How to Free Up Space on Mac Monterey

Here’s how to clear space on Mac for Monterey:

1. Use Apple’s built-in tool to get recommendations to optimize your Mac device.
2. Clear cache data.
3. Empty the trash.
4. Remove unused apps.
5. Clear files from downloads
6. Delete large files that are taking up space.
7. Delete hidden duplicate files.
8. Delete backups you don’t need.

Your Mac is slowing down, freezing, and performing like it’s on its last leg. This could be happening because macOS Monterey’s disk is full. Your device is weighed down and can’t keep up with day-to-day demands and simple tasks like it used to. Naturally, it needs cleaning up. To that end, several solutions may be required.

These are the reasons why you need to optimize storage on macOS Monterey:

• Your MacBook’s fan is louder than usual.
• The hardware overheats.
• Browser pages and tabs take forever to load.

Freeing up space on OS X Monterey will speed up its performance and allow you to update and install your applications.

Before we start

 

You could be doing something important on your Mac. The next thing you know, it has stopped cooperating with you. This can continue until you do something about it.

 

One of the easiest and cheapest solutions for a slow Mac is freeing up space. MacKeeper’s Safe Cleanup tool can help you achieve this by cleaning up your device’s storage. Designed for Apple devices, it’s one of the best cleaning solutions, as it’s thorough and gets the job done fast, saving you valuable time.

 

Here’s how to use MacKeeper’s Safe Cleanup tool:

1. Download MacKeeper on your MacBook Pro or MacBook Air and select Safe Cleanup in the sidebar.
2. Click the Start Scan button. The scan should take a few moments, depending on your storage.  
3. When it’s complete, click the Clean Junk Files button and enjoy a clean Mac.

What are macOS Monterey features?

Below are the features included in macOS Monterey:

• Mail Privacy Protection
• Hide My Email
• Shortcut updates, like automating everyday tasks
• AirPlay to Mac
• Quick Note and Notes tags and mentions
• Focus
• Safari Tab Grouping
• FaceTime updates, like spatial audio, voice isolation, wide spectrum, portrait mode, grid view, etc.

There are plenty of reasons to upgrade to Monterey. However, you should be aware of how it affects MacBook disk space. The Monterey installer is about 12.16 GB, but it ends up taking up more space once unpacked. Ensure you clear disk space to get significantly more than 12 GB to install Monterey comfortably.

How to free up storage on macOS Monterey

Below are the options to free up space on macOS Monterey:

1. Use Apple’s built-in tool
2. Clear cache
3. Empty trash
4. Remove unwanted apps
5. Clear files from downloads
6. Remove large and old files
7. Delete duplicate files
8. Delete backups stored on Mac

1. Use Apple’s built-in tool

Here are the steps to use Apple’s built-in storage optimization tool:

1. Go to the Apple menu, click the About This Mac option, select the Storage tab at the top of the window, and click the Manage button.
2. Here, you’ll find various recommendations from Apple to help you reclaim much-needed space on your Mac device. Follow each of the suggestions to optimize your computer.

2. Clear cache

You can clear cache on a Mac by following these steps:

1. Open Finder and press the Shift + Command + G keys.
2. Enter the text ~/Library/Caches and hit Go.
3. Open the folder of the relevant browser and drag the files to the Trash.

3. Empty trash

Here’s how to empty the trash on macOS Monterey:

1. Long-press the Trash icon in the Dock and choose the Empty Trash option that appears.
2. Alternatively, open the Trash and click the Empty button in the upper-right corner of the window.

4. Remove unwanted apps

Delete unwanted apps from your MacBook device in this way:

1. Click the Launchpad icon.
2. Hold down the Option key or click and hold any app until all the apps jiggle, then press X on the ones you want to delete.

You can also uninstall Mac apps more thoroughly to properly get rid of them and their leftover files.

5. Clear files from downloads

Here’s how to delete downloads from your Mac device:

1. Open Finder in the Dock and select the Downloads tab in the sidebar.
2. Check the list of downloaded files and drag all redundant files to the Trash in the Dock.
3. Once that’s done, empty the Trash to permanently delete the items.

6. Remove large and old files

Follow these steps to find and delete large files and folders on a Mac:

1. Click on the Apple menu, select the About This Mac option, then click on the Storage tab and hit the Manage button.
2. Click the Documents category in the sidebar, hit the Large Files tab, select the files you want to remove, and click the Delete button.

7. Delete duplicate files

Here’s how to remove duplicate files from your Mac:

1. Open the MacKeeper app on your MacBook device, select Duplicates Finder in the sidebar, and click the blue Start Scan button at the bottom of the window.
2. MacKeeper will show you the duplicates it found. Review them and click Remove Selected.

8. Delete backups stored on Mac

Now, learn how to delete backups on your Mac:

1. Go to Finder > Applications > Utilities > Terminal, enter the command tmutil listlocalsnapshotdates, and hit Enter.
2. Enter the command tmutil deletelocalsnapshots [backup name] and press Enter.

How to manage space on macOS Monterey

How to manage space natively on macOS Monterey to clear up system storage:

1. Open the Apple menu, click the About This Mac option, select the Storage tab at the top of the window, and click the Manage button. This will take you to your Mac device’s storage settings.
2. Follow the prompts in the Recommendations tab.

Create more breathing room on Mac Monterey

Freeing up space on Mac Monterey has a ton of benefits, including enjoying a smoother, more pleasant experience on your Mac. As you’ve seen, there are countless ways to create more space on your Mac. Use the tips in our guide to fix a clogged-up Mac.

One of the simplest and most rewarding methods is using MacKeeper’s Safe Cleanup. The tool does all the heavy lifting for you and gets things done in a fraction of the time, allowing you to focus on what’s important and reduce macOS Monterey problems.