This guide will take you step by step through the process of figuring out which files are taking up so much disk space on your macOS computer (so that you can recover it) using completely free and open source software.
Using the fantastic Disk Inventory X App, you can scan your hard drive(s) and you’ll be presented with a detailed, easy to read list of all the files on your drive – sorted by file type and size. Then you can decide what you want to delete or move to another drive in order to free up disk space. It’s super easy to use and hands down the most effective way to recover disk space in macOS. Plus, it’s completely free and works in macOS Catalina (and earlier).
- Head over to the Disk Inventory X home page and download and install the App. Then launch it from your Applications folder.
- Each of your currently mounted drives (including the .dmg for Disk Inventory X if it’s still active) will be displayed. Select the drive you want to examine, and then click Open Volume.
- The app will explain what it’s about to do. Click the OK button.
- A series of permission windows will appear. Click OK on each one.
- Depending on the size of your drive, the number of files on it, and its speed, it can take a few minutes for Disk Inventory X to finish its examination.
- When the scan has completed you’ll be presented with the ‘results’ window and its side panel.
- To sort the file types by size, click the Size column in the side panel (see screenshot below). As illustrated in that screenshot, Virtual Disk Image files were the kind that take up the most space on my Mac.
- You can also discover the identity of large files by clicking on a “block” in the main window. As you can see in the screenshot below, the largest of the neon-green blocks was the iMovie App.
- If you right-click on any of the files and choose Reveal in Finder, a Finder window will open and display the file in question.
If you have a Windows PC, this guide can help you accomplish the same thing in Windows.
