How to find large files on a Mac

When a disk fills up, it’s usually because of a few large files or folders, not thousands of small ones. These are the quickest ways to find them.

1. Storage settings

Open System Settings › General › Storage and click the ⓘ button next to Documents. The Large Files list shows your biggest files, and you can delete them from there.

It only covers your home folder, though, and it doesn’t show folders that are large because they hold many smaller files.

2. A Finder search

In Finder, press Command-F, click the Kind menu, choose Other and select File Size. Then set it to “is greater than” 1 GB.

This finds single large files wherever you search, but not large folders.

3. Terminal

To list the folders in your home folder by size, run:

$ du -sh ~/* 2>/dev/null | sort -h

To find every file larger than 1 GB:

$ find ~ -type f -size +1G 2>/dev/null

4. A disk map

A visual map shows files and folders together, sized by the space they use. Scan a drive with OpenDisk and the biggest items are the biggest slices. Click one to zoom in, or browse the sortable list next to the chart. A 1 TB disk takes about 17 seconds.

Drag anything you don’t need into the Collector, check the total, then move it all to the Bin in one step.

Before you delete

Start with the Downloads folder and old .dmg installers. They’re rarely needed again.
Be careful in Library folders. What’s there is often app data, not junk.
If you’re not sure, move it to the Bin and wait a day before emptying it.