Every other article on this site explains the reasoning behind a Mac cleanup step — why Docker's disk doesn't shrink on its own, why a locked file blocks Trash, why hard links complicate duplicate detection. This one skips all of that. It's the condensed version: a single page you can copy into Notes, print, or stick next to your desk, with just enough detail to act on each line without needing the explanation behind it. If you want the reasoning, the rest of this blog covers each section in depth — this is the version for when you just want to work through the list.
The checklist
Quick wins (5 minutes)
- Check available space: Apple menu → About This Mac → More Info → Storage Settings
- Empty Finder's Trash
- Check Photos → Recently Deleted and empty it if you don't need to recover anything
- Check Mail → Trash mailbox and empty it
Downloads and Movies (10 minutes)
- Open
~/Downloads, sort by size, delete installers you've already used - Sort
~/Downloadsby date, delete anything older than 6 months you don't recognise - Open
~/Movies, delete screen recordings you've already shared or don't need - Check for duplicate downloads with
(1),(2)suffixes in their names
Developer caches, if applicable (10 minutes)
# Xcode build products
rm -rf ~/Library/Developer/Xcode/DerivedData/*
# iOS simulators for OS versions you no longer have
xcrun simctl delete unavailable
# npm cache verification
npm cache verify
# pnpm store cleanup
pnpm store prune
# Homebrew downloaded bottles
brew cleanup --prune=all
- Run the commands above relevant to the tools you actually use
- Check Docker Desktop → Troubleshoot → Clean/Purge data if you use Docker
- Check
~/Library/Developer/Xcode/iOS DeviceSupportfor old device folders
Snapshots and backups (5 minutes)
- List local Time Machine snapshots:
tmutil listlocalsnapshots / - Delete old ones if there are several:
sudo tmutil deletelocalsnapshots <date> - Check
~/Library/Application Support/MobileSync/Backup/for old iPhone/iPad backups you don't need (manage from Finder → device → Manage Backups, not by deleting the folder directly)
Final check (5 minutes)
- Open a storage map of the whole disk and check what's largest
- Note the new Available figure and compare it to where you started
Frequency guide
| Section | How often |
|---|---|
| Quick wins | Weekly |
| Downloads and Movies | Weekly or biweekly |
| Developer caches | Monthly, or whenever a project misbehaves |
| Snapshots and backups | Monthly |
| Final storage map check | Monthly |
What this checklist deliberately leaves out
This is a maintenance checklist, not a deep-cleanup or emergency-recovery guide. It doesn't cover finding true duplicates by content hash, cleaning a shared family Mac's per-account permissions, compacting a virtual machine disk, or preparing a Mac to sell — each of those has its own set of decisions that don't compress into a checkbox without losing something important. Use this list for the routine maintenance that prevents a crisis; reach for a more detailed guide when you're past routine maintenance and into an actual problem.
How to use it
Copy the checkbox sections into Notes, Reminders, or a plain text file, and check items off as you go rather than trying to remember what you've done. If you're printing it, the code block commands are meant to be typed into Terminal, not run automatically — read each one before running it, especially anything starting with sudo or rm -rf, since both act immediately and without a confirmation step of their own.
Where VolumeLens comes in
The "final check" step at the bottom of this list — open a storage map, see what's largest — is the one item on this page that a checklist genuinely can't do for you, because what's largest is different on every Mac. VolumeLens is built for exactly that step: a local scan with no network code, a map sized by real disk usage, and a review sheet before anything moves to the Trash. Free to scan, browse, search, and clean up — worth keeping installed alongside this checklist rather than opening only when something's already gone wrong.