If you run out of storage space on a desktop or laptop computer, you'll soon find out: Not only will you have trouble finding space for new files, you'll also notice Windows or macOS slowing down because the operating system has difficulty finding space to carry out his daily activities.
Even in our age of cloud connectivity, local storage remains important for photos, music, movies, documents, applications and more. So you always want to keep a healthy amount of space on hand.
To help you in your mission, both Windows and macOS have built-in tools for managing file storage and maximizing the amount of free space you have. In addition to these tools, there are other ways you can ensure you don't run out of space.
Free up space on Windows
Before you start clearing the clutter from Windows, it's helpful to know what's currently taking up space on your PC.
- Click Institutions in the Start menu.
- Open the System page.
- To elect Storage to see a system overview.
You'll see storage usage broken down into categories, including installed apps and temporary files. Click on one of these categories for a more detailed overview, such as which apps are the biggest storage hogs.
The built-in Windows space freeing tool is Storage feeling, which you can click on the Storage page to enable and configure. Check the box at the top, Keep Windows running smoothly by automatically cleaning up temporary system and app files, so that Storage Sense cleans up Windows regularly. Than:
- Switch the Automatic cleaning of user content switch to On.
- Use the Run Storage Discovery drop-down box to set how often the utility runs.
- Open the following drop-down box to set how long deleted files remain in the Recycle Bin.
- Select the following dropdown to automatically clean up the Downloads folder.
The last dropdown, below Locally available cloud content, deletes local copies of files you backed up to OneDrive in the cloud if you haven't opened them recently. You can always download them again if necessary. The default setting is to delete files after they have not been opened for 30 days, but you can change this to one, 14, or 60 days, and disable the feature completely.
You also see the Now run Storage Insight button to run the program manually. It's up to you how often you want to run it, but the default is During low free disk spacemakes sense to most people: it kicks in as soon as you run out of space.
Most cloud storage services can do what OneDrive does: delete local copies of files when they're backed up online, in other words, only download files that aren't available elsewhere. For example, if you use the Google Drive client for Windows on the Preferences screen you will see that it is possible Stream files (download them as and when needed) or Mirror files (always keep local copies).
In addition to these technical tools, staying organized in your digital filing can help you maintain a healthy amount of storage space on your system. When you're done with files you no longer need, clean out places like the desktop and Downloads folder, and uninstall applications you don't use regularly (via Apps > Installed apps under Settings).
Free up space on macOS
On macOS, you can see how your system storage is being used by it Apple menu and then select System Settings > General > Storage. Scroll down for a more detailed overview of how storage space is divided between apps, photos, documents, system data, and everything else on your Mac.
below Choice You'll see a number of built-in tools to help you free up space. These may vary depending on how your computer is set up and how your storage space is currently being used.
- Click Save to iCloud to keep most of your files online in iCloud and download individual files when needed.
- To elect Optimize storage to delete Apple TV movies and shows you've already watched; you can download them again if necessary.
- Click Empty trash automatically to set a 30-day time limit on how long files remain in the Trash folder before being completely erased.
Some settings can be found in other Apple apps on macOS, such as Photos. Open from Photos Photos > Settings > iCloudand you can Optimize Mac storage: This means that when you're low on disk space, the app keeps lower-resolution images and videos locally, while the full-resolution versions are backed up to iCloud on the web.
Other cloud storage tools offer a similar set of tricks. For example, if you use Dropbox on your Mac, go to the Preferences dialog box and then click Sync to manage whether or not files are saved locally on your computer by default. If you only keep files online, they can be downloaded whenever macOS or your apps need them.
Of course, you can also do a lot of manual cleanup: delete files from the desktop and Downloads folder when you're done with them, or uninstall programs you don't use regularly (drag a program icon down from Applications in Finder to the Trash icon in the dock to do this). to do).
