MacBooks, despite their higher proficiency than any other laptop in their category, is not famous for the low storage capacity of the Mac drive. And you cannot do without the necessary apps and files/documents. All these downloaded files or applications are directly headed to the Downloads folder of your Mac. However, one can specifically choose a different destination as well. But, to clear space on your Mac drive, one must know how to delete downloads on Mac.
How to clear your user/app cache on Mac. Mac makes it easy to clear your cached data using simple keyboard shortcuts. From your Finder window, hit shift, command, and G. The “Go to Folder.
Not to mention a stacked up Mac drive can also impact your Mac’s performance and therefore, learning how to clear downloads on Mac becomes more significant. A full Mac drive may lead to slower response time, slower boot time, and maybe unwanted app crashes due to high load on RAM. So, if you have trouble understanding how to delete downloads on your MacBook, keep on reading and find ways to clear up space on your Mac computer.
Sep 06, 2021 Here are the steps on how to delete downloads on Mac: Open Finder. Go to the Downloads folder. Select all files in the Downloads folder. Move selected files into the Trash. Another quick solution to remove downloads from Mac is to use MacCleaner Pro. The application automatically finds downloads, as well as other types of junk files on your Mac. The latest version of macOS Sierra has a new tool to help you clean the junk out of your Mac — just go to the menu and choose “About This Mac” and then flip over to the Storage tab. Once you are there, you can go through the new settings and enable the ones that make sense to you.
How to Delete Downloads on Mac from Downloads Folder?
There is always a direct, manual process of clearing downloads on Mac. This is the folder where all the downloaded files go when downloaded on the Mac. Whether it is a mail attachment, an application, or any other file, it is all stored in the download folder. So, accessing this folder will help you clear downloads in MacBook Air or your other Mac machines.
Here’s how to delete downloads on Mac from the Downloads folder:
Step 1: Open “Finder” from your MacBook’s dock.
Step 2: There, you’ll see a separate menu on the left-hand side. There, find and click on the Downloads button. It is signified by a dark grey icon with an arrow facing downward.
Step 3: To delete a single file, or delete files individually, click on it and press delete. You and also right-click on the file and from the popped up menu, click on Move to Trash.
Step 4: To delete all the files, you can click on the first file, then hold shift and press and hold the downward arrow button simultaneously.
You can also press Command+A to select all. Finally, right-click and select Move to Trash.
Step 5: Once the files are deleted, they are not yet deleted, but are just transferred to the trash. So, head to the Trash button, right-click on it and then click on Empty Trash from the new popped-up menu. The new trash button will look like a white trash can.
Step 6: Check on the Downloads folder and ensure the files are deleted. It must be empty.
How to Delete Downloads on Mac via Google Chrome Browser?
People also use browsers to download files, media, mail attachments, etc. These files are directly stored in the download history of the browser and can be accessed directly from the browser as well. Here’s how you can access and delete downloads from Chrome.
Step 1: Open Chrome browser.
Step 2: Press CTRL+J. This will open up a new tab listing all the downloads that are stored in the system through the Chrome browser.
Step 3: To delete the downloads individually, press the X [Cross] button at the side of the individual files.
Step 4: To delete all the files, click on the More Action (three-dot icon) in the upper-right corner.
Step 5: From the drop-down menu, select the Clear All button and confirm the final command to delete the downloads via the Chrome browser.
How to Delete Downloads on Mac from Microsoft Edge Browser?
The process of deleting the downloads from Microsoft Edge browser is the same as that of the Chrome browser; however, let alone one single step. You must delete downloads from these browsers to clear downloads on Mac and clear up some space on the drive.
Here’s how you can delete downloads on Mac from Microsoft Edge browser:
Step 1: Open Microsoft Edge.
Step 2: Press CTRL+J. This will open up a new tab listing all the downloads that are stored in the system through the Microsoft Edge browser.
Step 3: To delete files press on the Hub button signified by three-vertical lines.
Step 4: Click on Clear All to delete download history.
How to Delete Downloads on Mac from Safari Browser?
Step 1: Open Safari browser.
Step 2: Click on View. From the drop-down menu, click on the Show Downloads button.
Step 3: To remove download, right-click on it, and then select Remove.
Step 4: To remove all the downloads altogether, you’ll notice a Clear button on the top-right corner of the downloads menu.
Step 5: Click on the Clear button and remove all the downloads from the Safari browser.
Pro Tip
Delete All The System Junk From Your Mac In One Click
How To Clear Your Downloads On Mac Laptop
Download CleanMyMac X on your Mac, let it run the scan and find out all the junk. As and when detected, you can simply click ‘Clean’ for complete removal of annoying junk and downloads that are lying around the system for no reason.
Must Read:
Summary: Still worry about your insufficient Mac storage? Want to speed up Mac but don't know how? Get the 6 free Mac cleaners to clear disk space, clean junk or duplicate files to free up your Mac.
Many of us know exactly how to clean Windows computer or Android phone, but when it comes to cleaning Mac, few people know about it. Many Apple users think that, there is no need to clean Mac.
However, with more and more junk files occupying your Mac storage, your Mac will slow down and offer a bad performance. You have to rely on some Mac cleaner software to remove all useless data.
Best Free Mac Cleaners
With so many Mac cleaner tools offered on the market, which one you should use? Do you know how to choose a great Mac cleaner? We have tested more than 20 Mac cleaners and select the 6 best ones for you to choose from. You can pick your preferred Free Mac cleaner to speed up your Mac easily and quickly.
No.1 Free Mac cleaner: CCleaner - Free junk file cleaner
CCleaner is one free and top Mac cleaner to delete cookies, search history, temporary files and junk files from Mac. The specific functions are below:
1. Find and remove useless/junk files with the click of a button so your Mac can run faster. Speed up boot times with easy management of Startup items.
How To Clear Your Downloads On Mac Windows 10
2. Clear up your recycle bin, temporary files and folders, broken permissions and others. If you want to remove installed programs, just click one button.
3. Erase your browser search history and cookies so you can browse any Internet confidentially and your identity remains anonymous.
No.2 Free Mac cleaner: Disk Inventory X – Free disk cleaner for Mac
Disk Inventory X is one disk cleaning software and disk usage utility for Mac. With this free Mac cleaner, you can know where your disk space has gone and clean it safely. Just see more about Disk Inventory X.
1. Disk Inventory X shows the sizes of files and folders in a special graphical way.
How To Remove Downloads From Mac
2. With this Mac cleaner, you can see different files marked with different colors, to help you easily find what you want to delete.
No.3 Free Mac cleaner: AVG Cleaner – Free hidden clutter cleaner
AVG Cleaner is one free Mac cleaner to clean hidden clutter and forgotten duplicates. You can see the detailed information below:
1. Clear more hidden garbage, log, download history and trash bin for freeing up more space on your Mac.
2. Search more duplicate files, including images, music, videos and folders.
3. Created for Mac and easy to use.
4. There is an anti-virus software called AVG AntiVirus for Mac, you can use it to protect Macs on your and your families.
No.4 Free Mac cleaner: OmniDiskSweeper - Free hard drive cleaner
OmniDiskSweeper is one free Mac cleaner to find and delete big files that taking up hard drive space and also it can help you recover lost disk space.
1. OmniDiskSweeper helps you sort every file on your Mac by size and you can identify the biggest file to delete it.
2. After deleting, remaining space and folders are recalculated.
No.5 Free Mac cleaner: Dr. Cleaner – Free memory, disk, system cleaner
Dr. Cleaner is one free Mac cleaning app to offer Memory Optimization, Disk Cleaning and System Monitoring to keep your Mac optimized for the best performance.
1. Smart and accurate selection for duplicates scan and remove on Mac with OS X 10.6.6 or later.
2. Scanned big files and junk files will be deleted easily from your Mac.
3. You can easily view real-time network usage and CPU usage in the Menu bar.
No.6 Free Mac cleaner: Disk Drill
Disk Drill is one very popular free Mac cleaner app. Actually, it is a professional data recovery tool for Mac, which carries some disk cleaning functions. It has the capability to analyze Mac storage space, locate unused, large, and duplicate files and so on. In this way, it enables you to free up your Mac storage effortlessly.
1. Monitor the health of your Mac storage and offer timely alerts.
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2. Find and remove duplicate files in multiple locations on Mac.
3. Analyze disk space, locate unused files and space hogs, free up storage.
Professional Mac cleaner recommendation:
With the best 6 Mac cleaner apps above, you can handily remove some junk files and optimize your Mac performance. But some of them only offer trial features. Here you are recommended to directly choose the professional Mac cleaner below:
Mac Cleaner- Scan and delete junk files including cache data and logs, email attachments, unwanted iTunes backup and app localization.
- Delete large and old documents and selectively remove worthless files.
- Clean duplicated files or folders on Mac.
- Uninstall apps and clean associated files safely.
- Monitor Mac system in disk utilization, battery status, memory performance and CPU usage.
- Compatible with iMac, Mac Pro, MacBook (Air/Pro) in the latest macOS Monterey.
FAQs of Free Mac Cleaner
How do I clean and optimize my Mac?
Download and install Aiseesoft Mac Cleaner. Click Cleaner and you can clean up your Mac by cleaning system junk, iPhoto junk, email junk, similar photos, iTunes junk, trash bin, large & old files and more.
Why is my Mac so slow?
The reason that why is your Mac so slow may includes there is no enough hard drive or RAM on Mac. Or there is too many startup items or icon clutter on desktop. Perhaps your macOS is outdated and you should update it.
Does Catalina slow down your Mac?
No. Catalina won’t slow down an old Mac. You can check to make sure if your Mac is compatible with macOS Catalina.
By now, 6 free Mac cleaners have been shared here. You can choose your preferred Mac cleaner according to your need. Please share it in comment if you have any better Mac cleaner recommendation. Check ere if you want to speed up your slow iPhone.
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December 29, 2020 17:50 / Updated by Louisa White to Mac Cleanup