What files & apps can I delete?

[moey2k2001]

Hi



Simple question, what Apps and files can I delete/remove to get some extra space within Mac Os X High Sierra?

For Instance, is there a was to get rid of protected apps such as chess etc?

I only use 2% of the apps I have. I just want to remove useless apps and free up space.

thanks. much appreciated

 

[chabig]

Don’t do it. You’re too likely to mess up and it may confuse future updates or cause system instabilities. It’s just not worth it. The amount you’d free up is minimal. Drives are cheap. If you need more space, get a larger drive.

 

[moey2k2001]

Don’t do it. You’re too likely to mess up and it may confuse future updates or cause system instabilities. It’s just not worth it. The amount you’d free up is minimal. Drives are cheap. If you need more space, get a larger drive.

since I do not do updates because i do not need them, I can fairly say I will remove and Apps that take up space
if I tend to do updates then it happens once in two years, and then I worry about that later...

anyhow, there are bunch of files kept in the library, system and apps that can simply be deleted without altering the system

 

[chabig]

...I do not do updates because i do not need them...

Then I bet there there is no tread remaining on your car tires, and you don’t carry a jack or a spare because you don’t “need” them. Am I right?

 

[moey2k2001]

Then I bet there there is no tread remaining on your car tires, and you don’t carry a jack or a spare because you don’t “need” them. Am I right?

you're right yes. cuz I do not own a car

This forum is supposed to be an exchange of information of fixing things and improving things.
Instead there seems to be a tone of lecture from your advice.

All my Macs are at least 3 years without any upgrade and they work just fine.
You don't have to always be "up to date" for things to work.

I just want to fine-tune this particular mac for my usage.

With that being said, thank you for your input

 

[maflynn]

You're not going to free up much space, macOS is fairly lean. for instance, you reference Chess. That's only 5 megabytes, an insignificant percentage of space.

More often then not, people get themselves in trouble by deleting things they shouldn't have, so @chabig advice is sound. You're not going to be recouping much space imo.

 

[Jethro!]

The short answer is you can delete whatever you want "as long as you know what you're doing." You're probably safe to delete chess, and any other game you don't want. I'd make a carbon copy backup of everything before poking around too much. But then feel free to mess around all you want. Restore from the backup if you find you got yourself into trouble.

 

[DeltaMac]

In any event, you probably won't be allowed to delete much in the system (even the Chess.app...) , while System Integrity Protection (SIP) is enabled.

 

[moey2k2001]

The short answer is you can delete whatever you want "as long as you know what you're doing." You're probably safe to delete chess, and any other game you don't want. I'd make a carbon copy backup of everything before poking around too much. But then feel free to mess around all you want. Restore from the backup if you find you got yourself into trouble.

Solid answer. Thanks.

I did delete Garageband and it's files and it freed up a lot of space...

 

[chabig]

you're right yes. cuz I do not own a car

This forum is supposed to be an exchange of information of fixing things and improving things.
Instead there seems to be a tone of lecture from your advice.

All my Macs are at least 3 years without any upgrade and they work just fine.
You don't have to always be "up to date" for things to work.

I just want to fine-tune this particular mac for my usage.

With that being said, thank you for your input

The forums are for exchanging information, but you are asking for trouble. My first reply was both polite and correct, but you blew it off, so yes I suppose I am lecturing a bit. You have almost nothing to gain and a lot to lose. You say your machines are working fine, so don’t mess with them. But understand that by forgoing basic updates, you’re leaving bugs and vulnerabilities unpatched, which simply isn’t smart.

 

[26139]

since I do not do updates because i do not need them, I can fairly say I will remove and Apps that take up space
if I tend to do updates then it happens once in two years, and then I worry about that later...

anyhow, there are bunch of files kept in the library, system and apps that can simply be deleted without altering the system

then ignore us and do it.
sorry if you lose functionality.

 

[maflynn]

[MOD NOTE]
A number of posts were removed due to rules violations. Please stay on topic and don't post to annoy members.

 

[Fishrrman]

OP wrote:
"I did delete Garageband and it's files and it freed up a lot of space..."

Yes, the GB libraries DO "use up" a lot of space.
In that case, I don't see any problems with deleting them. I did the same.

But you must be careful about what you remove.

Also, you should re-consider your actions re installing updates, at least updates to the OS you're currently using.

By that, I mean if you're using High Sierra, update to the final release version and "stay there".
That would be:
10.13.6 combo updater:
https://support.apple.com/kb/DL1970?locale=en_US

Beyond that, Apple releases "security updates", probably worth installing.

You don't have to "move beyond" High Sierra if you're comfortable there.

 

[Smeaton1724]

In the past I have used CCleaner or Monolingual (Both free) and remove the languages that software has that I'll never use - such as German, Spanish etc. Someone may chime in and say it is damaging in some way but I used Monolingual for over a decade and never had any issues. If I remember correctly it used to free up closer to 1 GB, which at the time was a godsend with an 80GB iBook drive, then 128GB Air. I don't bother anymore as I have a 256GB plus externals I'm not in need of extra space.