Mac storage basics · When the disk is full
How do I live comfortably with a 256 GB MacBook?
Short answer: Use the internal drive as working space: photos and documents in the cloud with online-only files, big occasional data on a small external SSD, and old backups and installers cleared out.
Treat the internal drive as a working space, not an archive:
- Keep photos in iCloud Photos with Optimise Mac Storage, or the library on an external drive.
- Use cloud folders with online-only files for documents you rarely open.
- Put big, occasional things — video projects, VMs, game libraries, old archives — on a small external SSD.
- Remove device backups and installers once they've served their purpose.
- Keep a healthy margin free so macOS updates go through.
Storage Studio is designed for this kind of Mac: it moves big folders and apps to an external drive with links left behind, keeps cloud files online-only and warns before space gets critical. See freeing up space.