How to Get Rid of “Other” in Mac Storage to Boost Your Mac Device Performance!

If you are worried about the data being used under “other” category of your mac storage tab, you are at right place. In this article, we will show you what is this other storage in Mac and how to clean this memory which is mostly taken by plug-ins, cached data or documents by your Mac OS X.

Are you a proud Mac device user? Your Macbook means a lot to you and there must be everything you know about it. Right? So, you must also be having the information regarding “About This Mac” Storage tab. Yes, it gives a quick review of your Mac and most often it displays an extensive “Other” storing space subjugating the disk. Apple’s iOS similarly has an akin “Other” storing space, but Mac handlers can certainly discover what that “Other” storage involves. Like Windows; Mac also lets users to get in the system directories, and therefore you can clear the space engaged by “Other” storage. Make sure you know which files you are deleting otherwise it may affect negatively as well! Before I explain how to get rid of Other storage, let me tell you about how to locate this data.

What Is “Other” Storage Space on Mac OS X?

Presumably, “Other” occupies lots of space in many cases and many of you wish to empty it. Hold on for a second, before taking up any acute step; understand what actually “Other” stands for. Initially understand that “Other” storage is not waste. It could basically be something which isn’t itemized in the storage categories. Though, before moving on to resolve things lets realize what exactly the “other” storage in your Mac OS consist of?

Below are some illustrations of “Other” things.

• App Support, iCloud files, screensavers etc.
• Documents and file types, like doc, PSD, PDF etc.
• Files like temporary files, swap, voices, etc. in the system folders of OS X
• Hidden items, comprising browser reserve and locally stockpiled memo media files.
• Numerous file and file types not recognized by Spotlight
• Several kinds of records and disk images, comprising zips, rar, dmg, iso, tar etc.
• Type styles, app fixtures, application plugins, and app additions.
• Your personal information.

Now, answer yourself; would you still want to clear the “Other” storage? NO!

This implies that “Other” is not a dustbin or waste space. Though, some useless things system caches, temporary files and other junk can be removed to free up the space.

How to Check the Other Storage Space on Mac OS X?

As you understand that your Mac has been subjugating some extra storage, you must check to know how much of the disk is being used up. Besides, by analyzing the “Other” storage space you can more over choose if it is worth laying the time and energy to evacuate the space. Below steps will help to inspect how much “other” storage has been used up:

• After clicking on the Apple Menu, click on About This Mac.
• Discover the “Other” data of Mac in the Storage
• For the users of a version prior to OS X 10.10, clicking on More Info is suggested.

Surprisingly you will discover that the Other” storage conquers big amount of space and this space can be utilized for storing the important documents.

Fundamentally the “Other” category combines files that are not known as other file types. Therefore, if you come about to erase or resolve the “Other” data stowed on Mac’s disk, follow the steps to do the same.

Removal of  “Other” Storage Space on Mac OS X

People often are proud and miscalculated while saying that they have much of the space accessible and they do not require to make more space. But they should not forget that the disk emptied today would eventually be occupied some other day. Thus follow below advises to get rid of other storage and clear space on Mac hard drive.

• Restarting Mac is useful always so as to promptly taking out some mess.
• Evacuating trash cans timely.
• Uninstalling idle apps on your Mac
• Vacuuming temporary files.
• Eliminating language files. 
• Getting rid of Mac OS X sleep image file by clicking on Launchpad> Other > Terminal and Type: sudorm /private/var/vm/sleepimage to complete.
• Attest hard drive. If you haven’t yet moved up to Yosemite, steer to Apple Menu > About This Mac > More Info > Storage > Disk Utility and continue.
• Taking out the iOS device holdups.

Hence, try vacuuming up space on your Mac by following above advice. Take a note of the size of “Other” storage space after you followed advises above to empty disk space.

For advance user: You can also clear big amount of data by removing backup (yes, it occupied lot of data in Other storage of your Mac) but it is not recommended as you can not restore once you deleted your backup.

Some frequently asked question related to cleaning up other storage on Mac device:

Here we will try to answer question being asked by our readers related to this topic, this will help you to resolve your queries:

#1 I have installed parallel OS on my mac which I am not longer using, does this step will help?

Never tried it before but based on our experience, what we suggest is; just try to find out parallels “Applications” folder and review data carefully. If you find it from other OS, delete them, empty trash and restart your device. It may cleanup big amount of data.