Tidy MacOpen the Apple menu › System Settings › General › Storage to see used and free space by category. For a quick number, select your disk in Finder and press Command-I, or open Disk Utility. In Terminal, df -h / shows free space and du -sh ~/* shows which folders are biggest.
- Open Apple menu › System Settings › General › Storage.
- Hover over the bar to see each category’s size; click the ⓘ next to a category for details.
- For a quick number, select Macintosh HD in Finder and press Command-I.
- Open Disk Utility for the container view, including other volumes.
- In Terminal, run df -h / for free space and du -sh ~/* for folder sizes.
1. System Settings (the usual way)
Choose Apple menu › System Settings › General › Storage. The bar at the top shows used and free space; hover over it to see each category. The list underneath has an ⓘ button per category that opens the files inside, and a Recommendations section. On macOS Monterey and earlier, it's Apple menu › About This Mac › Storage.
It can sit on "Calculating…" for a while after startup. If it's stuck
2. Finder
Select Macintosh HD in the Finder sidebar (or on the desktop) and press Command-I. You get Capacity, Available and Used. For a number that's always visible, choose View › Show Status Bar in any Finder window: it shows the free space at the bottom.
"Available" in Finder includes purgeable space, which macOS can free when it needs to, so it's often bigger than what System Settings calls free. What purgeable space is
3. Disk Utility
Open Applications › Utilities › Disk Utility and select your disk. It shows the whole APFS container, including the macOS volume and "Other Volumes" that System Settings doesn't break down. What Other Volumes are
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4. Terminal
For exact numbers:
df -h /
du -sh ~/* 2>/dev/null | sort -h
du -sh ~/Library/* 2>/dev/null | sort -h | tail -15The first line shows free space. The second ranks the folders in your home. The third looks inside your Library, where most of System Data hides. More Terminal commands · Explain the output
Why the numbers don't match
Finder, System Settings and Terminal can disagree by tens of GB. Purgeable space, decimal GB vs binary GiB, and APFS clones and snapshots all count differently. Why they differ · GB vs GiB
What's in "System Data"?
The grey bar is the one you can't click into. It's usually Time Machine local snapshots, iPhone backups, app caches and data, developer files and AI tools. What System Data is · Is a folder safe to delete?
Where Tidy Mac fits
Tidy Mac shows the same disk with System Data split into named parts, a Space Map of every folder, sizes that match Disk Utility, and a menu bar reading of free space with a warning before the disk fills.
Frequently asked questions
How do I check my storage on a MacBook?
Apple menu › System Settings › General › Storage. On macOS Monterey or earlier, Apple menu › About This Mac › Storage.
How do I see what is taking up space on my Mac?
Storage settings lists categories, but not folders. For folders, run du -sh ~/* | sort -h in Terminal, or use a disk map app. Step by step
Why does my Mac say storage is full when Finder shows free space?
Finder counts purgeable space as available. macOS frees it when needed, but some apps and installers check the stricter number.