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Good macOS guide to remove unused files and optimize SSD space
- Thread starter brosenz
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I've used CleanMyMac for years and it works great. Others may say it does nothing that you can't do with multiple free apps./the MacOS system cleans itself.
CleanMyMac frees HD/SSD space. Looks for Malware, frees up RAM. Yes, I paid for a license for several Macs in the family.
Naysayers please save your breath 😂☺️😊
First, use DiskWave to see what is "eating up" your disk space.
Download DiskWave from here:
DiskWave Homepage
It's small in size and free.
Open DiskWave and go to the preferences.
Put a checkmark in "show invisible files".
Close preferences.
The DiskWave window shows you all your volumes and drives in plain English (no ridiculous graphical formats).
Click on any item "on the left".
Now, you'll see what's ON the volume, listed in order of "largest to smallest".
You can easily locate what's eating up your space.
----
You can also try the free "Monolingual" app to remove non-English language resources. Version 1.8.2 still seems to work with Monterey to remove language resources from 3rd party apps.
----
Finally, keeping enough free space is really a job that's "up to you".
In other words, you can't "use apps to do the thinking for you".
YOU have to look around, and decide what really needs to be there, and what can be thrown out.
If you have large libraries of music, pictures, and [especially] movies -- that seem to be "growing" -- realize that these can be moved to an external drive, and will run just as well from an external drive as they do from the internal.
I'd look for an external USB3 SSD to hold them.
But also remember:
If you move files to an external drive, you also have a second drive TO BE BACKED UP. Important files are never "safe" unless they exist on two (or more) drives at once.
Download DiskWave from here:
DiskWave Homepage
It's small in size and free.
Open DiskWave and go to the preferences.
Put a checkmark in "show invisible files".
Close preferences.
The DiskWave window shows you all your volumes and drives in plain English (no ridiculous graphical formats).
Click on any item "on the left".
Now, you'll see what's ON the volume, listed in order of "largest to smallest".
You can easily locate what's eating up your space.
----
You can also try the free "Monolingual" app to remove non-English language resources. Version 1.8.2 still seems to work with Monterey to remove language resources from 3rd party apps.
----
Finally, keeping enough free space is really a job that's "up to you".
In other words, you can't "use apps to do the thinking for you".
YOU have to look around, and decide what really needs to be there, and what can be thrown out.
If you have large libraries of music, pictures, and [especially] movies -- that seem to be "growing" -- realize that these can be moved to an external drive, and will run just as well from an external drive as they do from the internal.
I'd look for an external USB3 SSD to hold them.
But also remember:
If you move files to an external drive, you also have a second drive TO BE BACKED UP. Important files are never "safe" unless they exist on two (or more) drives at once.
