Spoiler: Moving files to Trash isn’t going to fix it. In this article, we provide step-by-step instructions on how to avoid the “startup disk full” problem. What makes the situation challenging is that most of these Mac storage gobblers are system files you never actually see.īy keeping the Mac startup disk tidy in the first place, you can avoid numerous issues that hamper performance. This usually happens if you have too many outdated files, old logs, caches, and apps you no longer use. Running low on storage might cause your Mac to slow down or behave strangely. Once “Your disk is almost full” notification pops up on a screen, it’s time to do some work. That will free up much of the disk space.Make your Mac fast and secure with CleanMyMac X.

So, if you want to fix the 'Mac startup disk is full' error and make it won't happen again, you can back up your working documents to iCloud or move them to an external hard drive. Even if you spend hours deleting the unuseful data, there are still so many files left on your Mac, and more will be created in your later work. Maybe you are a film cutter or a housing designer with a lot of videos, photos, documents, etc stored on a Mac. Back up large files to iCloud or an external drive Then, right-click the Trash icon at the Dock and click Empty Trash.Ĥ. If you are not sure about permanently deleting some files in your Trash, you can move them out there. Only emptying your Trash can permanently delete the files from your Mac.

But the deleted files actually remain on your startup disk. Most of us delete files on a Mac by moving them to the Mac Trash. You can uninstall the apps on your Mac via moving them to the Trash or using its built-in remove option. If you are enthusiastic about trying different apps for your study and work, remember to delete those that are tested not useful for you. You can open the Downloads folder in Finder to remove the unnecessary and large ZIP/RAR archives and DMG files. Sometimes, you may download some unuseful files from the browser or apps, or you have installed apps but remained the DMG file. Then, you'll be clear about how much space you need to free up for fixing the error - leaving at least 15% of the storage space for free.Īnd you can click the Manage button on the window to check what takes up most of your storage space.Īfter checking what takes up the Mac startup disk and how much space you need to free up, you can take the following solutions to get more storage on your Mac and fix the 'Mac disk is full' error.

Click the Apple icon at the upper left corner of your screen and select About This Mac.

Startup disc full