I have a MacBook Air M2 with a 256GB SSD and it is now constantly running out of storage space. And this is a real problem — my Mac slows down frequently, I get low storage warnings all the time, and I’m struggling to install updates or save new files. The 256GB limit feels very tight and not sure how to manage it better.
I’ve already tried deleting some files and emptying the Trash but it barely made a dent. The system data takes about 80GB space. And no where to clean up this category. so what are the most effective ways to free up space on mac?
BY the way, if offloading files to an external SSD or NAS is a practical long-term solution for a small-capacity Mac like mine.
For freeing up space on Mac, you’d better using a dedicated mac cleaner app such as UUByte CleanMate instead, which helps you automatically remove system junk, temp and cache files.
I would say that a NAS is very useful. There is not a single file that I care about on my own Macbook or Windows desktop. Everything is stored on the NAS, or transfered over to the NAS once I am done working on it. I have so far found no better way to clean up any computer then a fresh OS install. The annoying part of a reinstall is when applications have no easy way to export and import settings and preferences.
Easy or difficult is not a universal measurement so I do not want to be held liable if it is difficult for you. With that smal disclaimer out of the way. It is very easy. Once the NAS is configured and a SMB share is created you open finder press command+K. type in the ip adress of the NAS (smb://192.168.0.51 for me). Type in a username and password that you have set up on the NAS and you are done.
Mac offers a feature that helps you free up space on mac by cleaning out the Downloads folder, which often accumulates a large number of unused files that take up storage space. To use this feature, open Finder and navigate to the Downloads folder. Select “View > Show View Options,” sort the files by size, and then delete or move any large files you no longer need.
This simple method is an effective way to free up space on mac, allowing you to quickly identify files that are taking up a lot of space. However, this method only applies to the Downloads folder and cannot clean up system caches or other junk files. Be sure to check the files carefully before deleting them to avoid accidentally losing data.
It’s ideal for quick, daily storage cleanup, especially when your Mac is running low on available space.
For a 256GB MacBook Air, using iCloud cloud storage with local optimization is an effective way to manage limited disk space. Enabling iCloud Drive’s “Optimize Mac Storage” keeps less frequently used files in the cloud while maintaining smaller local versions, which helps free up space on mac without affecting normal access to your files.
Photos and videos usually consume the most storage. With iCloud Photos enabled and storage optimization turned on, original media is kept in the cloud while optimized versions remain on the device, significantly reducing local usage. This also helps free up space on mac while keeping everything available when needed.
Downloads and Documents folders can also be moved into iCloud Drive to reduce local clutter. Files remain accessible on demand, but no longer continuously occupy internal storage, helping maintain smoother performance on your Mac.
System Data is mostly stuff in the Library directories. There is a root level one and one in your home directory. Go through both and sort by size. most likely Caches (which is fine to completely clear out), Application support and Containers will take up the most space. Go through and delete the largest folders in each of these, for apps that you don’t use or don’t have important data in. Be careful deleting stuff in here as you can end up loosing data especially in database style apps (like apple notes), so only delete stuff you know or look up the name of the folder and what it is for before deleting.
There are apps that automate this process for you but its easy enough to go through and find the worst offenders