1. Use Storage settings
Choose Apple menu › System Settings › General › Storage and click ⓘ next to Documents. Click Large Files to list your biggest files with their size and last access date. Select a file and click Delete, or click Show in Finder.
2. Search in Finder by file size
- Open a Finder window and press Command-F.
- Make sure This Mac is selected.
- Click the first criteria menu (it usually says Kind) and choose Other….
- Search for and select File Size, then click OK.
- Set it to is greater than, type 1 and choose GB.
Click Save to keep the search as a Smart Folder in the sidebar, so you can check it again later.
3. Use Terminal
To list files over 1 GB in your home folder:
find ~ -type f -size +1G 2>/dev/nullTo see which folders in your home folder are biggest:
du -hd1 ~ 2>/dev/null | sort -hSome folders may be skipped unless Terminal has Full Disk Access. These commands only list files; they don't change anything.
What usually takes the most space
- Videos and screen recordings, especially raw footage and exports.
- Disk images (
.dmg,.iso) and installers you no longer need. - Virtual machines, which are often single files of 20 GB or more.
- Old archives and backups, such as
.zipfiles or.sparsebundleimages. - Music, podcast and game libraries.
Your Photos library also appears as one big file. Don't delete anything inside it from Finder; manage photos in the Photos app instead.
Before you delete a large file
Large files are usually yours, so open or preview each one first (select it and press Space for Quick Look). If you might need it again, move it to an external drive or cloud storage rather than deleting it.
Where TheCleanDisk helps
TheCleanDisk's Big Files view shows large files you haven't opened in a while as thumbnails, with nothing selected for you. Anything you remove waits in quarantine for 7 days. The space is fully freed when quarantine empties, or sooner if you empty it yourself. It is coming soon to the Mac App Store.