How to find large files on a Mac: 6 free ways

Every method below is free and works on any MacBook Air, MacBook Pro, iMac, Mac mini or Mac Studio. The menus match macOS Ventura and later.

The short answer

1. Open System Settings, then General, then Storage.
2. Click the info button next to Documents.
3. Open the Large Files tab to see your biggest files, largest first.

For folder sizes, hidden files or a search by exact size, use the methods below.

Which method should you use?

What counts as a large file?

There is no official cut-off, but these limits help you decide where to start:

Find big files with built-in tools

1. Use the Large Files list in Storage settings

Choose Apple menu, then System Settings, then General, then Storage. Click the info button next to Documents, then open Large Files. Select a file and click Delete, or hold the pointer over it and click the magnifying glass to show it in Finder.

This list only covers your documents. It skips apps, hidden files and folders, so use it as a first pass.

On macOS Monterey or earlier

Choose Apple menu, then About This Mac, then Storage, and click Manage. Select Documents in the sidebar, then click Large Files.

2. Search files by size in Finder

1. Open Finder and press Command-F. Make sure This Mac is selected.
2. Click the Kind menu, choose Other, then select File Size and click OK.
3. Set the rule to is greater than, type 1 and choose GB.

Finder lists every match. Turn on list view and click the Size column to sort the biggest files to the top. Lower the limit to 500 MB if the list comes back short.

3. Save the search as a Smart Folder

Choose File, then New Smart Folder, and add the same File Size rule. Click Save, give it a name such as “Over 1 GB” and tick Add To Sidebar. The folder updates itself, so one click shows your large files whenever you want to check again.

How to find large folders on a Mac

Large files often hide as thousands of small ones inside a single folder, such as an old project or an app cache. Finder searches miss these, so check folder sizes too.

4. Show folder sizes in Finder

1. Open your home folder in Finder and choose View, then as List.
2. Choose View, then Show View Options, and tick Calculate all sizes. Click Use as Defaults to apply it to every folder.
3. Click the Size column, then open the largest folder and repeat until you find the cause.

Check one folder’s size

Select a folder and press Command-I. The Get Info window shows its total size and the number of items inside.

Find large files on a Mac with Terminal

Terminal searches your whole disk in seconds and catches hidden files that Finder skips. These commands only list files. They never delete anything.

5. Run find, du and mdfind

List files over 1 GB

Run find ~ -type f -size +1G 2>/dev/null to search your home folder. Change +1G to +500M for a wider net, or replace ~ with / to search the whole disk.

Show the 20 biggest files with their sizes

Run find ~ -type f -size +100M -exec du -h {} + 2>/dev/null | sort -hr | head -20.

Rank folders by size

Run du -hd 1 ~ 2>/dev/null | sort -hr | head -15. Then run it again on the largest folder to dig deeper.

Search with Spotlight

Run mdfind "kMDItemFSSize > 1000000000" to list every indexed file over 1 GB almost instantly.

If you see “Operation not permitted”, open System Settings, then Privacy & Security, then Full Disk Access, and turn it on for Terminal.

Visualize disk usage

6. Use a disk map

A disk map draws every file as a block sized by the space it takes, so the biggest ones stand out at once. Free options include GrandPerspective, which draws your disk as a grid of coloured blocks, and OmniDiskSweeper, which lists folders from largest to smallest. Both only show your files, so you still delete them yourself in Finder.

Narrow your search

Find old files you haven’t opened in a year

In a Finder search, click + to add a second rule. Choose Last opened date, set it to is before and pick a date one year ago. Combined with a size rule, it shows big files you have forgotten about.

You can also sort any folder by age. In list view, choose View, then Show View Options, tick Date Last Opened and click that column.

Find large videos and photos

Set the Kind rule to Movie or Image and add a size rule. Screen recordings and 4K exports are usually the biggest culprits.

Videos inside your Photos library won’t appear in Finder. Open Photos and choose Videos under Media Types in the sidebar to review them there.

Include hidden and system files

Finder searches skip hidden files by default. Add a rule, choose Other, then System files, and set it to are included. To see hidden files in any Finder window, press Shift-Command-Period. Press it again to hide them.

Where large files usually hide

How to delete large files safely

• Back up first. Run a Time Machine backup before a big cleanup.
• Use the Trash, not Terminal. Drag files to the Trash so you can restore a mistake. Commands such as rm delete files for good.
• Leave the Photos Library alone. Finder shows it as one huge file. Delete photos inside the Photos app instead, or you lose your whole library.
• Empty the Trash. Deleted files keep using space until you do.

Finding big files is only one way to make room. Our guide on how to free up space on a Mac covers caches, app leftovers and backups too.

See every large file in one scan with MyMacStorage

MyMacStorage skips the searching. One scan covers every folder on your Mac, hidden ones included, and lists your biggest files and folders first. Old video exports, virtual machines and backup archives rise straight to the top.

Nothing is deleted outright. Every cleanup goes to the Trash, and Undo puts it back. Learn more about MyMacStorage, the disk cleanup app for Mac. It costs $19.99 once, with no subscription.

Frequently asked questions