How to Reclaim Disk Space in OS X by Deleting Unused Language Files

This brief tutorial will show you how to easily free up anywhere from hundreds of megabytes to several gigabytes of disk space on your Mac – just by deleting unnecessary language resource files from OS X.

I only use five languages on my Mac – four of which I rarely use. By deleting all the other completely unused language related files, I was able to regain 2.5GB (gigabytes) of space. While that may not seem like a lot on a Mac with a 2TB (terabyte) hard drive, it’s pretty significant if you have a smaller and faster SSD hard drive.

Just follow these simple steps…

1. Download Monolingual (a small and free App), open the .dmg file, then drag Monolingual to your Applications folder to install it.
2. Launch Monolingual from your Applications folder.
3. Place a check-mark in the boxes next to the languages you want to delete. Do not place a check-mark in the box next to a language you want to keep. Adding languages back to OS X is not as easy as removing them – you’ll probably need to reinstall OS X. So be very careful which languages you choose to delete. When you’ve made your selections (after triple-checking) click the Remove button.
4. Click Continue.
5. Enter your password when prompted, then click the Install Helper button.
6. Sit back and wait while Monolingual does its thing. Depending on the number of languages you decided to delete, the number of Applications you have installed and/or open, and the overall speed of your Mac – this process can take anywhere from a couple of minutes to half an hour.
7. Once it’s complete, a window will appear letting you know just how much space was just cleared up. Click OK and go off to download more MP3s or games :)