Aug 04, 2023 • Filed to: Solve Mac Problems • Proven solutions
There is no doubt that labels are quite helpful as they make you understand things easily. When you look at your ever-decreasing storage usage on your Mac, you'll get to see several labels, such as Apps, Photos, Backups, and Movies. Then, it comes to confusing label i.e. "Other" storage and you see it is taking up quite large storage capacity on your Mac. If you are wondering what Other storage is and how to get rid of Other on Mac, then you have come to the right place.
Here, you will get to learn everything you need to know about "Other", what it contains, and how you can delete it from your Mac.
The "Other" category is a blend of files that aren't recognized as one of the other file categories (Apps, Music, Photos, etc). Similar to "Other" on iOS devices, it stores different types of files. It takes a lot of storage space and that's why the majority of Mac users want to know how to delete other storage on Mac? It is also known as home to numerous files, temporary files, cached data, and junk files you probably want to remove from your Mac.
So, files present under this category may seem useless and redundant and can be removed. However, we recommended that you should first have a look at what type of files Another category contains.
The label "Other" can be quite misleading as it doesn't only include junk files, but also crucial personal files. Thus, it is better that you should have a glance at what it contains to avoid the accidental deletion of some important data.
Well, you now got an idea about what "Others" storage on Mac is all about. You might be probably wondering to know about what type of specific files is in there? It contains:
These files are present in Others category and thus, it is no surprise at all that the size of your "Other'" storage will normally come out so large.
Now, the main concern after knowing MacBook Pro/Air other storage you'll have is how to clear up Other space on Mac. So, continue reading this article to know how to do it.
The truth is that you can't wholly delete Other storage on Mac. However, you can try to minimize how much storage capacity it takes up. Here, we are going to tell you different types of Other files, how you can get rid of them from your Mac and empty trash on Mac. So, let's begin.
The first step to removing Other storage on Mac starts by knowing how to check the Mac storage usage. Well, here are the simple steps you need to follow:
Finally, you get to see that each bar segment providing you with the estimation of the storage space being used by a different type of files. You can move your pointer or cursor over each segment to get more information about how storage capacity is being used on your Mac by different categories, which include Other too.
Now, you know how much storage space the "Other" category is taking up on your Mac, it's time to get rid of it. You can begin by deleting files you don't need any more, which include caches for web browser, photo previews, and much more like that.
That's how you can delete cache files manually on your Mac.
Possibilities are, your Mac Downloads folder contains Other-type items, which include documents, folders, installer packages, and other folders for which you've already copied in somewhere location. Thus, if you want to free up space on your Mac, then it's time to delete your downloaded files.
When your Mac is running currently, it creates system files known as logs and these files are crucial for your system to work normally, but only on a particular time span. After some time these items become outdated, resulting in taking up a large amount of your disk space. These files also come under the "Other" storage category. Generally, these files are known as temporary files.
Sometimes, you need to delete temporary files manually and so, here are the steps on how to clean Other storage on Mac:
While apps on Mac storage bar labels as Apps, and their plug-ins or add-ons comes under the Other category. As compared to other file types, app plug-ins and extensions don't take up much storage space of your Mac. But, every bit matters and that's why it is better that you should clear plug-ins from your Mac in order to save some storage space.
Here, we are going to show how you can delete extensions and plug-ins from various browsers, which include Chrome, Safari, and Firefox:
Besides plug-ins, do you back up your iOS device using iTunes on a regular basis? Is so, then you may have lots of old unwanted backups too. Each backup can take up nearly 5GB, and that's why it is better that you should get rid of unnecessary backups. It is also another way for clearing Other storage on Mac. So, here are steps on how to do it:
If you're searching for effective tips on deleting Other files on Mac so that you don't end up deleting important files, then here are ones you're looking for:
While you are trying to repair the drive and word files, it is common that the solutions don't work as expected and the files get deleted from Mac. Here is the perfect solution if getting stuck in such circumstances without any recovery option.
The best tool available for data recovery on the internet is Recoverit Data Recovery Mac. This software is capable of recovering various kinds of deleted or lost data. It is a faster, easier, and more reliable recovery tool with a high recovery rate.
Launch the software and select the drive from where the data files are lost. If you don't know which drive to search, tap on the "I can't find my partition" option, and hit the Start button.
Typically, the software will run an All-Around Recovery scan and search for the lost and deleted files on the entire drive.
When the scan completes, the files will be listed on the screen. The software will sort out the files according to format to make the search easier. You can select multiple files at a time and have a preview at them.
That's all on what is Other storage on Mac, how to find Other files on Mac, and how to get rid of them to free up storage space. If you end up deleting some important files by mistake while trying to delete Other files, then Recoverit can help you to get back your deleted files with ease.
Sue Wayne
staff Editor