What can be deleted to save space?

[iag48]

Happy new owner of an 11 inch Air and wondering what I can delete to increase memory space? I remember on my MBP I deleted some languages and other stuff but I also recall it screwed the MBP up and needed a full software restore

 

[cleric]

read the stickied threads at the top this has been covered

 

[henry72]

CleanMyMac is a best application for cleaning crap
You could delete printer drive if you don't needed.

Hope it helps. Cheers

 

[richard.mac]

reinstall OS X and customise the installer to only install the main system. then install iLife and leave out the stuff you dont want like loops and themes or even whole applications like iWeb for instance. this will shave off a few GBs.

 

[fuzzielitlpanda]

there's also an app trimming program you can use (forgot the name)

 

[nomar383]

reinstall OS X and customise the installer to only install the main system. then install iLife and leave out the stuff you dont want like loops and themes or even whole applications like iWeb for instance. this will shave off a few GBs.

That's exactly what I plan to do when mine shows up.

 

[Hellishness]

reinstall OS X and customise the installer to only install the main system. then install iLife and leave out the stuff you dont want like loops and themes or even whole applications like iWeb for instance. this will shave off a few GBs.

Can you elaborate on how exactly to do this? So you take it out of the box, boot it up for the first time, and as soon as you get started, pull out the reinstall USB, plug it in, and choose what you want installed on your MBA? Please help me I've never done this before. I have like 35GB of stuff I need, but I am somehow using 90GB on my MBP...

 

[iag48]

Thanks for the replies.
@Richthomas- that sounds like the wisest thing to do. I honestly do not use Garage Band or other apps that come with iLife.

 

[richard.mac]

Can you elaborate on how exactly to do this? So you take it out of the box, boot it up for the first time, and as soon as you get started, pull out the reinstall USB, plug it in, and choose what you want installed on your MBA? Please help me I've never done this before. I have like 35GB of stuff I need, but I am somehow using 90GB on my MBP...

theres a sticky at the top of the MacBook Air forum with steps on how to do this.

iLife is preinstalled, but im not exactly sure if iLife installs along with OS X on the USB install drive, on other Macs iLife is usually on the second DVD. when you customise the OS X installer maybe you can deselect iLife choices from there.

 

[bcaslis]

theres a sticky at the top of the MacBook Air forum with steps on how to do this.

iLife is preinstalled, but im not exactly sure if iLife installs along with OS X on the USB install drive, on other Macs iLife is usually on the second DVD. when you customise the OS X installer maybe you can deselect iLife choices from there.

Put in USB restore stick and reboot holding down C key. Use Disk Utility to erase disk, then choose install options desired. After installation and reboot, after logging in open the USB restore stick on the desktop and open the iLife installer. Select desired options, install and done.

 

[maflynn]

CleanMyMac is a best application for cleaning crap Hope it helps. Cheers

Not only cleaning the crap, but deleting files you need, just search this forum, or the google and you'll see many many posts of people having major issues with their Macs because of this app.

 

[GGJstudios]

CleanMyMac is a best application for cleaning crap

I agree with maflynn. One app that I would not recommend, based on the number of complaints that have been posted in this forum and elsewhere, is CleanMyMac. As an example: CleanMyMac cleaned too much

there's also an app trimming program you can use (forgot the name)

I've successfully used Monolingual to remove extra languages and architectures, saving several GB of space. Just be sure you don't remove languages or architectures you actually need.

 

[r2fa3l]

deleting languages from Snow Leopard saves u about 1gb. like who needs all of those languages really....

 

[smagdy]

Delete extra iPhone backups, they are several gigas each!

 

[Moyank24]

Delete extra iPhone backups, they are several gigas each!

Where would I find these?

 

[stylinexpat]

Where would I find these?

+1 where are those at??

 

[mac jones]

I (moved) iPad backups off the Air.

I had 26GB of backups. I don't need any of them really, (certainly not on this machine)

the iPhone and iPad backups are located

users/(you)/library/application support/ mobilesync

 

[fuzzielitlpanda]

I agree with maflynn. One app that I would not recommend, based on the number of complaints that have been posted in this forum and elsewhere, is CleanMyMac. As an example: CleanMyMac cleaned too much

I've successfully used Monolingual to remove extra languages and architectures, saving several GB of space. Just be sure you don't remove languages or architectures you actually need.

I just found the name of the program it is called XSlimmer:

http://www.xslimmer.com/

 

[justin216]

These are the steps I use on any new Mac:

1) Boot up machine and make sure all is working fine
2) Reinstall OSX, leaving off everything non-essential (printers, languages, et al)
3) Delete any default apps/games/tools that I have no plan of using (Chess game, etc)
4) Run XSlimmer to trim down the few default apps that can shed some space
5) Install software I actually want to use (iLfe/iWork/Office/Games/etc)
6) Run XSlimmer to trim down the newly installed software
7) Profit!

 

[Moyank24]

I (moved) iPad backups off the Air.

I had 26GB of backups. I don't need any of them really, (certainly not on this machine)

the iPhone and iPad backups are located

users/(you)/library/application support/ mobilesync

Thanks! Wow, though. There is a ton of crap that seems like a jumbled mess. How do I know what to delete and what to keep? Or did you just delete everything?