See how much storage you have left on your Mac

Why it happens

Your Mac keeps a running count of what fills its drive, split into groups like Applications, Documents, Photos and System Data. Storage settings turn that into a coloured bar, so you can see at a glance what's taking up room. It's worth checking before a big macOS update, which needs plenty of free space.

How to fix it

1. Open the Apple menu, choose System Settings, click General, then Storage.

   General›Storage

2. Wait a few seconds while your Mac adds everything up. The line above the bar tells you how much of the drive is used, for example 180 GB of 256 GB.

3. Hold the pointer over each coloured part of the bar to see which category it is and how big. The empty part at the end is your free space.

4. Scroll down for the list of categories. Click the ⓘ next to one, like Documents, to see the biggest files inside it.

Still not fixed?

1. For a quick look any time, open a Finder window and choose View > Show Status Bar. The bottom of the window then shows how much space is available.

   Finder›View›Show Status Bar

2. If the numbers look odd, restart your Mac and check again. Storage can take a while to recount after you delete a lot of files.

3. If the Finder (Get Info on Macintosh HD) or Disk Utility shows space as purgeable, your Mac clears it by itself when it needs the room, such as old iCloud copies. You don't need to delete it.

4. Running low? Empty the Trash and use the recommendations under the bar in Storage, like Store in iCloud or Optimize Storage, to free space safely.

5. If Storage never finishes counting, or shows a drive far smaller than your Mac should have, contact Apple Support. The drive may need a check.