--- title: "How to check storage on Mac (4 ways, plus the hidden parts)" description: "Check how much storage your Mac has left in System Settings, Finder, Disk Utility or Terminal, and see what’s inside the grey System Data bar." url: https://tidymac.space/guides/how-to-check-storage-on-mac/ updated: 2026-10-20 --- [Home](/) [Guides](/guides/) How to check storage on Mac (4 ways, plus the hidden parts) # How to check storage on your Mac Check how much storage your Mac has left in System Settings, Finder, Disk Utility or Terminal, and see what’s inside the grey System Data bar. 5 min readUpdated October 16, 2026By the Tidy Mac team Short answer Open 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. The steps 1. Open Apple menu › System Settings › General › Storage. 2. Hover over the bar to see each category’s size; click the ⓘ next to a category for details. 3. For a quick number, select Macintosh HD in Finder and press Command-I. 4. Open Disk Utility for the container view, including other volumes. 5. 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](/guides/mac-storage-stuck-calculating/) ## 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](/guides/purgeable-space-mac/) ## 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](/guides/other-volumes-in-container-mac/) ![](/img/brand/tidy-128.png) ### Let Tidy Mac do this for you See every part of your storage explained, and clear junk to the Trash with Undo. $9.99 once, 2 Macs. [Download](/download/TidyMac.dmg) [Buy for $9.99 once](/buy/) ## 4\. Terminal For exact numbers: ``` df -h / du -sh ~/* 2>/dev/null | sort -h du -sh ~/Library/* 2>/dev/null | sort -h | tail -15 ``` The 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](/guides/check-disk-space-mac-terminal/) · [Explain the output](/tools/system-data-explainer/) ## 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](/guides/finder-disk-utility-free-space-different/) · [GB vs GiB](/tools/storage-unit-converter/) ## 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](/learn/what-is-system-data-on-mac/) · [Is a folder safe to delete?](/tools/is-it-safe-to-delete-mac/) ## 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](/guides/what-is-taking-up-space-on-my-mac/) 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. ## Keep reading [What is taking up space on my Mac?](/guides/what-is-taking-up-space-on-my-mac/)[How to check disk space on a Mac in Terminal](/guides/check-disk-space-mac-terminal/)[Why Finder, System Settings, Disk Utility and Terminal show different free space on a Mac](/guides/finder-disk-utility-free-space-different/)[What is “System Data” on a Mac, and why is it so big?](/learn/what-is-system-data-on-mac/)[How to clear System Data on macOS 27 Golden Gate without breaking anything](/guides/clear-system-data-macos-27/)[How to turn off Apple Intelligence on macOS 27 (all 11 settings)](/guides/turn-off-apple-intelligence-macos-27/) Share:[X](https://x.com/intent/post?text=How%20to%20check%20storage%20on%20your%20Mac&url=https%3A%2F%2Ftidymac.space%2Fguides%2Fhow-to-check-storage-on-mac%2F)[Reddit](https://www.reddit.com/submit?url=https%3A%2F%2Ftidymac.space%2Fguides%2Fhow-to-check-storage-on-mac%2F&title=How%20to%20check%20storage%20on%20your%20Mac)[Hacker News](https://news.ycombinator.com/submitlink?u=https%3A%2F%2Ftidymac.space%2Fguides%2Fhow-to-check-storage-on-mac%2F&t=How%20to%20check%20storage%20on%20your%20Mac)[LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/sharing/share-offsite/?url=https%3A%2F%2Ftidymac.space%2Fguides%2Fhow-to-check-storage-on-mac%2F) #### On this page [1\. System Settings (the usual way)](#1-system-settings-the-usual-way)[2\. Finder](#2-finder)[3\. Disk Utility](#3-disk-utility)[4\. Terminal](#4-terminal)[Why the numbers don't match](#why-the-numbers-don-t-match)[What's in "System Data"?](#what-s-in-system-data)[Where Tidy Mac fits](#where-tidy-mac-fits)[FAQ](#faq) **Tidy Mac** See this on your own Mac in under a minute. $9.99 once, 2 Macs. [Download](/download/TidyMac.dmg)