How to Check Storage on Mac

Method 3: Finder

The Finder gives you a quick free-space figure without opening Settings.

Status bar

1. Open a Finder window.
2. Choose View > Show Status Bar.

The bar at the bottom of the window shows the number of items in the folder and the amount of available disk space (Apple: get file, folder and disk information).

Get Info on your disk

1. In the Finder, choose Go > Computer.
2. Select Macintosh HD (or whatever your startup disk is called).
3. Choose File > Get Info, or press Command-I.

An info window opens for the disk. You can use Get Info on any folder in the same way to see how big it is.

Method 4: Disk Utility

Disk Utility is the one built-in tool that shows purgeable space separately.

1. Open Disk Utility from Applications > Utilities.
2. Select your startup disk in the sidebar.
3. Click the Info button in the toolbar.

Apple notes that available space here includes free space plus purgeable space, so the figure can be higher than the space that is truly unused (Apple: Disk Utility).

Method 5: Terminal

Terminal is useful when you want exact numbers, or want to see which folders in your home folder are largest. Both commands below only read your disk; they don’t change anything.

Open Terminal from Applications > Utilities.

See free space with df

df -h /

df reports disk space and -h makes the sizes readable (see man df in Terminal). The Avail column is your free space.

Two things trip people up here. We checked both on a Mac running macOS 15:

• The Used column for / looks tiny. On current macOS, / is the read-only system volume. Your own files sit on a separate data volume. To see the real used figure, run:

df -h /System/Volumes/Data

• The numbers are smaller than in System Settings. df -h counts in powers of 1024 (it shows “Gi”), while Apple measures storage in decimal units, where 1 GB is one billion bytes (Apple: how storage is measured). Use df -H instead and the figures will line up much more closely with Settings.

See what is taking up space with du

du -sh ~/* 2>/dev/null | sort -h

This lists every folder in your home folder with its size, smallest first, so the biggest ones end up at the bottom. Here is what each part does:

• du -sh shows one total per folder (-s) in readable units (-h).
• ~/* means every item in your home folder.
• 2>/dev/null hides error messages.
• sort -h sorts by size, understanding units like K, M and G.

Two limits to keep in mind. First, ~/* skips hidden folders whose names start with a dot, such as ~/.Trash. Second, the hidden errors are mostly “Operation not permitted”: macOS blocks Terminal from some protected folders, such as ~/Library/Application Support/MobileSync, where iPhone backups live. So the total shown for ~/Library can be lower than the real size.

To look inside a big folder, run the same command on it, for example:

du -sh ~/Library/* 2>/dev/null | sort -h

Our guide on how to find large files on Mac goes further with Finder searches and find.

Purgeable vs available: how to read the numbers

Different tools can show different free-space numbers on the same Mac. That is normal.

• Free space is space that is not in use.
• Purgeable space is space macOS can free up when needed by removing files from your Mac. You can’t delete purgeable files yourself; macOS removes them as it needs room (Apple).
• Available space is free space plus purgeable space.

Time Machine adds a twist. If you back up with Time Machine, macOS keeps hourly local snapshots of your startup disk for 24 hours and counts their space as available (Apple: local snapshots). That is why a file you just deleted may not seem to give space back straight away. See how to delete Time Machine snapshots on Mac if an installer refuses to run.

In practice: if you only need to know whether a file will fit, the available figure is fine. If an installer or app says there isn’t enough space while Settings says there is, the gap is usually purgeable space or snapshots macOS hasn’t cleared yet.

What to do next

Once you know what is using your disk, work through our how to free up space on Mac checklist. It starts with the safest steps (emptying the Trash and Downloads) and links to guides for caches, apps, iPhone backups and developer files.

The faster way: MacWipe

MacWipe’s Storage tool shows what is taking up space on your Mac in one view. Its overview splits your startup disk into used and free space, and shows purgeable space separately when there is any. Its disk map draws your home folder by size, so you can find the large folders the du command would show without typing anything.

When you know what is big, Files lists large and old files sorted by size and age with a Quick Look preview, and Smart Scan checks caches, logs, the Trash, app leftovers and browser data in one pass. You see every item and why it is safe before anything is removed. MacWipe runs on macOS 14 Sonoma or later, on Apple silicon and Intel.

Download MacWipe

FAQ

How do I see what is taking up space on my Mac?

Open System Settings > General > Storage and click the Info button next to the largest category. In Documents, use File Browser to see folder sizes. In Terminal, du -sh ~/* 2>/dev/null | sort -h lists your largest home folders.

How do I check storage on a MacBook Air?

The same way as on any Mac: Apple menu > System Settings > General > Storage. On macOS 12 or earlier, use About This Mac > Storage.

What does purgeable mean on a Mac?

It is space macOS can reclaim on its own when it needs room, by removing files it can do without. It counts towards available space, and you can’t delete it directly.

Why does my Mac show different free space in different places?

Some tools include purgeable space and Time Machine snapshots in “available” and some don’t. Terminal’s df -h also uses powers of 1024 while Apple uses decimal units, so its numbers look smaller.