At Apple’s Worldwide Developer’s Conference on June, 13 the company introduced macOS Sierra and with it a variety of new features including the inclusion of Siri on Mac, a Universal Clipboard, improved Photos, Picture in Picture mode, and more.

Another feature that has been included in macOS Sierra is the ability to free up space on your Mac with the new Optimized Storage tool. We look at how you can access the Optimized Storage tool, as well as the features of the new tool.

macOS Sierra is currently only available in beta 1 for developers, with a public beta due out in July and the official release happening in September. To access Optimized Storage and the other macOS Sierra features you will need to download the beta 1 or you can sign up for the public beta. As the operating system is still in beta mode, some of the features and steps mentioned in this post may change before the final release of macOS Sierra.  

How to access the various storage management options?

To access the storage management options, click on the Apple icon in the menu bar > About This Mac > Storage > Manage. The Recommendations tab on the left will be highlighted and a list of storage options will be displayed on the right, including Optimize iCloud Storage, Optimize Storage, Erase Trash Automatically, and Reduce Clutter.

Optimize iCloud Storage: When you click the Optimize button next to this storage option you will free up space on your Mac by only keeping recently opened photos and videos on your machine.

Optimize Storage: When you click the Optimize button next to this storage option, any previously watched TV shows and iTunes movies will automatically be removed from your Mac. The Optimize Storage option will also only keep recent email attachments on your machine.

Tip: If you want to access any old versions, all your files will remain where you saved them you can just open up a specific file and download it.

Erase Trash Automatically: If you click the Turn On button for this feature, any items older than 30 days will automatically be deleted from your Trash.

Reduce Clutter: By clicking the Review Files button next to this storage option you will be provided with a list of older documents that are stored on your Mac. Make sure you take the time to go through this list properly so you avoid deleting files that you actually still need.

Other ways to free up space on your Mac

Under the Recommendations tab on the left of the screen, there are also other options including Applications, Documents, iCloud Drive, iOS Files, iTunes, Mail, Photos, and Trash. If you want to free up even more storage on your Mac, you can click on each of these options and see if there are any items that you want to delete.

Source: Tech Insider

Image via: B Rosen; Flickr