How to Find and Delete DMG Files on Mac

Peter Aaron
Last updated: Jun 14, 2023
Summary: In this article, you'll learn what DMG files are and how to manually and automatically delete them after installation.

DMG files are to Mac what ISO files are to Windows. After you install an application, its DMG file is useless. Besides, DMG files will take up disk space and may even decrease the running speed of your Mac.. Therefore, it is necessary for you to delete unused DMG files in time.

In this blog post, we'll discuss what a DMG file is and how to quickly clean up a DMG file in two ways.

How to Find and Delete DMG Files on Mac

What Is A DMG File?

A DMG file is an Apple disk image file used to distribute software and package other non-application files on macOS Big Sur and Mac OS X. When you double-click the .dmg file, a virtual drive will be mounted on your desktop. DMG files are widely used on macOS because they can be fully verified and easily compressed to a smaller size.

How to Install Apps from DMG Files on Mac

When you want to install a third-party application from the Internet, the first thing you should do is download its DMG file to your Mac. When finished, double-click the .dmg file you downloaded, drag the app icon to the Applications folder, wait a few seconds, and the app will be installed on your Mac.

Note: Some DMG files are encrypted, and you may be asked to enter a password before installing them.

Can You Delete DMG Files After Installation?

The answer is yes. After installing an application, you can delete its DMG file directly, unless you want to keep it for archival purposes or in case the installation is incomplete. In addition, developers will update the application regularly. If you're going to use its updated version, then the old DMG file is no longer useful to you.

How to Find and Delete DMG Files on Mac

From the text above, you know that DMG files are no longer useful to you after completing the installation. So in this section, we will teach you how to remove them from your Mac. In fact, the process of deleting DMG files is very simple. You can delete them manually or use a third-party tool like BuhoCleaner to do the job for you. Here's what you need to do:

How to Manually Find and Delete DMG Files on Mac

  1. Click the Finder icon in the Dock to open a Finder window.
  2. Click the magnifying glass in the upper right corner of the Finder window.
  3. Type dmg in the box and select Type > Disk Image in the drop-down menu.
    Manually Find and Delete DMG Files on Mac
  4. Select the .dmg files you want to delete and drag them to the Trash.
  5. Empty your Trash.

How to Quickly Find and Remove DMG Files on Mac

There is a faster and easier way to deal with DMG files on your Mac. That is to use BuhoCleaner, a handy DMG file finder and cleaner for Mac. You can use it not only to find and delete unused DMG files but also to clean up other junk files in macOS, apps and browsers, as well as uninstall apps you don't use.

DownloadFor macOS 10.10 and above
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Here's how to remove DMG files on your Mac with BuhoCleaner:

  1. Make sure you have BuhoCleaner installed on your Mac.
  2. Launch BuhoCleaner and click the Scan button in the right column.
    How to Find DMG Files on Mac with BuhoCleaner
  3. When the scanning process is finished, click the View Details button, check the box next to Unused DMG Files in the results list and click the Remove button.
    How to Delete DMG Files on Mac with BuhoCleaner

As you can see from the picture, BuhoCleaner can also help you clean junk files like caches and logs. Check all of the boxes if you want to clean them all.

Conclusion

Both of the ways mentioned above can help you quickly remove useless DMG files from your Mac. If you want don't want to spend time dealing with the search yourself, then BuhoCleaner is your ideal choice.
By the way, BuhoCleaner is more than a DMG file finder. It can also help you free up 4x more space for your Mac. Give it a try now. It's free to download.

Peter Aaron

Living in New Jersey, Peter Aaron is an Apple technician focused on iPhone and iOS repairs. Meanwhile, he's also a senior writer at Dr.Buho, with a simple mission to help fix Apple things that are with software or hardware glitches.