Remove Junk Files from Mac. CleanMyMac is an easy-to-use Mac cleaner can find all junk files including the ones hidden deeply. It quickly detects system junks, photo junks, mail attachments, trash bins as well as large and seldom used files on your hard drive and allows you to remove them with just a couple of clicks. Auto clean Application cache, Browser caches and Other junk files on Mac Here we recommend a mac disk clean up utility -Fireebok PowerSuite, in 2.5.0 version and later, it adds an automatic feature to automatically remove Application cache, Browser caches and Other junk files on Mac. Launch MacCleaner Pro on your Mac. Wait for the app to scan your computer and find junk files. Click Clean up Mac in the left sidebar and you will see all junk file types on the right pane. You will also see the amount of space that those files currently occupy on your Mac.
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- System Junk Files
It's not hard to clean junk files on Mac at all. You can download iBeesoft iClear for Mac, letting it remove junk files comprehensively. It is able to scan your Mac, listing the junk files for you, letting you clean Mac system junk, log, cache, temporary files, and more. Of course, you can do it manually, but it takes time and energy.
Junk files are unwanted and useless files that keep appearing and disappearing on Mac computers time after time. So the best thing to do is – clean junk files on Mac completely. The most important reason why we need to remove junk files from Mac is, junk files slow down your Mac. Also, they take up unnecessary storage that can be used for keeping important files. These files will cause a lot of trouble in your Mac if you don't remove system junk on Mac regularly.
System Junk Removal Free
There are many file types that belong to junk files that include app junk files, Mac software installer, Language files, System log files, System cache files, Broken login items, mail attachments, Leftovers, iOS photo cache, User downloads, iOS software updates, Xcode derived data, iTunes backups, iOS apps, iTunes broken downloads, iTunes cache, Old app updates, Xcode iOS logs, Mac localization files, etc. So if your Mac has this type of junk files that are slowing your Mac down, then this article will help you learn how to remove junk files from Mac.
Part 1: Comprehensive and Most Efficient Way to Clean Junk Files on Mac
The most important fact is it takes time and energy to clean junk files on Mac manually. Instead of that, using software to do the task is more efficient. In that case, we recommend iBeesoft iCleaner as the best software to clean junk files on Mac. This Mac junk cleaner can do things that many software clearly fail to do. It can clean up Mac hard drives, speed up the performance of your Mac and remove junk files from Mac anytime you want. It will save hours of your time that you would have spent going through the folders and files. It's literally the best and most powerful cleaner on Mac.
Your Safe & Effective Clean Junk File Mac Software
- It's integrated with the latest technology to clean various junk files on Mac. It has a very simple user interface that can be handled by anyone.
- It can clean many junk file categories that include system/application/user junk, cache files, temp data, and more.
- It's not only a Mac junk cleanup tool; it can maintain your Mac to keep the best performance all the time. This will help your Mac stay at top speed performance over time.
- It cleans the junk files and protects your privacy by any means necessary.
Step-by-Step Guide for How to Use iBeesoft iCleaner to Remove Junk Files from Mac
Step 1: Analyze Junk Files
First, you can download and install the program on your Mac. Then start the program to get the home interface. Click on the 'Start Analyze' button to analyze the junk files on your Mac.
Step 2: Check Junk File Types and Details
When the scan is completed, the program will list the junk file types and how much space they are taking on your Mac. You can click on the junk file icons to select them or click on the text beside the icons to see the details.
Step 3: Clean Junk Files on Mac
Finally, click on the 'Clean Junk' button to remove junk files from Mac.
Part 2: How to Clean Junk Files on Mac Manually
It's really time-consuming for you to go through files and folders to clean my Mac system junk. So the best way to clean junk files on Mac is by using powerful software as we mentioned in Part 1. For this process, you need to be very careful not to make any mistakes. Still, here is how to remove each type of junk file respectively, and manually on Mac. The covered file types that we are going to clean manually include: caches, user log files, system logs, etc.
Remove Cache and Temporary Files
Step 1: First you need to stop all the active apps and click on the Finder option. Then you need to select Go and then choose Go to Folder.
Step 2: After that type '?/library/caches' in your keyboard and tap the Enter button to get inside the junkies folder.
Step 3: Now on this page, you will see various files and folders that are totally useless cache data. You can select all the files and press the delete button.
Step 4: If you want to make sure they are out of your hard disk, go to the Trash can and remove the files from there as well. Now restart the Mac to apply the changes.
Step 5: Next, again you need to open the Finder menu, but this time you need to type '/library/cache' to erase the system cache files on your Mac.
Remove Log Files
Step 1: First you need to go to the Finder menu and then select the Go option and then Go to Folder option. Next, you need to type in '?/library/logs' in your keyboard and then press the Enter button. This will open the logs folder.
Step 2: Select all the log files and delete them from the system because these are useless log files.
Step 3: If you want to make sure that they are deleted properly, you need to delete all the files from the Trash can also.
At the end of this article, you have already gained knowledge on how to clean junk files on Mac by using the best Mac junk cleaner on the internet and how to do it manually. There is no doubt about what iBeesoft iCleaner can do regarding remove junk files from the Mac issue. So if you want to try out a manual way or any other tools, we would simply request you not to waste your time. Start using iCleaner and help yourself now!
So, your Mac is running out of storage. You try to figure out what's taking up your disk space by clicking the Apple logo on the top-left of the screen, selecting About This Mac, and hitting the Storage tab.
To your surprise, you see a yellow bar representing 'System' that seems to occupy way more space than you think it should. In the example above, it only shows 207 GB, but take a look at this Apple discussion — some Mac users report that System Storage takes an astonishing 250 GB.
Worse yet, you have no idea what's included in 'System' storage, because clicking the 'Manage' button brings you to this System Information window… and the 'System' row is greyed out.
Why does my Mac system require so much space?
What does it contain?
Is it safe to remove some of those system files?
How do I regain more storage space?
Questions like these may easily get to your head. Although my Mac now has a good amount of disk space available, I'm always wary of files that are taking up more space than they should.
I have no idea why 'System' is greyed out while 'Documents,' 'System Junk,' 'Trash,' etc. allow you to review the files based on size and type. My hunch is that Apple does this on purpose to prevent users from deleting system files that could lead to serious issues.
What Files Are Included in System Storage on Mac?
During my research, I found many people report that Apple counts iTunes backup files and app caches (e.g. Adobe video cache files) in the System category.
Since it's greyed out and we are unable to click on that category for deeper analysis, we'll have to use a third-party app to assist.
CleanMyMac X is perfect for this kind of analysis. Since I tested the app in our best Mac cleaner review, it immediately came to my head when I saw 'System' was greyed out in Storage. Note that CleanMyMac isn't freeware, but the new 'Space Lens' feature is free to use and it allows you to scan your Macintosh HD, and then show you an in-depth overview of what's taking up disk space on your Mac.
Step 1:Download CleanMyMac and install the app on your Mac. Open it, under 'Space Lens' module, first click the yellow 'Grant Access' button to allow the app to access your Mac files and then select 'Scan' to get started.
Step 2: Soon it'll show you a folder/file tree and you can hover your cursor over each block (i.e. a folder). There you can find more details. In this case, I clicked 'System' folder to continue.
Step 3: The file breakdown below indicates that some Library and iOS Support files are the culprits.
The interesting part is that the System file size shown in CleanMyMac is much smaller than the size shown in System Information. This puzzles me and makes me believe that Apple definitely has counted some other files (not real system files) in the System category.
What are they? I have no clue, honestly. But as reported by other Mac users who experienced the same issue, they said Apple also considers app caches and iTunes backup files as System files.
Out of curiosity, I ran CleanMyMac again for a quick scan. That app found 13.92 GB in iTunes Junk. Further review revealed that the junk files are old iOS device backups, software updates, broken downloads, etc.
But even after adding this amount to the original system files returned by CleanMyMac X, the total size is still a bit less than what's returned in System Information.
If cleaning the System Storage is still not enough to bring your Mac available disk space to a normal level (i.e. 20% or more), see below.
What Else Can I Do to Reclaim More Disk Space?
There are tons of ways out there. Here are a few of my favorites that should help you get back a decent amount of space quickly.
1. Sort all files by size and delete old large files.
Open Finder, go to Recents and look at the Size column. Click on it to sort all recent files by file size (from large to small). You'll have a clear overview of what items are eating up a large amount of space, e.g. From 1 GB to 10 GB, and from 100 MB to 1 GB.
On my MacBook Pro, I found a few large videos that could be transferred to an external drive.
Clear System Junk Mac Mail
Note: If the Size column doesn't show up, click on the Settings icon and select Arrange By > Size.
2. Remove duplicate files.
How To Clear System Junk Mac
Don't forget those duplicates and similar files! They can stack up without you being aware of it. Finding them is sometimes time-consuming. That's what Gemini 2 is designed for. Simply select a few frequently used folders (e.g. Documents, Downloads, etc.) in the main zone of Gemini.
Clear System Junk Machine
It then scans them and returns all the duplicate files that might be worth removing. Of course, it's always a good practice to review them before doing so. You can also read more from our detailed Gemini review here.
System Junk Files
Wrapping It Up
Ever since Apple introduced the Optimized Storage feature, Mac users got the option of saving space by storing content in the cloud. Apple also has several new tools that make it easy to find and remove unneeded files.
So, your Mac is running out of storage. You try to figure out what's taking up your disk space by clicking the Apple logo on the top-left of the screen, selecting About This Mac, and hitting the Storage tab.
To your surprise, you see a yellow bar representing 'System' that seems to occupy way more space than you think it should. In the example above, it only shows 207 GB, but take a look at this Apple discussion — some Mac users report that System Storage takes an astonishing 250 GB.
Worse yet, you have no idea what's included in 'System' storage, because clicking the 'Manage' button brings you to this System Information window… and the 'System' row is greyed out.
Why does my Mac system require so much space?
What does it contain?
Is it safe to remove some of those system files?
How do I regain more storage space?
Questions like these may easily get to your head. Although my Mac now has a good amount of disk space available, I'm always wary of files that are taking up more space than they should.
I have no idea why 'System' is greyed out while 'Documents,' 'System Junk,' 'Trash,' etc. allow you to review the files based on size and type. My hunch is that Apple does this on purpose to prevent users from deleting system files that could lead to serious issues.
What Files Are Included in System Storage on Mac?
During my research, I found many people report that Apple counts iTunes backup files and app caches (e.g. Adobe video cache files) in the System category.
Since it's greyed out and we are unable to click on that category for deeper analysis, we'll have to use a third-party app to assist.
CleanMyMac X is perfect for this kind of analysis. Since I tested the app in our best Mac cleaner review, it immediately came to my head when I saw 'System' was greyed out in Storage. Note that CleanMyMac isn't freeware, but the new 'Space Lens' feature is free to use and it allows you to scan your Macintosh HD, and then show you an in-depth overview of what's taking up disk space on your Mac.
Step 1:Download CleanMyMac and install the app on your Mac. Open it, under 'Space Lens' module, first click the yellow 'Grant Access' button to allow the app to access your Mac files and then select 'Scan' to get started.
Step 2: Soon it'll show you a folder/file tree and you can hover your cursor over each block (i.e. a folder). There you can find more details. In this case, I clicked 'System' folder to continue.
Step 3: The file breakdown below indicates that some Library and iOS Support files are the culprits.
The interesting part is that the System file size shown in CleanMyMac is much smaller than the size shown in System Information. This puzzles me and makes me believe that Apple definitely has counted some other files (not real system files) in the System category.
What are they? I have no clue, honestly. But as reported by other Mac users who experienced the same issue, they said Apple also considers app caches and iTunes backup files as System files.
Out of curiosity, I ran CleanMyMac again for a quick scan. That app found 13.92 GB in iTunes Junk. Further review revealed that the junk files are old iOS device backups, software updates, broken downloads, etc.
But even after adding this amount to the original system files returned by CleanMyMac X, the total size is still a bit less than what's returned in System Information.
If cleaning the System Storage is still not enough to bring your Mac available disk space to a normal level (i.e. 20% or more), see below.
What Else Can I Do to Reclaim More Disk Space?
There are tons of ways out there. Here are a few of my favorites that should help you get back a decent amount of space quickly.
1. Sort all files by size and delete old large files.
Open Finder, go to Recents and look at the Size column. Click on it to sort all recent files by file size (from large to small). You'll have a clear overview of what items are eating up a large amount of space, e.g. From 1 GB to 10 GB, and from 100 MB to 1 GB.
On my MacBook Pro, I found a few large videos that could be transferred to an external drive.
Clear System Junk Mac Mail
Note: If the Size column doesn't show up, click on the Settings icon and select Arrange By > Size.
2. Remove duplicate files.
How To Clear System Junk Mac
Don't forget those duplicates and similar files! They can stack up without you being aware of it. Finding them is sometimes time-consuming. That's what Gemini 2 is designed for. Simply select a few frequently used folders (e.g. Documents, Downloads, etc.) in the main zone of Gemini.
Clear System Junk Machine
It then scans them and returns all the duplicate files that might be worth removing. Of course, it's always a good practice to review them before doing so. You can also read more from our detailed Gemini review here.
System Junk Files
Wrapping It Up
Ever since Apple introduced the Optimized Storage feature, Mac users got the option of saving space by storing content in the cloud. Apple also has several new tools that make it easy to find and remove unneeded files.
That bar under the Storage tab is beautiful. It does allow you to get a quick overview of what's taking up the most space on our hard drive. However, it still lacks insights into the 'System' category as it's greyed out.
Hopefully, the guides above have helped you figure out the reasons you've got so much 'System' data, and most importantly you've reclaimed some disk space — especially for new MacBooks pre-installed with flash storage — every gigabyte is precious!
