How do I optimize storage on my Mac?

Optimize storage space
  1. From the Apple menu  in the corner of your screen, choose About This Mac. Then click Storage to see the amount of storage space available for your data.
  2. Click the Manage button.
  3. Choose from the recommendations shown, such as Store in iCloud,* Optimize Storage, and Reduce Clutter.

Should I optimize Mac storage?

macOS can help make more room on your Mac by optimizing its storage. When space is needed, it keeps files, photos and videos, Apple TV movies and shows, and email attachments in iCloud and makes them available on demand. Files don’t take up space on your Mac, and you can download the original files when you need them.

What does optimize Mac storage mean?

In macOS, Apple includes a feature that can optimize the storage on your Mac by reducing the amount of space that data takes up on your Mac’s internal drive. It does this by offloading certain files, data, and documents to iCloud and iCloud Drive when space on your Mac is running low.

What happens if I turn off optimize Mac storage?

What happens if I turn off Optimize Mac Storage? Actually, Optimized Storage usurps control over local storage by automatically deleting selected files. So if you turn it off, all your data will be stored both in iCloud and on your Mac computer.

How do I use my Mac storage instead of iCloud?

To get to the settings, head to Apple Menu > About This Mac > Storage > Manage. This will open up the System Information app, where you can configure iCloud Optimized Storage. The “Store in iCloud” setting is the one that should be turned on. “Optimize Storage” is different, and just optimizes your iTunes files.

How do I save to hard drive on Mac but not iCloud?

The way to do this is to turn off “Desktop & Documents” in System Preferences>iCloud>iCloud Drive>Options, turn it off. Before you do that, however, move the Documents that are in iCloud to a local file on your Mac – (name it anything but just plain Documents). Then you can decide which of these will go back on iCloud.

What does optimize storage Do?

With Optimize Storage, smaller, space-saving photos and videos are kept on your device while all of your original, full-resolution versions are stored in iCloud. And as long as you have enough space in iCloud, you can store as many photos and videos as you want.

How do I stop photos saving on my Mac?

Go to System Preferences > iCloud and turn off iCloud Photo Library. If you click on the Options button in the category, you can turn off single parts of iCloud and keep others on.

Is everything on Mac stored on iCloud?

iCloud Drive is automatically set up on any current Apple device running the latest operating system. (More information is available here.) Apple’s macOS will automatically save files saved to your Desktop and Documents folders to iCloud, making these files available across all your devices.

What happens if I turn off iCloud Drive on my Mac?

If you have no use for iCloud Drive on the Mac, you may wish to disable iCloud Drive in macOS. By turning off iCloud Drive, all documents that are stored in iCloud will be removed from the Mac, though you’ll have an option to keep a local copy when turning iCloud Drive off.

Why are photos still taking up space on Mac?

iCloud Photos is a syncing service, not a photo storage service. It keeps full-resolution copies of your photos and videos, but copies also remain in the libraries on every device (Mac, iPhone, iPad) connected to the cloud version. Adding photos to one device adds them to the cloud library, then to other devices.

Does deleting photos from Mac delete from iCloud?

When you delete a photo or video from the Photos app on your iPhone, iPad, iPod touch, or Mac, it also deletes from your iCloud Photos and any other devices where you’re signed in to iCloud Photos. It also no longer counts towards your iCloud storage.

Why is my photo library taking up so much space?

Check the Recently Deleted Folder

A common reason for this issue revolves around the Recently Deleted album in the Photos app. … Thus, the first step to take if the Photos section of your iCloud storage is still using a lot of space is permanently deleting the pictures in Recently Deleted.

How can I add more GB to my MacBook air?

How to Add More Storage to Your MacBook: 6 Methods That Work
  1. External Hard Drives. You may already have an external hard drive. …
  2. Thunderbolt RAID Systems. Thunderbolt is an ultra-fast interface developed by Apple and Intel. …
  3. SD Cards. …
  4. Upgrade Your Internal SSD. …
  5. Network Storage. …
  6. Cloud Storage.

How do I delete other storage on Mac 2021?

How to Delete Other Storage on Mac – 10 Free Options
  1. Click Command+F on the desktop.
  2. Search for ‘Other’ folder in ‘This Mac’.
  3. Choose ‘Other’ in the drop-down menu.
  4. From the ‘Search Attributes’ window, tick the ‘File Size’ and ‘File Extensions’.
  5. Now you can enter different file types (. …
  6. Delete Files you no longer need.

Why is my storage still full after deleting?

If you’ve deleted all the files you don’t need and you’re still receiving the “insufficient storage available” error message, you need to clear out Android’s cache. … You can also manually clear the app cache for individual apps by going to Settings, Apps, selecting an app and choosing Clear Cache.

How do you delete photos from Mac without deleting them from iCloud?

To delete photos from a Mac computer, but not iCloud, open System Preferences. Click on Apple ID, then iCloud, and then uncheck Photos to turn off iCloud sync. This will disconnect the photos from iCloud, allowing the photos to be deleted off of the computer but not iCloud.

Does deleting photos free storage?

Keep in mind, when you delete photos and videos it goes into your Recently Deleted album. They will stay in there for 30 days, and then they’re gone forever. So, if you accidentally delete a photo or video, don’t sweat it, as you have a month to get it back from your Recently Deleted album.

How do I reduce the amount of iCloud storage?

You can free up storage in iCloud by deleting content that you’re not using:
  1. Reduce the size of your iCloud Backup.
  2. Delete photos in iCloud Photos.
  3. Delete folders or files in iCloud Drive.
  4. Delete texts and attachments in Messages.
  5. Delete messages and manage Mail.
  6. Delete voice memos.

How do you clear internal storage?

To clean up Android apps on an individual basis and free up memory:
  1. Open your Android phone’s Settings app.
  2. Go to the Apps (or Apps and Notifications) settings.
  3. Make sure All apps is selected.
  4. Tap on the app you wish to clean.
  5. Select Clear Cache and Clear Data to remove the temporary data.

How do I refresh my iCloud storage?

Tap Settings > [your name] > iCloud > Manage Storage, which will list how much iCloud storage you’re using and which apps are eating up the most storage. To automatically back up your device each day, turn on iCloud Backup via Settings > [your name] > iCloud > iCloud Backup and toggle iCloud Backup to on.

What apps should I backup on iCloud?

Overall, iCloud Backup includes app data, Apple Watch backups, device settings, home screen and app organization, iMessage, text (SMS) and MMS messages, photos and videos, and Apple purchase history for services like music, movies, TV shows, apps, books, and more.