Clean Disk For Mac
'Your startup disk is almost full. To make more space available on your startup disk, delete some files.' Inevitably, a full startup disk warning as such comes up on your MacBook Pro/Air, iMac, Mac Mini at some point. It indicates that you are running out of storage of the startup disk, which should be taken seriously, because a (almost) full startup disk will slow down your Mac and in extreme cases, the Mac won't start when startup disc was full.
In this post, we will cover every question you may have about full startup disk on Mac, including:
No.6 Free Mac cleaner: Disk Drill. Disk Drill is one very popular free Mac cleaner app. Actually, it is a professional data recovery tool for Mac, which carries some disk cleaning functions. It has the capability to analyze Mac storage space, locate unused, large, and duplicate files and so on. DaisyDisk, chosen by Apple as a Mac App Store ‘essential’, provides a cleaner and more interactive circular interface for visualizing Mac’s hard drive. 9to5mac For only ten bucks, DaisyDisk is a simple, convenient utility for every Mac owner, and it gets the job done well for less technically-inclined users.
What is Startup Disk on Mac?
Simply put, a startup disk on Mac is a disk with a operating system(such as macOS Mojave) on it. Usually there is only one startup disk on a Mac, but it is also possible that you have divided your hard drive into different disks and get multiple startup disks.
Just to be sure, make all disks show up on your desktop: click Finder on the Dock, select Preferences and check 'Hard disks'. If there are multiple icons showing up on Mac, it means that you have multiple disks on your Mac. However, you only need to clean the startup disk that your Mac is currently running on, which is the one that have been selected on System Preferences > Startup Disk.
What Does It Mean When Your Startup Disk Is Full?
When you are seeing this 'your startup disk is almost full' messages, it means that your MacBook or iMac is running on low space and you should clear your startup disk as soon as possible. Or the Mac will be acting weirdly because there is no enough storage space, such as getting intolerably slow, apps crashing unexpectedly.
So find out what's taking up space on your startup disks and make room on startup disk immediately. If you don't have time to delete files from startup disks one by one, you can ignore the rest of the article and download FonePaw MacMaster, a disk cleanup tool which can shows what's taking up space on the disk and remove unneeded large files, duplicate files, system files all at once.
How to See What's Taking up Space on Mac Startup Disk?
Why is my startup disk getting almost full. You can find the culprits by visiting About this Mac.
Step 1 Click on the Apple icon and select About this Mac.
Step 2 Click Storage.
Step 3 It will show how many storage has been used in your startup disk by which kind of data, such as photos, documents, audios, backups, movies and other.
If you are running on macOS Sierra or higher, you can optimize storage on Mac to free up space on startup disk. Click Manage and you can have all the options to optimize storage. Basically, the solution is to move your photos and documents to iCloud, so make sure you have enough iCloud storage.
How to Clean Startup Disk on MacBook/iMac/Mac Mini?
As you have figured our what is taking up space on the startup disk, you can start to clean the startup disk. If you are looking for a convenient way to clear disk space on Mac, FonePaw MacMasteris recommended. It can find out all junk files on startup disk and clean them in one click.
For example, if you find that photos is taking up too much space of the startup disk, you can use Similar Image Finder and Photo Cache on MacMaster to clear the startup disk.
To clean system storage on startup disk, MacMaster can delete System Junk, including cache, logs and more.
And if it is apps that are occupying the most space of startup disk, MacMaster Uninstaller can completely remove unwanted apps and related app data to reduce system storage on Mac.
MacMaster can also find and delete large/old files, iOS backups, mail attachments, trash, extensions and many other junk files from startup disk. It can make the startup disk almost full gone right away.
Download the free trial version of FonePaw MacMaster to have a try right away. It works with macOS Mojave, macOS High Sierra, macOS Sierra, OS X El Capitan and more.
Also, you can clean startup disk step by step manually, which will take longer time and more patient. Read on.
Empty the Trash
This may sound silly, but when you drag a file to the Trash, it is still using your disk space until you empty the file from the Trash. So the first thing you should do when your Mac tells you the startup is almost full is to empty the Trash. Before you do so, you should really make sure that all files on the Trash are useless. Emptying Trash is simply and can free up space on your startup disk right away.
Step 1 Right click the Trash icon in the the Dock.
Step 2 Select 'Empty Trash.'
Clean up Caches on Mac
A cache file is a temporary file created by apps and programs to run more quickly. Caches that you don't need, for example, caches of the applications that you no longer use, can fill up the disk space. So follow the steps below to remove caches and some caches are needed, Mac will automatically recreate them in the next reboot.
Step 1 Open Finder and select Go.
Step 2 Click on 'Go to Folder…'
Step 3 Type in '~/Library/Caches' and hit Enter. Delete all cache files that are large in size or belong to the application that you no longer use.
Step 4 Again, type in '/Library/Caches' in Go to Folder window and hit Enter. And then remove the cache files.
Remember to empty trash to regain disk space.
Delete Old iOS Backups and Updates
If you often use iTunes to back up or upgrade your iOS devices, there may be backups and iOS software updates that are taking up your startup disk space. Find the iOS backups and update files and get rid of them.
Step 1 To locate iOS backups, open 'Go to Folder…' and enter the this path: ~/Library/Application Support/MobileSync/Backup/.
Step 2 To locate iOS software updates, open 'Go to Folder…' and enter the the path for iPhone: ~/Library/iTunes/iPhone Software Updates or the path for iPad: ~/Library/iTunes/iPad Software Updates.
Step 3 Clean all the old backups and update files you have found.
If you are using FonePaw MacMaster, you can click its iTunes Junk option to easily get rid of all backups, updates, and other junks iTunes has created all altogether.
Remove Duplicate Music and Videos on Mac
You may have many duplicate music and videos on your Mac that taking up extra space on your startup disk, for example, the songs that you have download twice. iTunes can detect duplicate music and videos on its library.
Step 1 Open iTunes.
Step 2 Click the View in the Menu and select Show Duplicate Items.
Step 3 You can then examine the duplicate music and videos and remove those you don't need.
If you need to detect duplicate files of other kinds, such as documents, photos, use FonePaw MacMaster.
Remove Large Files
The most effective way to free up space on startup disk is to remove large items from it. You can use Finder to quickly filter larger files. Then you can directly delete them or move them to an external storage device to free up space. This should quickly fix the 'startup disk almost full' error.
Step 1 Open Finder and go to any folder you like.
Step 2 Click 'This Mac' and select 'File Size' as the filter.
Step 3 Enter a file size to find files that is greater than the size. For example, find files that are larger than 500 MB.
Step 4 After that, you can identify the files and remove those you don't need.
Restart Your Mac
After the above steps, you can now restart Mac to make the changes to take effect. You should regain a large amount of free space after all the deleting and stop seeing 'the startup disk is almost full.' But as you continue to use the Mac, the startup disk may get full again, so get FonePaw MacMaster on your Mac to clean up space from time to time.
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Mac Cleaner apps are often used to keep your computer optimized, especially when you don’t have time to delve through files and folders to declutter your Mac. These mac cleaning apps comes with extensive features, including junk & temp files remover, RAM cleaner, memory cleaner and optimizer, disk cleanup to make your Mac run smooth.
Confused which one to use? We have listed some of the best Mac cleaning software to help you choose as per your needs. You can remove unwanted apps and files to free up precious disk space in no time.
Top 5 Best Mac cleaner Apps
1. Smart Mac Care
Smart Mac Care is a Mac cleaning software which helps you remove clutter from your system to free up space on your computer. The app comes with a lot of advanced features and tools to improve system performance efficiently.
This mac cleaner not only helps you boost your system performance but can also keep your mac safe from malware, adware, trojans and spyware. It can scan and remove all the infections and unwanted apps, to prevent all security issues on your Mac.
With Privacy Scan, it scans and removes cookies, internet history and app cache from your browsers to ensure your privacy is intact.
Other Notable Features:
- With Disk Usage, you can sort the bulkiest files from your computer.
- Allows users to uninstallsuspicious or unwanted apps on your Mac.
- Remove login items to improve your Mac’s boot speed.
- Scan & delete duplicate copies of files to recover chunks of storage on Mac.
2. CCleaner For Mac
Ccleaner for Mac is one of the best mac cleaner software which scans and removes junk and unwanted files to make your Mac run faster and smoother. With the ability to manage login items easily, the app speeds up the boot time.
This mac cleaner can clear all the useless items from Trash, along with this, it also deletes temporary files and folders to retrieve space on your Mac. The app allows you to customize, include or exclude which files or cookies to keep or delete.
Other Notable Features:
- Erases browser search history and cookies to keep your browsing activities private
- Monitors your device in real-time
- With regular cleaning, your computer can run faster than ever
- Removes unwanted installed programs with a single click
3. CleanMyMac X
Whether you want a malware remover or a Mac cleaner, CleanMyMacX serves all the purpose. This app finds and removes unwanted files, be it partial downloads, useless localizations, caches. Also, you can get rid of clutter in your iTunes, Photos and Mail app to recover gigabytes of hard disk space.
The mac cleaning software comes power-packed with a lot of features to deal with hogged RAM, disable and manage Login Items, launch agents and more. This will reduce the burden on your computer and make it run faster.
It can not only also uninstall unwanted applications from your Mac but also can update the existing applications to make sure there are no software conflicts.
Other Notable Features:
- Removes browsing history, offline and online traces.
- Scan thoroughly to find any vulnerabilities on Mac, if any.
- Helps in deleting large hidden files to recover disk space on Mac
4. Disk Clean Pro
Another mac cleaning software, Disk Clean Pro helps you to keep your Mac optimized by deleting redundant files. With its One-click Cleaning feature, you can recover valuable disk space on your computer.
It has also come with Junk Cleaner, Logs Cleaner and other features for thorough cleaning. With its optimization features to find duplicate files, unused and old files, large files and old downloads, you can sort your disk storage in no time.
Another than this, you can also delete files from trash, remove old backups and download to keep your system organized.
Other Notable Features:
- Removes unwanted files and partial downloads
- Deletes crash reports retrieving space on your computer
- Removes traces of browsing history to ensure your privacy stays intact.
- Removes bulky files and categorizes files as per your preferences
5. App Cleaner & Uninstaller Pro
The last mac cleaning software mentioned on the list, AppCleaner & Uninstaller Pro is a great application to delete unwanted apps safely along with leftover files. This mac optimizer can disable, or hide login items and launch agents. It can delete leftover files of previously uninstalled apps.
This mac cleaner lets you manage extensions in a single click. It can also reset apps by deleting services files and launch an application just as did the first time.
This software can also delete caches, application support files, preferences files to recover disk space and get a smooth functioning Mac.
Other Notable Features:
- Removes Internet Plugins and Mac widgets
- Deletes macOS install files
- Helps you get rid of broken service files with ease.
- It can uninstall 1000+ apps with all the files associated with it.
Which Mac Cleaning Software To Choose To Keep Your Mac Decluttered?
So, these are some of the best mac cleaner apps which can help you keep your Mac organized. However, if you still want our help to decide which app to choose, then our recommendation is Smart Mac Care. This app comes with a beautiful & user-friendly interface and comes with advanced features to clean the clutter on your Mac.
You can also try using CCleaner and CleanMyMac X which are another two renowned names in this mac cleaning apps category. However, you can choose the others listed if any of those suits your needs more.
Watch how to clean your Mac using Smart Mac Care-
Frequently Asked Questions
Q1. Do Mac cleaners work?
Yes, most of the mac cleaners work fine. One of the most important aspects to evaluate is effectiveness. The good mac disk cleanup available in the market such as Smart Mac Care helps you get rid of unwanted files, deletes useless language, uninstalls third-party apps along with deleting duplicates.
Q2. Is Using Mac Cleaners Safe?
Yes, using Mac cleaners is safe. These utility tools do not interfere with your Mac’s configuration or the OS, and only run system scans to improve Mac’s performance. There are no concerns about safety with these software, provided that you haven’t install any such tool from an unknown or non-trusted source of download.
Q3. Why should I use Mac cleaning app?
Even for Mac, remaining in the same working state is impossible and its performance surely does wear off with time. By using a suitable Mac cleaner, users can optimize their Mac and improve its speed and response time by clearing piled-up junk files, deleting internet cache and cookies, and removing unwanted or lesser-used applications from the system. This eventually impacts overall Mac performance.
Q4. How Often Should I Clean My Mac?
While there is no fixated interval for you to clean your Mac, but it is recommended to do so when your hard drive begins to fill up. Though cache and junk keep piling up in the system along with unnecessary app installations, its impact doesn’t show up until the hard drive is almost full, and there is little space for new installations. So, in case, you are running your Mac on a low-space hard drive, say 128 GB, then you may want to clean up your Mac once every fortnight.
Q5. How Cleaner Apps Make your Computer Fast?
Cleaner apps perform deep system cleanups via customizable scans for hidden junk files, unwanted programs and their configuration files, unknown login items, and cache and traces stored over web browsers resulting from internet sessions.
Cleaner apps root out these items and allow users to delete the unwanted ones in a time-saving automatic scan. By removing such items and files from the system, users are able to clear off storage space, and free up system memory, eventually improving system performance.
Q6. How to Clean your Mac Manually?
Removing unwanted files from your Mac is the simplest way to clean your Mac. Usually, the things that slow down your Mac includes caches, background apps, logs, junk files, trash, and other unwanted files. You must either have a Mac cleaner app to remove unwanted files or know how to deal with it manually. To clean manually, follow the below steps:
- Empty the trash bin: Locate Trash bin on the dock and press control-click on the icon & select Empty trash.
- Remove items from Download folder: locate Finder from Dock and click to open it. Now navigate to Username->Downloads. Check every file and delete the ones you don’t want.
- Remove Login Items: Click Apple icon->System Preferences->Users & Groups->Login items tab. Once there locate and delete items which you don’t want when your Mac starts up.
- Delete old disk images: Mac needs disk image to install files. There can be a lot of disc images present all over your Mac. To remove them, open Finder. Locate All My Files, then type Disk Manager in the search box. Find and delete DMG files to retrieve space on your Mac.
- Uninstall unwanted apps: Locate the app that you don’t need and drag it to the Trash bin to delete
- Delete Safari cache: launch Safari->Develop-> Empty Caches.
These are not the only things that you need to do to optimize and clean your Mac. Isn’t it too much to do? All of these tasks can be accomplished by just using one of the best Mac cleaner apps available in the market. With a mac optimizer, you can quickly clean your Mac and tune it to perform better.