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So, your Mac is running out of storage. You try to figure out what’s taking up your disk space by clicking the Apple logo on the top-left of the screen, selecting About This Mac, and hitting the Storage tab.

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Jun 20, 2017  To free up more disk space and speed up your Mac you should clear cache periodically. There are several types of cache data: user caches, system caches and web caches. In this article, we'll tell how to clear cache on Mac. Way 1: to delete caches manually open Finder, press Shift+Cmd+G, navigate /Library/Cashes. Cd /Library du -sm. sort -n which will show you the largest directories at the end. Use cd again to drill further done and repeat the du command. PS: Just for reference: My Library folder currently holds about 16 GB of Evernote data, 4 GB Developer docs from Xcode, 1 GB mail and 1.5 GB iOS software updates.

To your surprise, you see a yellow bar representing “System” that seems to occupy way more space than you think it should. In the example above, it only shows 207 GB, but take a look at this Apple discussion — some Mac users report that System Storage takes an astonishing 250 GB.

Worse yet, you have no idea what’s included in “System” storage, because clicking the “Manage” button brings you to this System Information window… and the “System” row is greyed out.

Why does my Mac system require so much space?

What does it contain?

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Is it safe to remove some of those system files?

How do I regain more storage space?

Questions like these may easily get to your head. Although my Mac now has a good amount of disk space available, I’m always wary of files that are taking up more space than they should.

I have no idea why “System” is greyed out while “Documents,” “System Junk,” “Trash,” etc. allow you to review the files based on size and type. My hunch is that Apple does this on purpose to prevent users from deleting system files that could lead to serious issues.

What Files Are Included in System Storage on Mac?

During my research, I found many people report that Apple counts iTunes backup files and app caches (e.g. Adobe video cache files) in the System category.

Since it’s greyed out and we are unable to click on that category for deeper analysis, we’ll have to use a third-party app to assist.

CleanMyMac X is perfect for this kind of analysis. Since I tested the app in our best Mac cleaner review, it immediately came to my head when I saw “System” was greyed out in Storage. Note that CleanMyMac isn’t freeware, but the new “Space Lens” feature is free to use and it allows you to scan your Macintosh HD, and then show you an in-depth overview of what’s taking up disk space on your Mac.

ICloud Photos gives you access to your entire Mac photo and video library from all your devices. If you shoot a snapshot, slo-mo, or selfie on your iPhone, it’s automatically added to iCloud Photos — so it appears on your Mac, iOS and iPadOS devices, Apple TV, iCloud.com, and your PC.

Step 1:Download CleanMyMac and install the app on your Mac. Open it, under “Space Lens” module, first click the yellow “Grant Access” button to allow the app to access your Mac files and then select “Scan” to get started.

Step 2: Soon it’ll show you a folder/file tree and you can hover your cursor over each block (i.e. a folder). There you can find more details. In this case, I clicked “System” folder to continue.

Step 3: The file breakdown below indicates that some Library and iOS Support files are the culprits.

The interesting part is that the System file size shown in CleanMyMac is much smaller than the size shown in System Information. This puzzles me and makes me believe that Apple definitely has counted some other files (not real system files) in the System category.

What are they? I have no clue, honestly. But as reported by other Mac users who experienced the same issue, they said Apple also considers app caches and iTunes backup files as System files.

Out of curiosity, I ran CleanMyMac again for a quick scan. That app found 13.92 GB in iTunes Junk. Further review revealed that the junk files are old iOS device backups, software updates, broken downloads, etc.

But even after adding this amount to the original system files returned by CleanMyMac X, the total size is still a bit less than what’s returned in System Information.

If cleaning the System Storage is still not enough to bring your Mac available disk space to a normal level (i.e. 20% or more), see below.

What Else Can I Do to Reclaim More Disk Space?

There are tons of ways out there. Here are a few of my favorites that should help you get back a decent amount of space quickly.

1. Sort all files by size and delete old large files.

Open Finder, go to Recents and look at the Size column. Click on it to sort all recent files by file size (from large to small). You’ll have a clear overview of what items are eating up a large amount of space, e.g. From 1 GB to 10 GB, and from 100 MB to 1 GB.

On my MacBook Pro, I found a few large videos that could be transferred to an external drive.

Note: If the Size column doesn’t show up, click on the Settings icon and select Arrange By > Size.

2. Remove duplicate files.

Don’t forget those duplicates and similar files! They can stack up without you being aware of it. Finding them is sometimes time-consuming. That’s what Gemini 2 is designed for. Simply select a few frequently used folders (e.g. Documents, Downloads, etc.) in the main zone of Gemini.

It then scans them and returns all the duplicate files that might be worth removing. Of course, it’s always a good practice to review them before doing so. You can also read more from our detailed Gemini review here.

Wrapping It Up

Ever since Apple introduced the Optimized Storage feature, Mac users got the option of saving space by storing content in the cloud. Apple also has several new tools that make it easy to find and remove unneeded files.

That bar under the Storage tab is beautiful. It does allow you to get a quick overview of what’s taking up the most space on our hard drive. However, it still lacks insights into the “System” category as it’s greyed out.

Hopefully, the guides above have helped you figure out the reasons you’ve got so much “System” data, and most importantly you’ve reclaimed some disk space — especially for new MacBooks pre-installed with flash storage — every gigabyte is precious!

It doesn’t go back and delete the old one, though.Here’s where things get a little bit confusing: you don’t actually have two copies of your photos. Like it or not, however, that all changed when Apple first introduced the software, nearly a year ago. If your Mac came from Apple with Photos already installed, you don’t need to worry about old iPhoto libraries.A Mac that was upgraded to a new version of OS X that added the Photos app, however, can end up with what look like duplicates of their photo libraries. How to unlock photo library on mac. Thanks to the way OS X (the software that powers your Mac, like Windows powers a PC) works, your pictures in those libraries. The first time you start up Photos after upgrading, your Mac will copy over your photo library into the new software (if you explicitly set up more than one old iPhoto library, you’ll have to copy them over yourself). Here’s how to delete iPhoto library and clear out some clutter.iPhoto used to be the standard photo editor and photo management system on Macs, at least for the average computer user.

What is the usr folder?

Apple operating systems are constructed using a Linux file system hierarchy, which means that traditional UNIX system directories hide certain files and directories. Unlike Applications or Documents or Downloads, some files and folders are hidden by default by the Mac operating system (macOS).

MacOS hides these for good reason. When buildings are constructed, wiring and plumbing is hidden behind walls. As a general rule, exposing anything that could have a serious negative impact on a building if it was accidentally damaged or tampered with is considered a good idea. The same is true of usr and var and other folders and directories.

Usr used to mean “everything user related”, but over time this has evolved into “user usable programs and data.” What this means is, the usr contains shareable, read-only data, and often contains the largest share of behind-the-scenes data on any operating system. Within the usr is user-land programs and data is contained, such as user binaries, their documentation, libraries, header files, and other read-only programs and associated data.

Generally speaking, because these folders and directories are behind the scenes, most users - even Mac power users - don't need to know about them or gain access. Similar to plumbing and wiring, it is enough to know they're running smoothly and only to gain access if you know what you’re doing, or let an Apple trained expert take a look using diagnostic software to see if there are any problems within the usr files and directories.

Another way to make sure everything is working smoothly under the hood is to download a Mac performance improvement app, such as CleanMyMac X. It can take a quick look at what is taking up too much space on your hard drive, with its Space Lens feature. Once CleanMyMac X has analysed your files and directories, including those that are hidden from view, you can delete what it recommends and regain the space you need for your Mac to run smoothly and quickly.

With the Space Lens tool, you can also access the usr folder and see how much space it takes on your Mac and what files it includes. First, you have download and install CleanMyMac X and then follow such steps:

1. Launch the app.
2. Go to the Space Lens tab.
3. Click Scan.
4. Find usr folder in the list.
5. Double click to review the files.

However, if you prefer the manual way of looking behind-the-scenes, here is how you can access the usr folder on a Mac.

How to access the usr folder: The manual way

If you want to access the usr folder, there are a couple of ways you can do that.

1. Navigate to the usr through the Finder

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1. Open Finder.
   
2. Press Command+Shift+G to open the dialogue box.
3. Enter what you want to search for, e.g. /usr or /usr/discreet.
4. Now you should have temporary access, and this means that you should be able to drag the folder into the Finder favourites bar for easier access in the future.

Another way to gain access is through Terminal.

2. Finding usr in Terminal

1. Launch Terminal; which you can find in /Applications/Utilities
2. Enter this command in Terminal: chflags nohidden ~/usr
3. (If nothing shows up under that name, try /Library as an alternative)
4. Click Return. Make sure the command is executed.
5. Quit Terminal. The usr folder should be visible in the Finder.
6. If you ever want to restore this to how it was before enter the following command in Terminal: chflags hidden ~/usr
7. Click Return again and it should be back to how it was.

Only attempt this method if you are comfortable using Terminal. Remember, using Terminal can make significant changes to your macOS systems and files, so only make changes this way if you consider yourself a Mac power users. This method should temporarily uncover the usr folder.

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Accessing the usr folder is often only necessary if you are looking for ways to improve the performance or speed of your Mac. Thankfully, there is an easier way. Downloading CleanMyMac X can solve a lot of problems, quickly and safely, without any risk of causing accidental damage. It comes with a useful Space Lens feature, since one reason a Mac doesn't perform as well as it once did is a result of files taking up too much space, or duplicate files, folders or apps. And identifying what is causing space issues is the job that CleanMyMac X does so well. See for yourself!