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How-To September 3, 2026 6 min read

How to Delete "Other" Storage on Mac

The mysterious grey "Other" wedge in your Mac's storage bar can quietly hold 20 GB or more. Here is exactly what lives inside it and how to clear the safe parts without breaking anything.

What Is "Other" Storage on Mac?

If you have ever opened your Mac's storage overview and seen a large grey band labelled "Other", you are not alone. It is one of the most confusing parts of macOS storage reporting. On older versions of macOS (Sierra through Catalina), Apple bucketed everything that did not fit into neat categories like Apps, Photos, Music, or Mail into a catch-all called "Other". On macOS Big Sur and later, this category was renamed and split — most of it now shows up as "System Data" — but the underlying data is the same, and people still search for how to clear "Other".

The important thing to understand is that "Other" is not a single folder you can open and empty. It is an accounting bucket. It represents any file that macOS cannot confidently sort into a first-class category. That includes a huge range of legitimate, and sometimes disposable, data.

Quick fact: On a well-used Mac, "Other" (or "System Data" on newer macOS) commonly occupies 15–50 GB. A large chunk of that is reclaimable caches, logs, and old downloads — but not all of it.

What Files Make Up "Other" Storage?

Understanding the contents is the key to clearing it safely. "Other" typically includes:

  • System and app caches in ~/Library/Caches and /Library/Caches.
  • Log files in ~/Library/Logs and /var/log.
  • Application support files and offline databases in ~/Library/Application Support.
  • Disk images such as leftover .dmg and .zip installers in your Downloads folder.
  • Time Machine local snapshots that macOS keeps on your internal drive between backups.
  • Browser data, plug-ins, and extensions that don't map to a named category.
  • Document types macOS doesn't recognise — archives, disk images, fonts, and installer packages.
  • iOS device backups stored via Finder in ~/Library/Application Support/MobileSync/Backup.

Some of these are safely disposable (caches, logs, old installers). Others are genuinely important (application support databases, device backups you rely on). This is why blindly "deleting Other" is bad advice — you need to target the right sub-categories.

How to See How Much "Other" Storage You Have

Before cleaning, measure. On macOS Ventura, Sonoma, and later:

  1. Open System Settings. Click the Apple menu in the top-left corner and choose System Settings.
  2. Go to General > Storage. Wait a few seconds for the coloured bar to finish calculating.
  3. Hover over the segments. Move your pointer over each colour band to see its label and size. Look for System Data — this is the modern equivalent of "Other".

On macOS Monterey and earlier, use the Apple menu > About This Mac > Storage > Manage to open the storage management window with the same breakdown.

Clear Caches and Logs (The Biggest Safe Wins)

The largest reclaimable portion of "Other" is almost always caches and logs. These are temporary files that apps and macOS regenerate automatically, so removing them is safe.

  1. Open Finder and press Command + Shift + G.
  2. Type ~/Library/Caches and press Return. Sort by size and drag large app cache sub-folders to the Trash. Quit any app before clearing its cache.
  3. Repeat for ~/Library/Logs to remove old diagnostic logs.
  4. Empty the Trash to actually free the space.

Tip: Only delete folders inside ~/Library/Caches — not the Caches folder itself. And stay out of /Library/Caches (no tilde), which belongs to macOS system processes.

Remove Old Disk Images and Downloads

Disk images (.dmg), archives (.zip), and installer packages (.pkg) frequently land in "Other" because macOS doesn't file them under a named category. Your Downloads folder is the usual dumping ground.

Open your Downloads folder, switch to List view, and sort by Size. Delete installers for apps you have already installed, and any large archives you no longer need. A single Xcode installer or macOS updater can be 12 GB on its own.

Purge Time Machine Snapshots and Old Device Backups

Two hidden contributors to "Other" deserve special attention:

Local Time Machine snapshots. Even without an external drive connected, macOS keeps periodic local snapshots on your internal SSD. These usually purge themselves when space runs low, but you can force it. Check them with tmutil listlocalsnapshots / in Terminal. macOS thins them automatically under storage pressure, so the safest approach is to let the system manage them or simply free up space elsewhere.

Old iPhone and iPad backups. If you have ever backed up an iOS device to your Mac, those backups live in ~/Library/Application Support/MobileSync/Backup and can be several gigabytes each. Manage them from Finder: connect a device (or open the sidebar), click Manage Backups, and delete backups for devices you no longer own.

Caution: Only delete a device backup if you are certain you no longer need it. There is no undo. If in doubt, keep it or copy it to an external drive first.

Clear "Other" Storage Automatically with TrimyMac

Manually hunting through half a dozen Library sub-folders, Downloads, snapshots, and backups is slow and error-prone. TrimyMac's Smart Clean scans every one of these locations at once, separates the safe-to-delete files (caches, logs, old installers) from the data you should keep, and shows you a clear per-category breakdown before removing anything.

Shrink "Other" Storage in One Click

TrimyMac finds the reclaimable gigabytes hiding in your Mac's "Other" and System Data categories — safely and instantly. Free download for macOS.

Download TrimyMac Free

Frequently Asked Questions

What is "Other" storage on Mac?

"Other" is an accounting category macOS uses for any file it cannot sort into a named group like Apps, Photos, or Music. It includes caches, logs, application support files, disk images, old installers, iOS device backups, and unrecognised document types. On macOS Big Sur and later, most of this data is now labelled "System Data" instead of "Other", but it represents the same underlying files.

Is it safe to delete "Other" storage on Mac?

Parts of it are safe, parts are not. Caches, logs, and old downloaded installers can be deleted safely and will not affect your files or settings. However, "Other" also contains application support databases, iOS device backups, and system files that are important. Rather than deleting the whole category, target the reclaimable sub-types — which is exactly what TrimyMac does automatically.

Why is my "Other" storage so large?

macOS rarely cleans up caches, logs, and temporary files on its own, so they accumulate for months or years. Add old iPhone backups, leftover disk images in Downloads, and local Time Machine snapshots, and the "Other" category can easily reach 30–50 GB on a heavily used Mac. Development tools like Xcode and Docker inflate it even further.

Where did "Other" go on my new Mac?

On macOS Big Sur (11) and every version since, Apple renamed most of the "Other" category to "System Data". If you are on Ventura, Sonoma, or later and don't see "Other", look for the grey "System Data" segment in System Settings > General > Storage. The cleanup approach is identical.

Will restarting my Mac reduce "Other" storage?

A restart can help slightly because macOS may purge some temporary files and thin local Time Machine snapshots during boot, especially when storage is low. However, a restart alone won't clear accumulated caches, logs, old backups, or leftover installers. For a meaningful reduction you need to clean those categories directly or use a tool like TrimyMac.