You might not leave a single Word doc, photo, or app in the Downloads folder for a moment longer than necessary! Or, you might use it as a sort of dumping ground. You might be the sort of person who knows exactly where all their files should go. From this folder, you can drag apps to the Bin – though you might be asked to confirm your choice by providing an administrator's permission. To do so via Launchpad, you'll first need to open it from the Applications folder. Mac users are able to delete junk apps from Finder or Launchpad. You can filter these apps by size, and click Uninstall on any you think are superfluous.
Windows users can navigate to the Apps & Features menu via Settings, then Apps, and view a list of what's currently installed on the device. Fortunately, it's possible to see which apps are taking up the most space and delete them manually.
These programs and applications can consume valuable hard drive space that you might need elsewhere, or want to free up for improved performance. Clear out the clutterĪsk yourself honestly – how many of the apps on your computer do you actually use? Probably not all of them, right? Especially the ones that come preloaded. Temporary files are created automatically when you do, and again, will hang around uninvited.
You'll also see temporary files if you download a lot of things from the web. Additionally, Windows uses temporary files to hold onto information whilst you're making modifications – like editing a Word document or using a printer. And you should – these files can take up a shocking amount of space in your hard drive! Your Chrome browser cache may contain these files, and redundant Windows system files can linger after system updates. Your computer makes use of temporary files quite frequently, but contrary to their name, they can hang around until you decide to get rid of them. If you're not actively using these documents, it's better to get rid of them or back them up elsewhere rather than leave them lying around. You might not think that there's a link between tidying your hard drive and your security, but there is! Hard drives often accrue old files and documents, and these can contain sensitive personal information – the sort you wouldn't want falling into the hands of a cybercriminal. Free up some space to see an improvement in speed, better app performance, as well as easier downloads and installations. Keep your device running smoothlyĪs we mentioned, a computer with a hard drive approaching its capacity is going to be slower than a shiny new one. But that's not all – we've listed some additional benefits below.
It's the same with your hard drive!įrequently cleaning your hard drive can drastically improve your computer's performance.
From the Reduce Clutter menu, you'll be able to delete files directly, or open specific apps to determine which files to remove from inside it.Ĭleaning might not be everyone's idea of a good time, but it's necessary – think how much more difficult it'd be to get about your day-to-day routine if your house was full of clutter and rubbish.You can decide which files to store in iCloud, delete media content you've already watched to optimize your storage, configure your recycle bin to empty every 30 days, and sift through your clutter settings via Reduce Clutter.From here, you can review your Mac's space saving recommendations.
You'll be able to see the remaining free space on your device here. We only include products that have been independently selected by Input's editorial team. Input may receive a portion of sales if you purchase a product through a link in this article. I tried out a bunch of options to get the job done - read on for my favorites.
Or, to really be safe, only delete files you know you don’t need.) (If you’re not sure whether or not it’s okay to delete some unknown file, we’d recommend Googling it to see what it’s used for. Here’s the best thing you can do: Download an app to visualize your disk space, find which files are eating up your drive, then work on deleting them. The Storage Management pane is at best an overview of the massive clutter that’s collected in your Mac. You can save space by optimizing storage, the notification tells you, along with the choice of either closing the notification (temporary bliss) or “managing” your space (eternally frustrating). When the dreaded notification pops up in the upper right of your Mac screen, it can feel maddening: Your disk is almost full.