Where Is the Downloads Folder on Mac and How to Empty It
On a Mac, the “Downloads” folder is the default location where files you download from the internet or receive as email attachments are stored. Check how to open the Downloads folder and how to empty it below.
Where Is the Downloads Folder on Mac and How to Open It?
You have four ways to access the Mac Downloads folder. Check them below.
Way 1. Click the Finder icon in the Dock to open Finder. From the sidebar, click the Downloads option under Favorites to open the Downloads folder on Mac.
If you don’t see the Downloads option in the sidebar of Finder, you can follow the steps below to show “Downloads” in Finder.
- Click Finder > Settings.
- Click Sidebar.
- Tick “Downloads” under “Show these items in the sidebar” to add “Downloads” to the Finder’s sidebar.
Way 2. Click the Go tab in your Mac’s menu bar and choose Downloads to quickly launch the Downloads directory.
Way 3. You can also press the Option + Command + L keyboard shortcut to quickly open the Downloads folder on your Mac.
Way 4. If you see the icon of “Downloads” in the Dock, you can click it to easily open the folder. Learn how to add “Downloads” to the Dock.
- Find the Downloads folder in Finder’s sidebar.
- Right-click it and select Add to Dock.
How to Empty the Downloads Folder on Mac?
After you open the Mac Downloads folder, you can manage files in it. You can find a specific downloaded file or folder to open and view it. You can also delete one, multiple, or all files/folders in the Downloads folder.
- To empty the Downloads folder to release space, you can press Command + A to select all files in the folder.
- Right-click your mouse, and select Move to Trash. You can also press Command + Delete to move all the items to the Trash.
- To permanently delete these downloads, you still need to empty the Trash. Click the Trash Bin icon in the Dock to open Trash. Click the Empty icon to empty the Trash on your Mac.
Free Up Space on Mac with BuhoCleaner
It's a good practice to periodically clean out your Downloads folder to free up disk space and keep your Mac organized. Below we introduce a professional Mac cleaner application - BuhoCleaner - to help you keep your Mac clean and run fast.
You can use BuhoCleaner to perform a flash scan for your Mac to remove various junk files to release a large amount of free space. You can also use it to completely uninstall apps that you don’t need, find and delete large or duplicate files, analyze disk space, free up RAM, flush DNS, and more.
Download and install BuhoCleaner on your Mac and use it to free up space on your Mac like emptying your Mac Downloads folder.
- Launch BuhoCleaner.
- Click Toolkit > Disk Space Analyzer.
- Select Macintosh HD and click Scan to scan your Mac disk to find all folders on your Mac. It will also display the size of each folder.
- Click Users > Your Name and check the Downloads folder.
- Click the Remove button to empty your Mac’s Downloads folder.
Bottom Line
This post mainly introduces how to open the Downloads folder on Mac and how to empty it to release space. For more Mac and iPhone tips, please visit https://www.drbuho.com/.
