How To Get Rid Of Downloads On Mac

  • Yesterday it finished downloading and I removed local copies. Today the download started back. I don't understand why it's so, I don't want to keep local copies. If I will need a file from icloud I will click 'download now' and that's it. OS: Big Sur 11.2.2. UPDATE: What helped me to get rid of constant re-uploads/re-downloads was this.
  • Finder has a search field that can be handy for finding duplicate files. To use it for your Downloads folder, open Finder, and make sure you have the “Downloads” folder selected from the menu on the left side of the window. In the search bar on the top right, enter the name of a file you want to find a duplicate of.
System cleanup in one click

How to Delete Apps in the Finder on Mac Manually (the Hard Way) Unlike Windows. But some users face issues when trying to get rid of Python package, which is why we recommend that you read a complete and safe deletion guide on how to uninstall Python on your Mac to prevent any issue. Contents: How to uninstall Python manually. How to uninstall Python using Terminal. The easiest way to uninstall Python from Mac.

Make your Mac fast and secure with CleanMyMac X.

For many of us, email is a necessary email. Email makes our student and professional lives significantly easier, as a way of sending and sharing information. Not everything can be sent in a text, Facebook or WhatsApp message, or using Snapchat or Slack.

Often, especially for those in creative professional or knowledge economy roles, we rely on email to communicate professionally and send more complex and detailed information.

Get rid of email junk with CMM X

Remove every mail attachment stored on your Mac with a powerful macOS cleaner, CleanMyMac X. Give it a go!

Do emails take up storage?

Mail downloads, also known as attachments, are a big feature in busy inboxes, either taking up space in the cloud - if you use a cloud-based email client - on your phone, and if you use a desktop-based email client, on your Mac too. Attachments are everywhere, and you’ve probably got multiple versions of the same attachments in different places, taking up even more space.

Chances are, once you’ve downloaded and worked on an attachment, you won’t need the original. Or when you’ve worked on a document or folder, you’ve got more than one duplicate on your computer, and you can send back a revised attachment to the sender. In practice, this means one attachment often turns into at least three or four versions of the same document stored in different folders and within inboxes and/or cloud-based email services.

How to find Mail Downloads on a Mac

Apart from inside your inbox, mail attachments are found in one of two - or both - places within your Mac. You may also have some on your iPhone or iPad if you have email on another device.

The common way to view, save or delete email attachments in Mail (the built-in Mac OS email client) one by one:

  1. Select a message that includes attachments. Look for the Attachment icon next to the sender's name in the message list.

  2. In the message, do one of the following: Open an attachment in an app: Double-click the attachment.

Within a Mac OS, those who use Mail can find downloads and attachments in the following folder:

Users > YourName > Library > Containers > com.apple.mail > Data > Library > Mail Downloads

All attachments that you've either opened in Mail or viewed in Quick look gets saved there.

To delete Mail downloads saved in this folder just delete the files you don't need and then close the folder.

People who use a cloud-based, or another desktop email client, should see everything you’ve downloaded from your inbox in the Downloads folder. In some cases, you may have a duplicate of the same downloads in both folders, which means these will be taking up even more space. Now that you know where all your mail downloads are hiding, it’s time to stop your Mail app from wasting gigabytes of your Mac space.

Deleting Mail Download files from a Mac

One way to save space and stop mail download overload is to use an email client that makes it easier to find, organize and delete attachments. Take Unibox, for example, which groups emails by sender, making it far more intuitive and easy-to-use compared to Mail or other email services. This app is available from Setapp and described as “A welcome, fresh new approach to email on the Mac” (Macworld).

Within Unibox mail client you can do the following with email attachments:

  • Preview attachments without launching external apps;

  • Visually browse your attachments and images;

    They take up a lot of space anyway. Step 5: Get Your USB Flash Drive Ready (Optional)Before proceeding, make sure you have copied all of your important files from your USB flash drive to another place, because this process will wipe your flash drive and reformat it. Click on 'El Capitan (10.11)' so DiskMaker X can automatically detect your install file in the Applications folder. Step 4: Choose Your El Capitan FileGo ahead and open the app up and you'll see the following screen. Usb bootable mac os el capitan. Also, make sure that your flash drive is 8 GB or more, because the installer file alone is over 6 GB.Update: While you need at least 8 GB free to install El Capitan, it might not be enough to make a bootable drive.

  • Quickly find documents and files with an attachment list.

All of these features make it significantly easier to find and delete attachments, no matter which email service you use. This app will work with every popular and self-hosted email provider, with one simple download and setup process.

Before switching email client, however, you might want to get rid of existing gigabytes of useless attachments. Most people would have attachments and duplicates of those files, images, documents and videos dating back to when they first bought their Mac, with some going back to previous Macs if you synced from one device to another when setting-up a new computer. That is potentially a lot of old downloads and duplicates!

How To Get Rid Of Downloads On Mac

How to free up email space on my Mac?

One of the best ways to get rid of Mac Mail downloads is using CleanMyMac X, a popular and easy-to-use app that over 3 million people are using to remove documents, files, images, apps, music and other junk that they don't need anymore.

Also available from Setapp, you can get your Mac tidied up then download a new email client that will keep it more organized.

Setapp uses cookies to personalize your experience on our website. By continuing to use this site, you agree to our cookie policy.

Are you a Mac user and wonder how to get rid of junk files on it? If so, you are reading just the right article. We have composed this article with all the required information about how to remove junk files effectively. So, read through the end and get your Mac optimized.

Deleting files in a timely manner is very important if you expect optimal performance from your Mac. However, some novice Mac users wonder how to get rid of junk files properly. If you have the same type of question, you can choose any of the three methods we present.

Which files can be considered as junk?
How to remove junk files on your Mac?
Method 01: How to get rid of junk files on your Mac using Umate Mac Cleaner
Method 02: Remove junk files on Mac using a manual method

An introduction to junk files

Before we jump into the methods of removing junk files, let’s get an idea about junk files. Each and every application installed on your Mac has these junk files. They can be found in a specific folder. Some of the junk files are temporary, and they appear and disappear pretty often within the system. One of the major issues with junk files is that they can be invisible to regular users. As a result, they can grow into a huge pile, and your system will not use them again.

Like any other file in your Mac, junk files need some space to sit on. So, as the number increases, these junk files can easily accommodate a large space of your storage device. As you download files and install applications, the number of junk files can increase rapidly. Sometimes, they may be present in the form of cache or temporary files in the system. Pretty often, for many users, locating and deleting these junk files have become a very serious challenge. Doing it manually can take a considerable amount of time and still deliver not-so-impressive results.

So, plenty of Mac users tend to rely on special applications that are developed to remove junk files. Umate Mac Cleaner is one of those applications that can remove junk on Mac files effectively.

Also, get to know how to Remove Dropbox from Mac with ease. And here is everything about How to Defrag Mac for your reference.

Which files can be considered as junk?

It is true that Mac developers are putting maximum efforts to reduce the existence of junk files. Although many users are not aware of such a thing, Mac is working on it with great commitment. If you take an individual junk file, it will consume only a small space, which is often negligible. Also, many users even aren’t aware of the existence of such files. With that said, there are 12 types of junk files, and they are listed below.

  • 01. App cache files
  • 02. Log files
  • 03. language files
  • 04. Broken login items
  • 05. Duplicate files
  • 06. Browser cache
  • 07. Development waste
  • 08. Universal binaries
  • 09. Trash files
  • 10. Old downloads
  • 11. Old backups
  • 12. Remnant data

Each of the above categories exists for various different purposes. Regardless of the purpose, over time, these files can become problematic. Therefore, it is important to know how to get rid of junk files on your Mac. Many individuals consider junk files to be very innocent. As long as you have a couple of junk files, that is completely OK. But junk files exist in bulks, and that can lead to various other annoyances, which are listed below.

01. They occupy your disk space

One of the main issues you will experience as a result of junk files is that they consume space. Your disk space is a precious thing. If you haven’t cleaned junk files for a long time, they may occupy considerable space on your disk.

02. They slow down your system

When there are too many junk files, your device will start to run slow, and it will become annoying. As a result, the system will take too long to open programs and find files.

So, if you clean junk files properly in a timely manner, you can free up disk space. In addition to that, you can make your Mac running faster.

PS: here, you will try more ways to Delete iPhone Junk Files, and figure out How to Clear Out Junk Files on iOS / Android / Windows / Mac with ease.

How to remove junk files on your Mac?

As we mentioned before, there are several ways to remove junk files on your Mac. We intend to explain about three of those methods. You can choose any of those methods, depending on your preference.

Method 01: How to get rid of junk files on your Mac using Umate Mac Cleaner

Under method 01, we reveal the most efficient and reliable method to remove junk files on your Mac. This powerful app is capable of removing all the junk files easily and optimize your Mac. Thanks to the advanced features and smart algorithm, it can resolve all the troubles related to Mac files.

How to use Umate Mac Cleaner and clean your Mac

One of the most notable benefits associated with Umate Mac Cleaner is its user-friendliness. That means this software comes with an exceptionally convenient user-interface to the benefit of the user. You don’t need to be a Mac expert to make use of this app. Mentioned below are the steps to follow so you can get rid of junk files.

  • 01. As the first step, you must download and install Umate Mac Cleaner on the computer.
  • 02. Then, you should launch the app and click on the ‘Clean Up Junk‘ option. Then, Umate will start to perform a scan and find all the junk files from every corner.
  • 03. Once the scanning is done, you will be able to proceed to eliminate the junk files. To do that, you should just click on the option called ‘Clean.’ It appears in the form of a button. There are two modes to consider when it comes to scanning. Namely, they are ‘Quick Clean‘ and ‘Deep Clean.’

Mac m1 android emulator. We highly recommend our users to rely on software like Umate Mac Cleaner to remove junk files. There are various advantages associated with Umate Mac Cleaner. The best thing about this software is that it removes even the hidden junk files.

Mentioned below are some of the most significant features associated with Umate.

  • It can save you plenty of time because of its one-click junk file deletion.
  • It supports more than 40 types of junk files on your Mac computer.
  • Convenient user-interface that makes the cleaning process easy even for a novice user.
  • 100% reliable tool that is recommended by thousands of individuals across the globe.

Also, let’s see how to stop spinning wheel on Mac and how to fix the Mac Keeps Crashing issue effortlessly.

Method 02: Remove junk files on Mac using a manual method

In fact, there are eight manual ways to consider if you want to remove junk files from Mac. Although these methods are free, they have some drawbacks as well. For instance, they take a considerably longer time to remove junk files. But if you are still interested in those methods, we list them down for you.

01. Clean the Cache and Temporary files of your Mac

You should know that both cache and temporary files take considerable space. By deleting them, you can reacquire that space. Mentioned below are the steps.

  • First, click on Finder and choose ‘GO.’ Then, locate the option ‘Go to Finder.’ You can access the same folder using ‘Shift + CMD + G‘ keyboard shortcuts.
  • When you are in the ‘Go to‘ Folder, enter: ~/Library/Caches.
  • Then, press CMD + A and select all the contents in the respective folder.
  • After that, drag and drop them into the cache folder.
  • If you need to delete the files from multiple folders, you should repeat the process accordingly.

02. Delete duplicate files on your Mac

Duplicated files are another huge issue because they take plenty of space in your Mac. If you can remove them, you can free up considerable space. Mentioned below is a guide on how to get rid of those duplicate files.

  • Go to Finder.
  • Choose the option New Smart Folder from the menu.
  • Locate the plus button on the corner. Then, choose search parameters depending on the convenience (size, name, etc.).
  • Take a look at the size of the files and identify the duplicates.
  • After finding the duplicates, click on them and delete them.

03. Delete the disk images that aren’t necessary anymore.

There can be some unused, unwanted disk images on the Downloads folder of the Mac. These disk images, despite their large size, are also recognized as junk files. You can delete them without having any worries whatsoever. Mentioned below are the steps to do it.

  • Locate the ‘Finder‘ and go to the ‘Download‘ folder.
  • Then, key in ‘disk image‘ in the search box.
  • Delete all the DMG files you found under the search results.

04. Get rid of the log files

Here are the steps to be taken in order to clear the log files.

  • Go to ‘Finder‘ and choose ‘Go.’
  • Then choose ‘Go To Folder.’
  • Type in “~/Library/logs” and open the folder by hitting the enter key.
  • Select everything that needs to be deleted and hit CMD + Backspace keys.
  • After deleting the log files, delete them from Trash as well.
  • Restart the Mac.

05. Clean the language tools that aren’t necessary anymore

Any application you install on your Mac comes with some language files, as well. Since most of us use only one language, the other language files aren’t necessary. So, the other language files can be deleted and get some free space on your Mac. Here’s how to do it.

  • Go to the ‘Resource‘ folder.
  • Choose all the files that come with the extension .lproj.
  • Every folder you see comes with language files.
  • Delete the language files you don’t want.
  • Be careful that you don’t delete the files you require.

06. Delete the system files

This is a very sensitive task that should be handled with care. If you do it wrong, it will even cause system errors. Also, you must open multiple folders in order to delete the contents. That is because you cannot delete those folders. The best thing is to copy the folders to another place and get rid of them.

07. Get rid of the unused apps

If you have installed plenty of apps, you are likely to experience some slowness in your Mac. Go through the list of programs you have opened and determine the obsolete apps. Many users have unused apps in their system. So, it is always better to analyze your computer and remove the apps that are no longer required. Mentioned below are the steps to do it.

  • Go to ‘Finder.’
  • Then, go to the ‘/Applications‘ folder and choose the apps you need to get rid of.
  • Then, drag and drop the files into Trash. If not, you can right-click and choose ‘Move to Trash‘ option.

08. Clean your Desktop and Trash

Some individuals tend to keep a large number of files on their desktop always. Also, they don’t clean Trash at least once in a while. Over time, this can be a problem, and therefore, make sure that you clean both of those regularly.

Method 03: Delete junk files using a built-in utility

How To Get Rid Of Downloads On Mac Laptop Computer

The third and last method we explain is using a built-in utility in the Mac system. Your Mac computer comes with several utilities, and you can use them to delete junk files. For those who want to know how to remove junk files, this method can be very handy.

How To Get Rid Of Downloads On Macbook Pro

  • Hit both CMD + Spacebar keys, and you will see a spotlight search field.
  • Type the text ‘activity monitor‘ and choose it.
  • Check for the junk files that consume plenty of memory and delete them.

The bottom-line on How to Get Rid of Junk Files on Your Mac

As you have got to know, junk files are a big problem if you don’t manage them properly. They can fill up your disks gradually and eventually cause various issues. So, knowing how to remove junk files is compulsory for any user. In this article, we presented three methods for those who wonder how to get rid of junk files. Of all those methods, we highly recommend the tool called Umate Mac Cleaner due to obvious reasons. You can share your thoughts with us in the comments section below.