What Is "Other" Storage on Mac and How to Clear It (2026)

What "Other" or "System Data" Actually Is

When you open System Settings > General > Storage, macOS categorizes your files into Apps, Photos, Music, Documents, and other recognizable groups. Everything it can't neatly categorize goes into "System Data" (previously called "Other" in older macOS versions).

This category is a catch-all for dozens of different file types, and it's usually the single largest category after Apps. On a typical Mac that hasn't been cleaned in a year, it can easily reach 20-50 GB.

What's hiding inside "Other" / System Data:

Application caches (browser caches, IDE caches, app temp files): usually 3-15 GB
System logs and diagnostic reports: 500 MB - 3 GB
Time Machine local snapshots: 5-50 GB (the biggest hidden culprit)
Spotlight index: 1-5 GB
macOS system caches: 2-5 GB
APFS snapshots: varies wildly, can be 10+ GB
Font files, plugins, extensions: 200 MB - 1 GB
Old iOS backups (if you've backed up an iPhone): 5-50 GB each
Xcode DerivedData (if you're a developer): 10-50 GB
Docker data (if installed): 15-60 GB

Why Apple Can't Tell You What It Is

Apple's storage analyzer runs at a high level and only recognizes files that belong to specific apps or media types. Anything stored in ~/Library (which is hidden by default) or in system directories gets lumped together. Apple deliberately hides ~/Library because modifying it incorrectly can break apps.

The result: you see a giant gray bar labeled "System Data" with no way to drill into it. This is the most common storage frustration for Mac users.

How to See What's Actually in "Other"

Apple won't show you, but Terminal will. Run this to see the 20 largest folders in your Library:

du -sh ~/Library/* 2>/dev/null | sort -rh | head -20

For system-level storage hogs:

sudo du -sh /private/var/* 2>/dev/null | sort -rh | head -15

And for Time Machine local snapshots (often the biggest culprit):

tmutil listlocalsnapshots /

What's Safe to Delete

1. Application Caches (3-15 GB)

Browser caches, Slack caches, Spotify caches, IDE caches. These are rebuilt when you reopen the app. Completely safe to delete.

du -sh ~/Library/Caches
rm -rf ~/Library/Caches/*

2. Time Machine Local Snapshots (5-50 GB)

macOS keeps local backup snapshots even without a Time Machine drive connected. These are often the single biggest component of "Other" storage.

for snap in $(tmutil listlocalsnapshots / | cut -d'.' -f4); do sudo tmutil deletelocalsnapshots $snap; done

3. Old System Logs (500 MB - 3 GB)

sudo rm -rf /private/var/log/asl/*.asl
rm -rf ~/Library/Logs/*

4. Old iOS Backups (5-50 GB each)

If you've ever backed up an iPhone or iPad to your Mac, those backups are still sitting there. Check in Finder > your device, or:

ls -lh ~/Library/Application\ Support/MobileSync/Backup/

Delete old backups you don't need through Finder > Manage Backups.

What's NOT Safe to Delete

~/Library/Application Support for apps you still use (contains databases and settings)
~/Library/Keychains (your passwords)
Spotlight index (it will rebuild, but your Mac will be slow for hours)
Audio plugin caches (AudioUnitCache) if you use any music production software
Anything in /System

Why Apple's "Manage" button barely helps

Apple's built-in storage management (System Settings > Storage > click any category) only offers basic options like emptying Trash, enabling iCloud optimization, and removing old media. It doesn't touch caches, logs, Time Machine snapshots, or app remnants. That's why "Other" stays large even after clicking every Manage option.

MacCare shows you exactly what "Other" contains

MacCare's visual TreeMap breaks down your entire disk so you can see exactly where your space went. Every item gets a risk classification, so you know what's safe to delete. No more guessing what's hiding in that gray bar.

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