How to find large files on your Mac
How do I find large files with built-in macOS tools?
The storage overview already lists large files for you: open System Settings › General › Storage and click ⓘ next to Documents. Under Large Files, you'll see your biggest files sorted by size and can remove them from there.
This view shows individual files. Large folders made up of thousands of small files won't show up here.
How do I search by file size in Finder?
Open a Finder window and press ⌘F. Choose “This Mac”, click Kind in the first criterion, select Other…, enable File Size, and set something like “is greater than 1 GB”.
Click “Save” to keep the search as a Smart Folder. Finder search relies on the Spotlight index, so excluded or unindexed locations may be missing.
How do I find large folders in Terminal?
For folder sizes, du is the right tool. du -sh ~/* | sort -h lists the folders in your home folder with human-readable sizes, largest at the bottom.
Use du -sh ~/Library/* 2>/dev/null | sort -h to look inside your Library; the redirect hides errors for protected folders. Use Terminal only to look here – don't delete anything in ~/Library you can't clearly identify.
Why use a visual disk map?
A disk map shows at a glance which folders take up the most space overall – even when no single file inside them is large. Caches or project folders with thousands of small files never stand out in file lists.
Ring or treemap views draw each level in proportion to its size. That makes it obvious which branch is worth zooming into.
Where do large files usually hide?
Packages such as the Photos library look like a single file in Finder but contain thousands of files. Never edit them via “Show Package Contents” – only through the app they belong to.
- Photos library in your Pictures folder – manage it only in the Photos app.
- Videos and screen recordings in Movies, on the Desktop or in Downloads.
- Disk images (.dmg) and virtual machine images.
- Old macOS installers (“Install macOS …”) in the Applications folder.
- Archives (.zip, .tar.gz) you extracted long ago.
Find and remove large files on your Mac
Open the storage overview
Open System Settings › General › Storage, click the info button next to Documents, and select Large Files.
Search by size in Finder
Press ⌘F in Finder, choose Kind › Other… to add the File Size criterion, and set a threshold such as 1 GB.
Check folder sizes in Terminal
Run du -sh ~/* | sort -h to see the largest folders in your home folder.
Use a disk map
Scan your home folder with a disk analyzer such as DiskDonut and click through the ring into the largest folders.
Check before deleting
Review a file's location, date and contents, and make sure you no longer need it or have a backup.
Move it to the Trash
Move the file to the Trash and only empty it once you're sure nothing is missing.
Frequently asked questions
What counts as a large file?
There's no fixed threshold. For a Finder search, 500 MB or 1 GB is a practical starting point that you can then lower step by step.
Why doesn't Finder search find some large files?
Finder search relies on the Spotlight index. Folders excluded from Spotlight, package contents and system areas don't appear; du in Terminal or a disk analyzer can fill the gap.
Can I move my Photos library to an external drive?
Yes: quit Photos, copy the library to the external drive, then hold down the Option key while opening Photos to select it. Only delete the original once the copy works properly.
Can I delete .dmg and .pkg files?
Usually yes, once the app is installed – the installer isn't needed afterward. Keep it only if you couldn't download the software again otherwise.