--- title: "Freeing up space: the options" url: https://storagestudio.us/wiki/freeing-up-space-overview category: "Freeing up space" tags: ["free up space", "external drive", "caches", "local snapshots", "cloud accounts"] summary: "Storage Studio frees space on your Mac's built-in disk in five ways: clearing things that rebuild themselves, moving files to your external drive, offloading apps, making cloud files online-only and releasing space held by automatic backups." updated: 2026-10-01T05:34:32.000Z --- # Freeing up space: the options Storage Studio frees space on your Mac's built-in disk in five ways: clearing things that rebuild themselves, moving files to your external drive, offloading apps, making cloud files online-only and releasing space held by automatic backups. Storage Studio has five ways to give you space back on your Mac's [built-in disk](https://storagestudio.us/wiki/glossary-built-in-disk): it can **clear** things that rebuild themselves, **move** your files to an [external drive](https://storagestudio.us/wiki/glossary-external-drive), **offload** apps you rarely use, make cloud files **online-only**, and **release** space your Mac is holding in automatic backups. Each one suits a different situation, and you can use them on their own or together. ## The five ways, side by side ```mermaid %% caption: The five ways Storage Studio frees space, and what each one works on mindmap root((Free up space)) Clear App caches Developer caches Logs and crash reports Temporary files Move Big folders to your external drive A shortcut stays behind Offload Apps you rarely use Restorable later Online-only Downloaded cloud files Still in your cloud account Release Space held by local snapshots Nothing you still have is deleted ``` *Mind map — The five ways Storage Studio frees space, and what each one works on. Outline:* - Free up space - Clear - App caches - Developer caches - Logs and crash reports - Temporary files - Move - Big folders to your external drive - A shortcut stays behind - Offload - Apps you rarely use - Restorable later - Online-only - Downloaded cloud files - Still in your cloud account - Release - Space held by local snapshots - Nothing you still have is deleted | Way | What it works on | Can you undo it? | |---|---|---| | Clear | Caches, logs and temporary files that apps rebuild by themselves | Nothing to undo: apps rebuild what they need | | Move | Your own folders and big files | Yes: move them back at any time while the drive is connected | | Offload | Whole apps and their data | Yes: restore the app when you want it again | | Online-only | Cloud files that are already downloaded | Yes: they download again when you open them | | Release | Space held by automatic backups of files that are already gone | Nothing you still have is touched | ## Which one should I use? ```mermaid %% caption: Choosing where to start, depending on how urgent things are flowchart TD A[I want more free space] --> B{Is the disk full right now?} B -->|Yes| C[Emergency Space: safest options first, aimed at a target] B -->|No| D{Do you want it done for you?} D -->|Yes| E[Run Tuhi: one safe pass] D -->|No, I want to choose| F{What is using the space?} F -->|Big folders| G[Data Parking or What's Using Space] F -->|Apps| H[The Apps window: move or offload] F -->|Cloud downloads| I[Optimise Cloud Storage] F -->|I'm not sure| J[Where Did My Space Go] ``` *Flowchart — Choosing where to start, depending on how urgent things are. Outline:* - I want more free space - leads to Is the disk full right now? - Is the disk full right now? - Yes: leads to Emergency Space: safest options first, aimed at a target - No: leads to Do you want it done for you? - Do you want it done for you? - Yes: leads to Run Tuhi: one safe pass - No, I want to choose: leads to What is using the space? - What is using the space? - Big folders: leads to Data Parking or What's Using Space - Apps: leads to The Apps window: move or offload - Cloud downloads: leads to Optimise Cloud Storage - I'm not sure: leads to Where Did My Space Go - **For a quick, hands-off tidy-up**, tap **Run Tuhi** on the Home screen. It clears caches, tidies large folders onto your drive and keeps cloud files online-only in one pass. See [Smart Care](https://storagestudio.us/wiki/smart-care). - **When the disk is full right now**, open **Emergency Space…** from the More menu. It lists your options safest first and stops at the amount you ask for. See [Emergency Space](https://storagestudio.us/wiki/emergency-space). - **To see what is big**, open **What's Using Space…**. See [Storage Inspector](https://storagestudio.us/wiki/storage-inspector). - **To find out why free space dropped**, open **Where Did My Space Go…**. See [Where did my space go?](https://storagestudio.us/wiki/where-did-my-space-go). - **To move your own folders by hand**, use [Data Parking](https://storagestudio.us/wiki/moving-folders-safely). For apps, see [moving an app](https://storagestudio.us/wiki/moving-an-app) and [offloading an app](https://storagestudio.us/wiki/offloading-an-app). ## What Storage Studio won't do for you Some things are left as your decision on purpose. Storage Studio shows you how much your Trash is holding but never empties it from a one-tap button, because emptying the Trash can't be undone (see [The Trash and the space it holds](https://storagestudio.us/wiki/the-trash)). It only clears the part of an app's data that the app rebuilds by itself; settings, sign-ins and history stay where they are (see [Clearing app caches safely](https://storagestudio.us/wiki/app-caches)). And it won't move anything an app is using at that moment. If you've freed space and the number didn't go up, the space is often being held for a while by your Mac's own automatic backups. [Why deleting files doesn't always give the space back](https://storagestudio.us/wiki/why-deleting-doesnt-free-space) explains this. - **What's the best app to free up space on a Mac?** If you want space back without losing files, the best approach is "move, don't delete." Storage Studio relocates big apps and folders to an external drive (with a shortcut left in place so they still open), reclaims space macOS is holding in old snapshots, and keeps cloud files online-only — all… (https://storagestudio.us/faq) - **How do I free up space on my Mac?** Empty the Trash, clear app caches, remove old downloads, and move large apps and folders you rarely use to an external drive. Storage Studio does all of this in one tap with Tuhi — it clears caches and rarely-used files, reclaims old local backups, and keeps cloud files online-only, previewed… (https://storagestudio.us/faq) - **How do I get more storage on my Mac without deleting my files?** Pair your Mac with an external SSD and offload what you don't need on the startup disk. Storage Studio moves large apps, folders, and media to the external drive and leaves a shortcut in the original spot, so you reclaim space while keeping every file — nothing is deleted. (https://storagestudio.us/faq) - **Is it safe to clear the cache on a Mac?** Yes — app caches rebuild automatically, so clearing them safely reclaims space; the only risk is deleting the wrong thing by hand. Storage Studio clears only known-safe caches and rarely-used files, shows a preview first, and never touches your personal files without asking. (https://storagestudio.us/faq) See also: [Smart Care](https://storagestudio.us/wiki/smart-care) · [Free Up Space](https://storagestudio.us/wiki/free-up-space) · [Emergency Space](https://storagestudio.us/wiki/emergency-space) · [Local snapshots](https://storagestudio.us/wiki/local-snapshots) · [Optimise Cloud Storage Locally](https://storagestudio.us/wiki/optimise-cloud-storage-locally) · [How Storage Studio keeps every change reversible](https://storagestudio.us/wiki/how-storage-studio-keeps-you-safe) ## What links here - [Built-in disk](https://storagestudio.us/wiki/glossary-built-in-disk) - [Finding and removing duplicates](https://storagestudio.us/wiki/duplicates) - [Is Storage Studio slowing my Mac down?](https://storagestudio.us/wiki/is-storage-studio-slowing-my-mac) - [Optimise Cloud Storage Locally](https://storagestudio.us/wiki/optimise-cloud-storage-locally) - [Smart Care](https://storagestudio.us/wiki/smart-care) - [Storage Studio and macOS Storage settings](https://storagestudio.us/wiki/compared-with-macos-storage-settings) - [What Storage Studio does](https://storagestudio.us/wiki/what-storage-studio-does)