPad backups can take 10-40GB each and hide in System Data.

How to find and clean up a Mac:

• Open Finder
• Connect your device (or select it from the sidebar if previously connected)
• Click "Manage Backups"
• Delete old backups you no longer need

It is possible to move your Music, TV, and/or Photos libraries to an external drive.

This probably isn’t going to be very convenient, given that you have a notebook computer - one with only two multi-purpose USB-C ports, no MagSafe 3 charging port, and no SDXC card slot.

Do what Servant of Cats suggested and buy an external USB drive.

It doesn't need to be an SSD . . . a normal cheap HDD of around 1 TB to 2 TB will be more than adequate for your needs.

Before cleaning up a Mac, it's essential to understand what's taking up space. Here's how to do it:

System Report: Open About This Mac and click System Report. This will provide you with a detailed breakdown of your system storage. You can explore categories like Software > Storage to see which apps are taking up the most space. This will help you prioritize the cleaning process.

When a Mac is running low on disk space, especially when trying to transfer large files, Disk Utility can be a useful tool to clean up a Mac and free up space. Here’s how to use it clean up a Mac:

1. Click the Spotlight search icon (magnifying glass) in the top right corner of the screen.
2. Type "Disk Utility" and select it from the results.
3. In Disk Utility, you will see a list of available drives, including your startup drive and any external drives connected to your Mac.
4. Click on the drive you want to clean up (usually the one labeled "Macintosh HD" or the name of your startup drive).

It’s a good idea to run a First Aid scan to ensure the disk is healthy and there are no issues that could cause problems during the cleaning process. Click the "First Aid" button and follow the prompts to run the scan.

Eamspenly wrote:

1. Before cleaning up a Mac, it's essential to understand what's taking up space. Here's how to do it:

System Report: Open About This Mac and click System Report. This will provide you with a detailed breakdown of your system storage. You can explore categories like Software > Storage to see which apps are taking up the most space. This will help you prioritize the cleaning process.

A - System Report is unless and really only " Eye Candy "

When a Mac is running low on disk space, especially when trying to transfer large files, Disk Utility can be a useful tool to clean up a Mac and free up space. Here’s how to use it clean up a Mac:

B - Using Disk Utilities to clean up space is misleading at Best . Yes, we can see older Time Machine Backup files and remove them but that is about ALL one can do with **

" Test your answer. When answering a technical question, if possible, make sure your Submission works on your own Apple device before you post it."

I'm puzzled. How does Disk Utility clean up the Mac?

Do not use third party apps that claim to clean, boost performance, etc. These third party apps may cause problems and they use system resources while providing no benefit.