How To Remove Files In The System Library Mac Sierra

12.04.2020
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  • 2020-2-10  As far as I know High Sierra downloads tmp system updates to a file, or files similar to this. This can usually be resolved by clearing your Mac App Store cache. Quit the Mac App Store. Do not delete any other files, only folders named com.apple.appstore. Share improve this answer.
  • 2020-3-17  Do not attempt to uninstall Java by removing the Java tools from /usr/bin. This directory is part of the system software and any changes will be reset by Apple the next time you perform an update of the OS. Note: After successfully uninstalling Java, you may remove Java Deployment cache using these instructions.

Optimized Storage in macOS Sierra and later* can save space by storing your content in iCloud and making it available on demand. When storage space is needed, files, photos, films, email attachments and other files that you seldom use are stored in iCloud automatically. Each file stays right where you last saved it, and downloads when you open it. Files that you’ve used recently remain on your Mac, along with optimised versions of your photos.

* If you haven't yet upgraded to macOS Sierra or later, learn about other ways to free up storage space.

Find out how much storage is available on your Mac

Choose Apple menu  > About This Mac, then click Storage. This is an overview of available storage space on your Mac, as well as the space used by different categories of files:

Apple hides the Library folder by setting a file system flag associated with the folder. You can toggle the visibility flag for any folder on your Mac; Apple just chose to set the Library folder's visibility flag to the off state by default. Here's how to change it. 2020-1-22  I'm trying to uninstall Parallels completely from macOS High Sierra. I removed everything from the disk except some Parallels extensions that are stored under /Library/StagedExtensions/Parallel Desktop.app. I think the location has to do with user approved extensions, but I'd like to find a way to remove/uninstall those too. 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. To your surprise, you see a yellow bar representing “System” that seems to occupy way more space than you think it should.

Click the Manage button to open the Storage Management window, pictured below. (The Manage button is available only in macOS Sierra or later.)

Manage storage on your Mac

The Storage Management window offers recommendations for optimising your storage. If some recommendations are already turned on, you will see fewer recommendations.


Store in iCloud

Click the Store in iCloud button, then choose from these options:

  • Desktop and Documents. Store all files from these two locations in iCloud Drive. When storage space is needed, only the files you recently opened are kept on your Mac, so that you can easily work offline. Files stored only in iCloud show a download icon , which you can double-click to download the original file. Learn more about this feature.
  • Photos. Store all original, full-resolution photos and videos in iCloud Photos. When storage space is needed, only space-saving (optimised) versions of photos are kept on your Mac. To download the original photo or video, just open it.
  • Messages. Store all messages and attachments in iCloud. When storage space is needed, only the messages and attachments you recently opened are kept on your Mac. Learn more about Messages in iCloud.

Storing files in iCloud uses the storage space in your iCloud storage plan. If you reach or exceed your iCloud storage limit, you can either buy more iCloud storage or make more iCloud storage available. iCloud storage starts at 50GB for $0.99 (USD) a month, and you can purchase additional storage directly from your Apple device. Learn more about prices in your region.

Optimise Storage

Click the Optimise button, then choose from these options.

  • Automatically remove watched films and TV shows. When storage space is needed, films or TV shows that you purchased from the iTunes Store and already watched are removed from your Mac. Click the download icon next to a film or TV show to download it again.
  • Download only recent attachments. Mail automatically downloads only the attachments that you recently received. You can manually download any attachments at any time by opening the email or attachment, or saving the attachment to your Mac.
  • Don't automatically download attachments. Mail downloads an attachment only when you open the email or attachment, or save the attachment to your Mac.

Optimising storage for films, TV shows and email attachments doesn't require iCloud storage space.

Empty Trash Automatically

Empty Trash Automatically permanently deletes files that have been in the Trash for more than 30 days.

Reduce Clutter

Reduce Clutter helps you to identify large files and files you might no longer need. Click the Review Files button, then choose any of the file categories in the sidebar, such as Applications, Documents, Music Creation or Trash.

You can delete the files in some categories directly from this window. Other categories show the total storage space used by the files in each app. You can then open the app and decide whether to delete files from within it.

2020-4-5  It may happen that after updating iTunes some of your music files, videos or podcasts no longer appear in your library. This procedure explains how to clear your iTunes library and create a new one, by deleting two files from the iTunes folder. First close iTunes and then navigate to the iTunes folder: On Mac OS X: Click on Go Home.Navigate to Music iTunes. Library 2020-3-18  How can I clear what is in my iTunes and start over? Thanks.” A user from Apple Community. Just like this user, you may also want to delete your iTunes library on Windows or Mac computer of you are reading this page. By deleting iTunes library, all your music, playlists and apps will be removed from your iTunes library. 2008-9-3  How can I clear what is in my iTunes and start over? Thanks, Dave. You can delete the current entries in your Library by highlighting them - iTunes Edit menu Select All will do the trick. How To: Clear existing iTunes Library and Start Over More Less. Apple Footer. How to Clear iTunes Library. If you want to completely clear your iTunes library and start over, there are a couple of different ways you can do it. These methods are simple and don’t take much time at all. You can do this within a matter of minutes by following the instructions in this article. Delete iTunes Library Exit out of iTunes.

Learn how to redownload apps, music, films, TV shows and books.

How To Remove Files In The System Library Mac Sierra

Where to find the settings for each feature

Sync music library to iphone. The button for each recommendation in the Storage Management window affects one or more settings in other apps. You can also control those settings directly within each app.

  • If you're using macOS Catalina, choose Apple menu  > System Preferences, click Apple ID, then select iCloud in the sidebar: Store in iCloud turns on the Optimise Mac Storage setting on the right. Then click Options next to iCloud Drive: Store in iCloud turns on the Desktop & Documents Folders setting. To turn off iCloud Drive entirely, deselect iCloud Drive.
    In macOS Mojave or earlier, choose Apple menu > System Preferences, click iCloud, then click Options next to iCloud Drive. Store in iCloud turns on the Desktop & Documents Folders and Optimise Mac Storage settings.
  • In Photos, choose Photos > Preferences, then click iCloud. Store in iCloud selects iCloud Photos and Optimise Mac Storage.
  • In Messages, choose Messages > Preferences, then click iMessage. Store in iCloud selects Enable Messages in iCloud.
  • If you're using macOS Catalina, open the Apple TV app, choose TV > Preferences from the menu bar, then click Files. Optimise Storage selects “Automatically delete watched films and TV shows”.
    In macOS Mojave or earlier, open iTunes, choose iTunes > Preferences from the menu bar, then click Advanced. Optimise Storage selects “Automatically delete watched films and TV shows”.
  • In Mail, choose Mail > Preferences from the menu bar, then click Accounts. In the Account Information section on the right, Optimise Storage sets the Download Attachments menu to either Recent or None.

How To Remove Files In The System Library Mac Sierra Vista

Empty Trash Automatically: From the Finder, choose Finder > Preferences, then click Advanced. Empty Trash Automatically selects “Remove items from the Trash after 30 days”.

Other ways that macOS helps automatically save space

With macOS Sierra or later, your Mac automatically takes these additional steps to save storage space:

  • Detects duplicate downloads in Safari, keeping only the most recent version of the download
  • Reminds you to delete used app installers
  • Removes old fonts, languages and dictionaries that aren't being used
  • Clears caches, logs and other unnecessary data when storage space is needed

How to free up storage space manually

How To Remove Files In The System Library Mac Sierra Download

Even without using the Optimised Storage features of Sierra or later, you can take other steps to make more storage space available:

  • Music, films and other media can use a lot of storage space. Learn how to delete music, films and TV shows from your device.
  • Delete other files that you no longer need by moving them to the Trash, then emptying the Trash. The Downloads folder is good place to look for files that you might no longer need.
  • Move files to an external storage device.
  • Compress files.
  • Delete unneeded email: In the Mail app, choose Mailbox > Erase Junk Mail. If you no longer need the email in your Trash mailbox, choose Mailbox > Erase Deleted Items.

Learn more

How To Remove Files In The System Library Mac Sierra Drive

  • When you duplicate a file on an APFS-formatted volume, that file doesn't use additional storage space on the volume. Deleting a duplicate file frees up only the space required by any data you might have added to the duplicate. If you no longer need any copies of the file, you can recover all of the storage space by deleting both the duplicate and the original file.
  • If you're using a pro app and Optimise Mac Storage, learn how to make sure that your projects are always on your Mac and able to access their files.