Mac storage full, but you can’t find the files? Where the space went

By Mohit Nippanikar, who makes SiftMac

Your Mac says the disk is nearly full, but your folders don’t add up to much. Or you deleted 20 GB and the number barely moved. Both happen all the time, and both have ordinary causes: the space is in places Finder doesn’t show, or it hasn’t actually been freed yet.

1. Get the real number first

System Settings › General › Storage works out its numbers in the background and can be minutes behind. Terminal gives the current figure straight away:

df -h /System/Volumes/Data

Used is everything on your Mac apart from macOS itself; Avail is the space that’s free right now. Don’t be surprised if Finder shows more free space than this: Finder’s “Available” includes purgeable space, which macOS will free when something needs it, and df doesn’t count it until it’s actually freed.

2. “I deleted files and nothing changed”

The Trash, and Photos’ Recently Deleted

Deleted files sit in the Trash, still taking space, until you empty it: Finder › Empty Trash. Photos keeps deleted photos and videos in its Recently Deleted album for 30 days. To free that space now, open Photos, choose Recently Deleted in the sidebar (it may ask for your password or Touch ID), and click Delete All.

Time Machine snapshots

If Time Machine is on, macOS keeps local snapshots of your disk for about 24 hours. A file you delete still lives in those snapshots, so its space only comes back when they’re removed: on its own within a day, or as soon as something needs the room. To get it back now:

tmutil listlocalsnapshots /
sudo tmutil deletelocalsnapshots /

The first command lists the snapshots, and the second removes them all. Your backups on the Time Machine drive aren’t affected.

An app still has the file open

If an app was using the file you deleted, such as a video in an editor, a virtual machine’s disk or a log a program keeps writing, the space isn’t freed until that app lets go. Quit the app, or restart. This lists deleted files that are still open; the SIZE/OFF column shows how big each one is (add sudo to include system programs):

lsof +L1

Give it a minute

If none of these apply, wait a few minutes or restart before you read the storage bar again. It updates in the background, and a restart also clears swap files and temporary files.

3. “Finder shows almost nothing, but the disk is full”

Finder hides a lot. Press ⇧⌘. (Shift-Command-Period) in a Finder window to show hidden files, and again to hide them. To open your Library, choose Go in the menu bar, hold Option, and click Library.

Quicker still, this lists everything in your home folder, hidden folders included, biggest last. Turn on Full Disk Access for Terminal first (System Settings › Privacy & Security › Full Disk Access), or some folders will be skipped:

du -sh ~/.[^.]* ~/* 2>/dev/null | sort -h | tail -15

The usual suspects at the bottom of that list:

• ~/Library: app data, caches, iPhone backups, Mail and Messages. What’s inside it, and which folders are safe to delete.
• ~/.ollama, ~/.cache, ~/.lmstudio: downloaded AI models, often 4–40 GB each. How to remove them properly.
• ~/.npm, ~/.gradle, ~/.cargo, project folders with node_modules: developer downloads and build output. What’s safe to clear.
• ~/Pictures: usually your Photos library, covered below.

4. Another user account on the same Mac

Files in other accounts use the same disk, but you can’t see them from yours. System Settings › Users & Groups lists every account. To see how much each one holds (with Full Disk Access on for Terminal):

sudo du -sh /Users/* 2>/dev/null | sort -h

If an account belongs to someone who no longer uses the Mac, you can delete it in Users & Groups. macOS asks what to do with its home folder first, so you can keep a copy if you’re not sure.

5. Big app libraries

Some apps keep everything in one large library, which Storage settings lists under the app’s own name. Click ⓘ next to a group in System Settings › General › Storage to review and delete what’s inside.

6. Still can’t find it?

Then it’s most likely in System Data, the grey part of the storage bar that macOS doesn’t break down: caches, logs, snapshots, old macOS installers and more. How to clear System Data, step by step.

A disk map helps too: it draws every folder by size, so the big ones stand out. macOS doesn’t have one built in; GrandPerspective (free) and DaisyDisk draw one, and so does SiftMac.

Whatever you find, don’t delete a folder you can’t name. Caches come back by themselves; most other things don’t.