4 Ways to Find and Delete Large Files on Your Mac

Clare Weaver
Last updated: Jan 5, 2024
Summary: Large files consuming too much disk space on your Mac? Don't worry. This article will guide you on four ways to find and delete them from your Mac to get more space.

Hidden deep in your hard drive, large files occupy a significant amount of Mac space. If you're low on storage, deleting them will free up a lot of space. In this blog post, you'll learn four ways to find and delete large files on your Mac.

Let's get started.

How to Find and Delete Large Files on Mac

How to Find and Delete Large Files on Mac with Storage Manager

macOS Sierra and later come with a built-in feature that allows you to easily manage large files in your storage.

  1. Click the Apple Menu and select System Settings.
  2. Click General > Storage.
  3. Click the information icon of Documents, and you can see files categorized as Large Files, Downloads, Unsupported Apps, etc.
    Find and Delete Large Files on Mac
  4. Sort files in the Large files list by size and delete the ones you don't need.
  5. Empty your Trash.

How to Quickly Find and Delete Large Files on Mac with BuhoCleaner

Alternatively, you can use BuhoCleaner to find and remove large files on Mac in seconds.

BuhoCleaner is one of the best large file finders for Mac. By default, it detects files larger than 50MB. But if you want to find files larger or smaller than 50MB, click BuhoCleaner Menu > Preferences > Large Files to change the default 50MB to a number of your choice.

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How to use BuhoCleaner to find and delete large files:

  1. Download, install, and launch BuhoCleaner.
  2. Click the Large Files in the sidebar and click the Scan button.
    Quickly Find Large Files on Mac
  3. Quickly you will find all the files larger than 50 MB. Check the files you want to delete and click the Remove button.
    Delete Large Files on Mac with BuhoCleaner
Tip
BuhoCleaner detects files over 50 MB by default, but you can customize the size if needed by clicking Preferences > Large Files.

It's worth noting that BuhoCleaner has a built-in disk space analysis feature that allows you to easily find the largest files and folders in each folder on Mac. All you need to do is click on the Toolkit, select Disk Space Analyzer, and choose the disk or folder to scan.

Find Large File and Folder on Mac with BuhoCleaner

How to Find and Delete Large Files on Mac with Finder

Finder can help you find files that are equal to, larger, or smaller than a specified size. But in the results list, Finder only shows a single file, not a large folder with multiple small files. Therefore, it may be difficult for you to determine whether a file is important to you.

If you still want to use Finder to search and delete large files, follow the steps below.

  1. Open Finder from the Dock.
  2. Click the magnifier icon in the upper right corner.
  3. Type anything into the box, and you will see a "+" button below the search box.
    Manually Find Large Files on Mac
  4. Click the "+" button and select File Size in the first menu and Greater Than in the second menu.
    Find and Delete Large Files on Mac with Finder
Note
If you can't find the File Size option, click on Kind > Select Other and select File Size as the filter criteria.
  1. Enter your desired file size range. For example, 50MB.
  2. Preview the files in the results list and delete the files you don't want.
  3. Empty the Trash.

How to Find and Remove Large Files on Mac with Terminal

Another way to find large files on your Mac is to use Terminal. This method is a little bit complicated. Here's what you should do:

  1. Open Terminal via Spotlight or Launchpad.
  2. In the Terminal, execute the find command. For example, run find . -size +50MB. This command will locate files in your current directory that are larger than 50MB.
    Find Large Files with Terminal
  3. You can also use the find command to limit your search. For example, enter and run find . -size +50MB -size -100MB . This command will find files under your current directory that are between 50MB and 100MB in size.
  4. To delete the large files you find, use the rm command. In our case, we use rm ./Downloads/SpotifyFullSetup.exe.
    Delete Large Files with Terminal
Note
Files deleted using the Terminal cannot be recovered. Please double-check the files you want to get rid of before dragging them into the Terminal.

Conclusion

Now you have 4 ways to find and delete large files on a Mac. As you can tell, the easiest way is to use BuhoCleaner. It can save you a lot of time and effort. Don't forget to give it a try.

Want to know more tips on Mac cleaning? Refer to How to Clean and Optimize Mac.

Clare Weaver

Clare Weaver has been captivated by the world of Apple products since the launch of iconic iPhone in 2007. With a wealth of experience, Clare is your go-to source for iPhone, iPad, Mac, and all things Apple.