What is Other in MacBook Storage? – Ultimate Guide

The MacBook storage problem is still the most popular one in 2021. The promised 1 TB of storage — that is the capacity of the MacBook Air 2020 — will still be not sufficient for a number of users. We generate more & more content on our devices & employ apps that are bursting with cache files. And it is what makes the cryptic category of “Other” storage on Mac, read full blog about What is Other in MacBook Storage ..

So, on the recent macOS variants, this storage category is titled “other volumes in container.” that, of course, does not make it any less cryptic. Well, this category contains significant junk files along with the important ones. That’s why it is so important to learn to check the storage on Mac in the correct manner.

Henceforth, let’s figure out what Other Macbook Storage is & how to clear Other from your Macintosh device.

What is Other on Mac Storage?

In general, the other storage on Mac consists of files that don’t  fall into the clearer category labels such as “Audio.” And the types of “Other” files would incorporate: 

• Documents like .psd, PDF, .doc, etc.
• macOS system & temporary files.
• Cache files such as browser cache, user cache, along with the system cache.
• Disk images & archives such as .zip and .dmg.
• Application extensions & plugins.
• Everything else that does not fit into the main macOS categories.

How to check Mac disk space usage?

Certain years back, Apple introduced “Optimized Storage,” an amazing feature for locating out how your disk space is structured. And it is how to check the storage on the Macintosh device

Ok the very first step, simply invoke the Apple menu (top right corner)

Afterwards, choose the option named About this Mac > then hit the option Storage

Is your disk approaching full capacity? In that case, you need to choose the option “Manage.” The sidebar to the left is actually enlightening. And it is the one and only place where you can find all the required details regarding your Mac, it shows the size of your application, books, as well as the documents in gigabytes.

Where is Other Storage on a Macintosh Device

In order to show you where it is, let’s check out your Library. It is where your macOS keeps each and every app components, widgets, & different cache archives. And this part of your Mac is hidden from view for some reason. Well, messing up a few folders here might break your Mac. However let’s take a look:

Head over to the Finder > now hit the option named Go (in the top menu).

Then use: ~/Library/Caches

See those small folders? Well, it is where your “Other” storage is. You have located it. Now, we will see what’s possible to remove!

Let’s Check Out How to Delete Other Storage on Mac

You can not completely get rid of Other on Mac, however you can decrease how much storage space it takes up. We are now going to look at each of the 6 types of Other files & define you how to clean up your Macintosh device. Well, we are going to walk you through erasing undesired files, system slowing cache files, junk system files, outdated backups, & all sorts of other junk.

1. Erase documents from Other Storage space

You may not think that pure text documents take up a significant amount of space, however you might be surprised at the size of certain .pages & .csv files. And that is before you begin downloading ebooks, adding images, and making big presentations. Soon your Other documents can begin to get out of hand.

In order to find and erase large & undesired documents from Other Storage manually:  

• From the desktop, simply press the button titled Command-F.
• Now you need to choose the option This Mac.
• Hit the very first dropdown menu field & choose the option Other.
• From the Search Attributes window, tick File Size & File Extension.
• Here, you can input different document file types ( .pages, .pdf, etc.) & file sizes in order to find large documents.
• Review the items & then delete as required.

Fortunately, there is a much simpler _ more thorough way. By using a third-party product like CleanMyMac X, you can be presented with a clear view of all the significant files occupying your Other space.

In order to locate large hidden files in each and folders with CleanMyMac:

• The very first thing is to app & simply head over to the Large & Old Files tab.
• Now choose the big Scan button in order to start the search.
• Afterwards, simply review the results broken down into different categories: documents, archives, movies, etc.
• Here you need to look through your files & remove the ones you no longer require.

What’s amazing about this method is that you can sort all the files and folders by their size and therefore, free up space in the most effective and  hassle-free manner. And there is a unique category for Other files that do not fit into either category. This app also helps to locate the .DMG files & archives the Other storage usually comprises. Moreover, these files can also be moved to another separate disk or folder and could be eradicated safe and securely.

Make sure you attempt it & see how it assists you slim down Other storage on Mac. Erasing your outdated files and folders alone can recover you tons of space, however there are significant space hoggers that fall under the Other data category.

2. Clean up Other space of the device & temporary files

Each second your Macintosh device is on, the macOS makes & piles up system files — logs, for instance. And at a certain point, the system requires these files, but they quickly become old & just sit there, wasting all the disk space. Then, guess what, they’re in the Other Mac storage category, as well.

Well, these files are mostly temporary, however they never go away until you do something about it. And the difficulty is that Apple has not made it simple and straightforward to clean out system files. And there is a good reason for this – people usually erase things they should not.

Let’s check out your Library folder

If you want to manually find where most of apps’ temporary files live, head to ~/Library/Application SupportIn this folder, you should find your apps, & certain searching will reveal a significant amount of space being taken up. For instance, you might have gigabytes worth of outdated iOS backups in

~/Library/Application Support/MobileSync/Backup

In fact, you could remove these manually, however a much safer as well as quicker way is to use a professional cleaning application.well there are a number of professional apps available in the market that can help you to erase all these files within a few minutes amd you don’t need to perform any sorts of critical step as well.  These applications have a System Junk module that especially looks for undesired system files & knows what is actually safe & secure to delete.

Here is the process how to delete system files from Other Storage without any hassle:

• Head over to the System Junk.
• From the menu, hit the option named Scan.
• Once the scanning process gets completed, simply tap on Clean.

And it is what you just need to do. Seriously. If it is the first time you ever cleared out your Mac device, & you will see that the OS X Other storage tab has shrunk considerably after cleaning up the system junk.

Using this procedure, you can remove 16.69 GB or more  “System Junk” from your  MacBook

3. Remove cache files from the Other data section

Cache files aren’t only another invisible storage hog. Well, they’re actually one of the worst offenders, usually taking up gigabytes of significant space. And 3 main types of cache are – user, browser, as well as system. SO, cache files are meant to assist your system work faster and more efficiently, but they get bigger & bigger at times, gradually slowing your system down. 

To clear cache files manually on Mac:

• Head over to Go > locate and select the Go To Folder.
• Once you are done with this instruction, simply enter the following-  in ~/Library/Caches and click Go.
• Click-hold Option & then simply drag the Caches folder to your device as a backup in case anything goes wrong.
• Make sure to select all the files in the Caches folder.
• Now you need to drag them to the Trash.
• When you are done with this, simply empty Trash and hit the OK button at last

Well, be sure to follow the same instructions for /Library/Caches (without the “~”) and ~/Library/Logs. Keep in mind that cache files sit in a number of folders, & with a little effort & patience, you will be able to clean them out manually.

4. Delete app extensions & plugins from Other storage

Another handy as well as reliable approach is to manage storage on Macintosh devices.

While applications are, unsurprisingly, categorized as Applications on the Storage bar, & their add-ons are under the Other storage category. So compared to certain types of app plugins, files g extensions possibly won’t take up as much of your Mac’s Other space. Still, each bit counts. As extensions can at times cause major to minor issues on your Mac, why not erase the ones you do not use to be safe & free up some additional Other storage space at the same time?

So, tracking down all the add-ons can be a real hassle. There might be some you have forgotten you had and others you did not know about in the first place.

Here is how to remove extensions manually from Safari, Chrome, & Firefox.

To erase extensions from Safari:

• Head over to the Safari browser.
• Try to locate and choose the Safari menu.
• Simply open the Preferences section
• From the preference tab, choose the Extensions tab.
• Hit the extension you desire to eradicate & hit the option named “Uninstall.”

In order to remove extensions from Chrome browser:

• The very first step is to invoke Chrome.
• Now, you need to hit them.  three-dot icon that is located in the top-right corner.
• Hit the option named More tools > Extensions.
• Remove or disable as you prefer.

To erase extensions from Firefox:

• In the initial stage, you need to open the  Mozilla Firefox browser.
• When the browser invokes, simply go towards the burger menu that is located in the top-right corner.
• Now you need to hit the Add-ons.
• So, from the Plugins & Extensions tabs, simply turn off & remove whatever you desire.

Important! If you are not confident what a plugin does, then kindly do rush to erase it. So, make sure you turn it off first & then check out if your application & your system work as expected. You will always be able to remove that add-on later. Moreover, note that Chrome extensions can not be erased automatically. However if you’d desire to get rid of them, we will list these extensions for you & help you how to do that on a manual basis.

5. Get rid of each and everything  from Other disk space

Even Other storage space contains its own “other” files, & no, the irony of that word is not lost on us.

So other storage on Macintosh device can also involve:

Files and folders in the user library (screensavers, for instance).

The Files Spotlight search does not recognize.

Usually, they won’t be as significant of a share of Other data on the Macintosh as cache files & relevant items we have cleared out. But, if you are decided to clean out as much Other Mac storage as possible, here is how you can remove the screensavers:

• Initially you need to open the Finder.
• Then head over to the Menu bar, select Go > hit the Go to Folder.
• Enter this: /System/Library/Screen Savers/ & hit the option Go.

You will find the screensaver files now — they are lightweight, however for the sake of being thorough, you will be able to trash them as well.

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And as for files, Spotlight does not recognize, they are pretty much rare. Well, they could Involve files like virtual machine hard drives or Windows Boot Camp partitions. And, if you do not recall putting anything like that on the Mac device, you possibly have nothing to check for.

That’s all about What is Other in MacBook Storage! For further query, visit our official site or simply let us know in the comment section below.we would be delighted to serve you back.