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- Mac Find Big Files
- Best App To Find Large Files On My Macbook Pro
- Best App To Find Large Files On My Macbook Air
Large files can never be a delight, it just eats up so many the space on your mac and ultimately slow down the mac. For my own part, every time I tried to import or load files from my mac drive, it had me waited for long time to prepare the importing and I knew those large files caused such problems.
To find large files on mac, you can do it manually or turn to dedicated tools to solve automatically. Here we list 5 ways, including 3 free options and 2 great tools.
Manually Find Large Files on Mac (4 Ways)
#1 Fast Way to Find Large Files or Applications
Removing large and unused files can recover a lot of disk space. Let`s learn about macOS Sierra’s new feature in more detail. How to find large files on Mac. Go to Apple Menu (an apple icon in the left bottom corner) and choose About This Mac. Switch to the Storage tab. Here you will see a Manage button in the right corner. Click this button. To find large files on mac, you can do it manually or turn to dedicated tools to solve automatically. Here we list 5 ways, including 3 free options and 2 great tools. Manually Find Large Files on Mac (4 Ways) #1 Fast Way to Find Large Files or Applications. Generally, large files are either media files or applications.
Generally, large files are either media files or applications. If you have a basic understating of which files are taking the space on your mac, you can directly go to All My Files and Applications to find out the large files.
To Find Large Files on Mac
- Open Finder;
- Click on All My Files;
- Go to “Change the item arrangement” icon, choose Size;
- Then all the files will be arranged in size from large to small, check the file. Right click on the file and move to trash if you want to deleted the selected large files on mac.
Also, you can click on the “Perform tasks with selected items” > Arrange By> Size, to find the large files on mac.
To Find Large Applications on Mac
- Open Finder;
- Click on Applications;
- Go to “Change the item arrangement” icon, choose Size;
- Then find the applications with large size and decide if you want to uninstall.
#2 Find Large Files on Mac Disk
Beside large files stored in “All My Files” and “Applications” categories, there are hidden large files on your mac, in this case, you need to choose your mac disk to scan and find the large files.
- Open Finder;
- In the Devices column, choose the Mac disk where you want to find large files;
- Press Command+F to activate the Search function;
- Then Choose File Size> is greate than>1 GB (or set as needed);
- Then all the files large than 1GB will be displayed, choose the large file and right click to move to trash if you want to delete.
#3 Find Large Files by Checking Mac Storage
The 3rd method to find out large files on your mac is to check the storage details on your device, since Mac will offer recommendations for you to manage and delete large and unnecessary files.
- Click on the Apple icon on the top left, then go to “About This Mac”;
- Then go to Storage>Manage;
- In the “Recommendations”, go to “Review Files” under “Reduce Clutter”;
- Go to Documents, you can check all the storage information for Large Files, Downloads and File Browser, they are displayed in the sequence from large size to small size;
- Choose the large files and right click to Deleted if necessary.
#4 Find Large Files on Mac with Command Line (Terminal)
Also you can input command lines in Terminal to find large files on mac manually.
- Go to Finder>Applications>Terminal, run it;
- Input command line: sudo find / -type f -size +200000k -exec ls -lh {} ; | awk ‘{ print $9 “: ” $5 }’, Then click Enter. It will find out files that is or larger than 200MB, you can adjust the parameter as needed;
- Input the password of your mac and click Enter;
- All the paths of files are or larger than 200MB will be listed, go to the folder and find large files. It will take some time, wait patiently for the program to list all information.
Automatically Detect and Delete Large Files on Mac (2 Ways)
#5 Nektony Disk Expert
Noktony Disk Expert is a light-weight utility to display disk spare usage, find and delete large files on mac internal or external storage device.
Main Features
- View disk space on mac hard drive;
- Find large files and folders easily;
- Discover rarely used files;
- Scan Dropbox;
- Move unwanted large files to Trash;
- Download and install Disk Expert on your Mac;
- Choose your hard disk or external storage device to scan, you can click the “Play” button beside to disk or click on the sunburst diagram to start scanning; Also you can drop files to “Drop Files” for scanning or click the “+” on the left bottom to add specific folders for scanning;
- Once the scanning finishes, you will find a list of Biggest Files displayed on the right column. Right click on the file to Reveal in Finder or directly Move to Trash.
#6 MacPaw MacMaster
Differing from Nektony, MacPaw MacMaster is a rich-feature kit packing various utilities to clean up your mac: you can find and delete system junk, photo cache, mail trash, iTunes junk, duplicate files, similar images, large and old files, etc.
As for its feature to find large files, it allows users to find large files over 100MB, locate files from 5MB to 100MB, check files stored for more than 1 year and preview files stored within recently 30-day.
Main Features:
- Find and delete Junk, cache, trash files;
- Find and delete duplicate files;
- Discover similar images;
- Find out and clear large or old files;
- Remove apps or cashes from mac;
- Protect privacy by clearing caches in browsers;
- Manage extensions;
- Download and install MacMaster on your mac, run it;
- Go to Large & Old Files and click “Scan”. Also, you can use the “Sort By” feature to fast find large files;
- Once the scanning finishes, choose the files you want to delete and click ‘Clean” to remove them.
Final Words
As for my own part, I know well that which folders are cluttered with large files and I am able to locate or delete the large files. So, it seems that getting into a good habit to keep your mac organized and clean up at intervals would save you from such a trouble. However, if you run into such an issue, do yourself or find an expert to discover and clean large files on mac for you.
Find your files
The Files app includes files on the device you're using, as well as those in other cloud services and apps, and iCloud Drive. You can also work with zip files.* To access your files, just open the Files app and choose the location of the file you're looking for.
Save a copy of your file locally
You can find locally stored files in On My [device], under Locations. On your iPad, simply drag files into the On My iPad folder to store them directly on your device. If you want to save a file locally on your iPhone or iPod touch, follow these steps.
- Go to the file that you want to store on your device.
- Tap Select > the file name > Organize .
- Under On My [Device], choose a folder or tap New Folder to create a new one.
- Tap Copy.
You can also long press on a file, choose Move, and select which folder you want to copy it to.
On iOS 12 or earlier, tap the file and choose Move. Then, under On My [device], choose Numbers, Keynote, or Pages, and tap Copy.
Move iCloud Drive files
- Go to the file that you want to move.
- Tap Select, then choose the file.
- Tap Organize .
- Under On My [Device], choose a folder or tap New Folder to create a new one.
- Tap Move.
You can also long press on a file, choose Move, and select which folder you want to copy it to.
Look for files on your Mac or PC
- On your Mac, choose Go > iCloud Drive from the menu bar, or click iCloud Drive in the sidebar of a Finder window.
- On iCloud.com, go to the iCloud Drive app.
- On your PC with iCloud for Windows, open File Explorer, then click iCloud Drive.
* Password protected zip folders or directories are not supported in the Files app.
Organize your files
It’s easy to organize all of the files stored in iCloud Drive — including Pages, Numbers, and Keynote documents. When you make changes on one device, your edits are automatically updated on every device using iCloud Drive.
You can make your own folders. Or rename the files and folders you already have when you press firmly on them.
Create new folders
- Go to Locations.
- Tap iCloud Drive, On My [device], or the name of a third-party cloud service where you want to keep your new folder.
- Swipe down on the screen.
- Tap More .
- Select New Folder.
- Enter the name of your new folder. Then tap Done.
On iOS 12 or earlier, tap New Folder . If you don't see New Folder or it's gray, then the third-party cloud service doesn't support new folders.
View your files by name, date, size, or the tags that you add. With colorful and custom labels, you can assign tags to your files any way that you like. That means you'll quickly find just the project or document you need.
Add a tag
- Tap Select.
- Tap the file that you want to tag.
- Tap Share > Add Tags .
- Choose the tag that you want to add.
Rename a tag
- Go to Locations.
- Tap More > Edit.
- Tap the name of an existing tag.
- Enter the name of your new tag.
- Tap Done.
Delete files
Select the files that you don't want anymore and tap Delete . If you delete files from the iCloud Drive folder on one device, they delete on your other devices too. iCloud Drive removes the files from every device that you're signed in to with the same Apple ID.
When you delete a file from iCloud Drive or On My [device], it goes into your Recently Deleted folder. If you change your mind or accidentally delete a file, you have 30 days to get it back. Go to Locations > Recently Deleted. Select the file that you want to keep and tap Recover. After 30 days, your files are removed from Recently Deleted.
You can also sign into iCloud.com from your Mac or PC, then go to iCloud Drive and check Recently Deleted.
Share folders and files with your friends or colleagues
Want to share with a friend or colleague? You can share any folder or file stored in iCloud Drive directly from the Files app. In iCloud Drive, tap Select, choose the file or folder that you want to share, tap Share , and select Add People. You can share a folder or file through AirDrop, Messages, Mail, and more. Learn more about how folder sharing and file sharing work in iCloud Drive.
Or maybe you want to collaborate on a project in real time. The Files app lets you do that too with your Pages, Numbers, and Keynote documents. Select the file and tap Share or > Add People . You can invite them to collaborate through Messages, Mail, or copy and paste a link. Your participants are color-coded. And you can see when they're online, actively working on your shared document.
Use third-party apps in Files
The Files app lets you add your third-party cloud services — like Box, Dropbox, OneDrive, Adobe Creative Cloud, Google Drive, and more — so that you can access all of your files on all of your devices. The files you keep in iCloud Drive automatically appear in the Files app, but you need to set up your other cloud services to access them in the Files app too.
Add third-party apps
- Download and set up the third-party cloud app.
- Open the Files app.
- Tap the Browse tab.
- Tap More > Edit.
- Turn on the third-party apps that you want to use in the Files app.
- Tap Done.
If you don't see one of your third-party cloud services in the Files app, check with your cloud provider.
Mac Find Big Files
On iOS 12 or earlier, open the Files app then tap Locations > Edit to add third-party apps.
Move third-party cloud files
- Open the file that you want to move.
- Tap Share > Copy.
- Open the folder where you want to move your file.
- Firmly press the screen.
- Tap Paste.
Do more with Files on iPadOS
Best App To Find Large Files On My Macbook Pro
If you're on iPadOS, you can access files on a USB flash drive, SD card, or hard drive through the Files app on iPadOS. Just connect the storage device, and then you can select it under Locations. You can also connect to unencrypted storage on a file server, if that storage is using the APFS, Mac OS Extended, MS-DOS (FAT), or ExFAT format. You also have the option to view your files in Column View, which is helpful if you have files nested in multiple folders. Column View lets you see previews of files and offers access to tools like markup and rotate without even opening a file.
Connect to a file server
- Open the Browse tab.
- Tap More .
- Select Connect to Server.
- Enter the SMB address.
- Tap Connect.
- The server name appears under Shared in the Browse menu.
Switch to Column View
- In landscape mode, open the Browse tab.
- Select a folder.
- Swipe down on the right side of the screen.
- Select Column View in the upper right.
- Tap a folder to expand its contents.
- Tap a file to see a preview.
To leave Column View, tap Grid View or List View , or use your iPad in portrait mode.
If you need help
- Update your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch to the latest iOS, or iPadOS.
- Set up iCloud on all of your devices and turn on iCloud Drive.
- Make sure that you’re signed in to iCloud with the same Apple ID on all of your devices.
- If you want to upload, download, or share files using cellular data, open Settings, select Cellular, scroll down to iCloud Drive and any third-party cloud services you use, and turn it on for each service.
Best App To Find Large Files On My Macbook Air
If you don't want to access your iCloud Drive files in the Files app, you can choose to download and add only third-party cloud services instead.