As a Mac user, you have probably experienced the dreaded “startup disk almost full” pop-up message. This warning indicates that you are running out of space on your hard drive, which can cause your Mac to slow down significantly. Fortunately, there are several ways to free up space on your Mac, including clearing purgeable space.

What is purgeable space?

Purgeable space is a term used to describe the space on your Mac that the operating system has deemed safe to delete. This space includes cached files, temporary files, and other items that your Mac can regenerate if needed. However, these files are not technically marked as free space, making it difficult for you to know exactly how much space is available on your hard drive.

How to clear purgeable space

There are several ways to clear purgeable space on your Mac, including:

1. Empty your trash: This may seem obvious, but it is an easy way to free up space on your hard drive. Simply right-click the trash icon in your dock and select “empty trash”.

2. Use the Optimized Storage feature: Apple introduced the Optimized Storage feature with the release of macOS Sierra. This feature automatically clears out old files and moves them to iCloud or the trash to free up space on your hard drive. To activate this feature, go to Apple menu > About This Mac > Storage > Manage.

3. Use a third-party cleaning tool: There are a variety of cleaning tools available that can help you clear purgeable space on your Mac. Some popular tools include CleanMyMac and CCleaner.

4. Remove old backups: If you use Time Machine to back up your Mac, you may have old backups taking up space on your hard drive. You can delete old backups by going to Time Machine preferences and selecting “delete backup”.

5. Clear cache and temporary files: Your Mac stores temporary files and cache files to help speed up certain processes. However, these files can take up a significant amount of space over time. You can clear these files by going to Finder > Go > Go to Folder and entering “~/Library/Caches”. From there, you can delete any files or folders you no longer need.

Final thoughts

Clearing purgeable space is an essential task for maintaining your Mac’s performance and preventing it from running out of space. By following these simple tips, you can easily free up space on your hard drive and keep your Mac running smoothly.