- Due to this, lately, my Mac started showing the Disk almost full, message. Hence, I decided to use Advanced Uninstall Manager to uninstall applications that I don’t want for my Mac. To delete apps, using Advanced Uninstall Manager, follow these steps. Download and install Advanced Uninstall Manager. Launch the best uninstaller, 3.
- Find more such tutorials on - this video I am going to show you how to delete applications off their computer or Permanently Delet.
The app is very powerful that can delete downloads within just a few seconds. Step 1: Launch Umate Mac Cleaner. Launch Umate Mac Cleaner after installation, then click 'Scan' on the 'Clean Up Junk' part for scanning your Mac system to know how much junks can be deleted. Step 2: Start Scanning.
MacBooks, despite their higher proficiency than any other laptop in their category, is not famous for the low storage capacity of the Mac drive. And you cannot do without the necessary apps and files/documents. All these downloaded files or applications are directly headed to the Downloads folder of your Mac. However, one can specifically choose a different destination as well. But, to clear space on your Mac drive, one must know how to delete downloads on Mac.
Not to mention a stacked up Mac drive can also impact your Mac’s performance and therefore, learning how to clear downloads on Mac becomes more significant. A full Mac drive may lead to slower response time, slower boot time, and maybe unwanted app crashes due to high load on RAM. So, if you have trouble understanding how to delete downloads on your MacBook, keep on reading and find ways to clear up space on your Mac computer.
How to Delete Downloads on Mac from Downloads Folder?
There is always a direct, manual process of clearing downloads on Mac. This is the folder where all the downloaded files go when downloaded on the Mac. Whether it is a mail attachment, an application, or any other file, it is all stored in the download folder. So, accessing this folder will help you clear downloads in MacBook Air or your other Mac machines.
Here’s how to delete downloads on Mac from the Downloads folder:
Step 1: Open “Finder” from your MacBook’s dock.
Step 2: There, you’ll see a separate menu on the left-hand side. There, find and click on the Downloads button. It is signified by a dark grey icon with an arrow facing downward.
Step 3: To delete a single file, or delete files individually, click on it and press delete. You and also right-click on the file and from the popped up menu, click on Move to Trash.
Step 4: To delete all the files, you can click on the first file, then hold shift and press and hold the downward arrow button simultaneously.
You can also press Command+A to select all. Finally, right-click and select Move to Trash.
Step 5: Once the files are deleted, they are not yet deleted, but are just transferred to the trash. So, head to the Trash button, right-click on it and then click on Empty Trash from the new popped-up menu. The new trash button will look like a white trash can.
Step 6: Check on the Downloads folder and ensure the files are deleted. It must be empty.
How to Delete Downloads on Mac via Google Chrome Browser?
People also use browsers to download files, media, mail attachments, etc. These files are directly stored in the download history of the browser and can be accessed directly from the browser as well. Here’s how you can access and delete downloads from Chrome.
Step 1: Open Chrome browser.
Step 2: Press CTRL+J. This will open up a new tab listing all the downloads that are stored in the system through the Chrome browser.
Step 3: To delete the downloads individually, press the X [Cross] button at the side of the individual files.
Step 4: To delete all the files, click on the More Action (three-dot icon) in the upper-right corner.
Step 5: From the drop-down menu, select the Clear All button and confirm the final command to delete the downloads via the Chrome browser.
How to Delete Downloads on Mac from Microsoft Edge Browser?
The process of deleting the downloads from Microsoft Edge browser is the same as that of the Chrome browser; however, let alone one single step. You must delete downloads from these browsers to clear downloads on Mac and clear up some space on the drive.
Here’s how you can delete downloads on Mac from Microsoft Edge browser:
Step 1: Open Microsoft Edge.
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Step 2: Press CTRL+J. This will open up a new tab listing all the downloads that are stored in the system through the Microsoft Edge browser.
Step 3: To delete files press on the Hub button signified by three-vertical lines.
Step 4: Click on Clear All to delete download history.
How to Delete Downloads on Mac from Safari Browser?
Step 1: Open Safari browser.
Step 2: Click on View. From the drop-down menu, click on the Show Downloads button.
Step 3: To remove download, right-click on it, and then select Remove.
Step 4: To remove all the downloads altogether, you’ll notice a Clear button on the top-right corner of the downloads menu.
Step 5: Click on the Clear button and remove all the downloads from the Safari browser.
Pro Tip
Delete All The System Junk From Your Mac In One Click
Download CleanMyMac X on your Mac, let it run the scan and find out all the junk. As and when detected, you can simply click ‘Clean’ for complete removal of annoying junk and downloads that are lying around the system for no reason.
Must Read:
System cleanup in one click
It’s practically impossible to go through a day of working on Mac and not download anything: coworkers send us files for review, friends send us new funny memes, or we download new app installers ourselves.
Most of the files we download we only need to see or use once, but we rarely have the discipline to delete them right then and there. Over time, this leads to our hard drives overflowing with files and folders we don’t actually want, straining our system’s resources and pushing us to spend to upgrade storage.
No more! Today, we’ll show you how to clear downloads on Mac in just a few minutes, potentially freeing up gigabytes of space and giving a new boost to your Mac.
Get Setapp to get rid of downloads
Setapp gives you a combo of the best cleanup app, CleanMyMac X, and a powerful duplicate removal app, Gemini.
How to Delete Downloads on Mac
Nearly all files we download to our Macs end up either on your Desktop or in the Downloads folder. While the former is always visible and thus much easier to take care of, the latter quickly turns into the never-ending stream of files.
The first step to learning how to clear downloads on Mac is to find where the Downloads folder is actually located. By default, you can click on the Finder icon in your Dock and then select Downloads from the sidebar, you can choose Downloads from the Finder’s Go menu bar, or you can use the Option + ⌘ + L shortcut.
If you have hundreds or even thousands of files in the Downloads folder, deleting all of them (⌘ + A and Delete) might be risky — what if there’s something you might need? At the same time, going through all files one by one could take hours.
A good solution here is to group all files in the folder by size, so that the heaviest items will automatically be displayed at the top and would be easy to scan through and delete, getting you 80% of results with 20% of the effort.
To group files by size, right-click at the white space within a folder and select Group By ➙ Size. Then delete all the heavy offenders either with ⌘ + Delete or right-click ➙ Move to Trash.
How to find and delete hidden download folders
Most of the time your online files end up in the Downloads folder, which we covered above. However, if you’re frequently using various apps where you download files, they might as well end up in some proprietary folders in the heart of your Mac.
We’ve all been using Zoom, for example, in the past year. We also record a lot of conversations to be able to reference them later. Where those conversations get downloaded, though, might be a mystery to you.
To check on where Zoom stores all downloads, open up Preferences (⌘ + ,) and select Recording. Then click Open next to the “Store my recordings at:” and delete all unnecessary files within that folder. Finally use the dropdown to set that folders to regular Downloads.
Repeat the steps with every app from which you download files.
How to get rid of duplicate files
What happens more often than we realize is that we download a file from somewhere, use it once, and then a few days later forget where it is and download it again. This results in the proliferation of duplicates that serve no useful purpose at all. Deleting them is a no-brainer way to increase the amount of free space on your Mac. But how do you go about it?
Gemini is one of the most popular duplicate removers in the world. If you haven’t been removing duplicates regularly up until now, this app can save you gigabytes of space in seconds. Gemini is able to scan any folder and find the same files across images, video, audio, and more, even if they have different names. The app works for similar files as well, and Gemini preselects everything that’s safe to delete automatically.
Here’s how to use Gemini to delete duplicate files:
- Launch Gemini
- Click the plus icon
- Select Home ➙ Choose
- Click Scan for Duplicates
- Click Smart Cleanup
How to clear downloads on Mac overall
Your Mac’s unused files and folders don’t stop at Downloads. Over the years, you might’ve accumulated so much more that you just don’t notice every day.
Luckily, we can reuse the trick described above for the Downloads folder to find unneeded files across your Mac:
- Open any Finder window
- Search for a . (dot), which is present in any file name
- Switch the search to This Mac
- Right-click and pick Sort By ➙ Size
- Scan the top files and delete the ones you don’t need
This method is still a bit of a hack and while it tells you the size of the files it doesn’t tell you how often you’ve used them. For better results, you need a specialized app.
CleanMyMac X is a very powerful Mac optimizer that’s able to clean and speed up your Mac with just a few clicks. You can, for example, scan your Mac for malware, quit heavy tasks, update and uninstall apps, and more. One of CleanMyMac’s most underused features is called Large & Old Files, which scans all of your Mac for things that take up space and that you’re not using.
To find Large and Old Files with CleanMyMac X:
- Launch CleanMyMac X
- Navigate to the Large & Old Files tab
- Click Scan
- Check the files you don’t need
- Click Remove
How to remove downloads from Mac browsers
How To Clear Downloads On Mac
Tracking downloaded files through browsers can be a useful way to find the files you don’t need anymore. Browsers themselves don’t keep your files — they just provide a list of recently downloaded items.
After a heavy purge, however, it’s useful to clean up the list of downloads in your browser as well, so you can track everything from scratch.
To remove downloads in Safari:
- Click the Downloads icon in the top bar
- Select Clear
To delete downloads in Firefox:
- Go to Tools ➙ Downloads (⌘ + J)
- Click Clear Downloads
To clear downloads in Google Chrome:
- Go to Window ➙ Downloads (Shift + ⌘ + J)
- Click the three-dot menu and pick “Clear all”
You can also make all these actions effortless with CleanMyMac X, which has a way to clear all history and downloads from all browsers at once:
- Launch CleanMyMac X
- Navigate to the Privacy tab
- Go to each of your browsers and check Downloads History
- Click Remove
As you can see, when you know how to delete downloads on Mac, it takes just a few minutes, especially if you use apps like Gemini and CleanMyMac X.
Best of all, Gemini and CleanMyMac X are both available to you absolutely free for seven days through the trial of Setapp, a platform with more than 200 Mac apps that will supercharge your productivity, from unzipping archives with BetterZip to getting the best sound out of your speakers with Boom 3D. Try every Setapp app today at no cost and be amazed how quickly your life can change for the better.