Disk Inventory X shows huge un-needed files... how to get rid of them?

[booyahbooyah]

I uninstalled GarageBand more than a year ago, but I have a 1.7gb folder under Library / Application Support / GarageBand

I have a 4.8gb file called pdl8741854432473810418.pkg under
Macintosh HD ▸ private ▸ var ▸ folders ▸ 5t ▸ xr45kbj90wj_0k711s8g9fph0000gn ▸ C ▸ com.apple.appstore ▸ 915041082
(I googled the pkg name, and it looks like it might be the Yosemite installer package)

I've got massive font files with weird names... fonts I'm never going to use such as:
Yuanti.ttc and Hanzipen.ttc


I have four 1gb files under Macintosh HD ▸ private ▸ var ▸ vm
with names like:
sleepimage
swapfile0
swapfile1
swapfile2


How do I find out which of these files can be safely removed, and how should I go about removing them...


I have but a 64gb MacBook Air - and it would be a huge help to free up some space.

(And also, why the heck don't remnant files get off-loaded when one uninstalls an App? E.g., the GarageBand files should have been off-loaded when I uninstalled GarageBand. I never used GarageBand to produce any music. Those are just some tutorial-related files for learning guitar.)

 

[Intell]

Don't ever delete anything from /private/, /etc/, /var/, or /System/. I recommend not removing any fonts, even if they appear to not be used. You can safely remove the Garageband folders.

 

[w0lf]

Don't ever delete anything from /private/, /etc/, /var/, or /System/. I recommend not removing any fonts, even if they appear to not be used. You can safely remove the Garageband folders.

Agreed for a normal user you should never touch anything outside of the /Users folder unless you know absolutely for sure what you're doing and you have some sort of backup.

 

[drew627]

The GarageBand directory is safe to delete. Both fonts you listed are for Chinese. You can delete them if you really want that extra space but it's really not necessary. You can delete the .pkg if it allows you to do that, but make sure your system and apps are up to date before you do this so you don't have to download it again. The sleep image and swap files are required so don't worry about them. Oh, and just delete the files like you normally would, from Finder.

 

[booyahbooyah]

The GarageBand directory is safe to delete. Both fonts you listed are for Chinese. You can delete them if you really want that extra space but it's really not necessary. You can delete the .pkg if it allows you to do that, but make sure your system and apps are up to date before you do this so you don't have to download it again. The sleep image and swap files are required so don't worry about them. Oh, and just delete the files like you normally would, from Finder.

Appreciate the help.

There are some free disk-cleaner type utilities out there. Any that you'd recommend?

 

[drew627]

Appreciate the help.

There are some free disk-cleaner type utilities out there. Any that you'd recommend?

CleanMyMac probably. I personally wouldn't really recommend using this type of applications but considering you only have 64 gigs of disk space, it could come in handy. You can use it to get rid of unused language packages and universal binaries but make sure you know exactly what you're removing! And make sure to get whichever app you finally choose from either the App Store or its official website. Good luck!

 

[maflynn]

Appreciate the help.

There are some free disk-cleaner type utilities out there. Any that you'd recommend?

None, they tend to do more harm then good.