How to check available storage on your Mac

Step by step

1. 15 sec

   Open System Settings

   Click the Apple menu in the top-left corner of your screen. Select System Settings from the dropdown list.

   Note: You can also use Spotlight search by pressing Command + Space and typing System Settings.
2. 15 sec

   Locate General storage

   In the sidebar of the System Settings window, click on the General tab. Click on Storage in the main menu to view your disk usage breakdown.

3. 1 min

   Review the storage bar

   Observe the color-coded bar at the top of the Storage pane. The text immediately below the bar indicates the total amount of free space available on your Macintosh HD.

   Note: Hover your cursor over the colored segments to see specific space consumption for categories like Apps, Documents, or System Data.
4. 30 sec

   Compare against requirements

   Identify the installation size requirement for the app you intend to download. Ensure your available storage is at least 15% larger than the application size to maintain system performance.

   Note: macOS requires free space for swap files and temporary cache management during software updates and installations.
5. 1 min

   Clear space if necessary

   Use the recommendations listed under the Storage bar to clear space, such as Empty Trash Automatically or Review Files. Select the information icon next to any category to manually delete unwanted files.

   Note: Avoid deleting items in the System Data category unless you are an advanced user, as these files are essential for macOS operations.