Storage on a Mac is a finite resource, and most people discover this at the worst possible moment — trying to download a software update, export a video, or open a large file, and being told there is not enough space.
Lagos is a town that encourages photography. The light is extraordinary. The old town is photogenic at almost any hour. The Atlantic at sunset produces images that do not need filtering. The result, over months and years, is a Mac that contains considerably more photographs than it did when you arrived — and considerably less free space.
Here is how to reclaim it, systematically and without deleting anything you will later regret.
First: Find Out Where It Is Going
Apple Menu → About This Mac → Storage. This gives you a visual breakdown of what is using space: photos, applications, documents, system data, and a category called "Other" that is doing more work than it should.
Click Manage for Apple's built-in recommendations. These include:
- Store in iCloud — moves files to iCloud and keeps local copies only when accessed
- Optimize Storage — removes downloaded films and TV shows once watched
- Empty Bin Automatically — removes items from the Trash after 30 days
- Reduce Clutter — helps identify large and old files
The Biggest Offenders
The Downloads folder. Open Finder → Downloads and sort by size. You will almost certainly find things in there that you downloaded once, never used, and have carried across multiple Mac migrations. The installer for an application you decided not to install in 2021. A PDF you downloaded and then also printed. The entire offline Wikipedia in a format you cannot now open. Delete them.
Duplicate photos. If you have imported photos from an iPhone or camera over the years, you almost certainly have duplicates. The Photos app has a built-in Duplicates album — open Photos, look in the sidebar under Utilities. Review and merge duplicates there. This can free up significant space with almost no risk.
Applications you do not use. Open Finder → Applications. Look at what is there. If you have not opened an application in more than a year, consider whether you need it. The application itself may be relatively small — but many applications write support files, caches, and logs that accumulate over time. Apps like AppCleaner (free) remove applications and all their associated files cleanly.
The System Data category. This is the one that confuses everyone. It contains caches, logs, language files, and various other things the system has accumulated. Some of it can be cleared safely; some of it is actively used. Do not delete things in here manually — it is possible to make your Mac behave oddly if you remove the wrong files. This is the category where professional intervention is most valuable.
The Lagos-Specific Problem
Many expats in Lagos use their Macs as the primary storage for years of photography. The Atlantic light, as noted, produces extraordinary images. Thousands of them. In RAW format if you shoot seriously. Each RAW file from a modern camera can be 25-50MB. A year of serious photography can mean 50-100GB of images.
The solution is not to delete the photos. The solution is to move them to external storage — an external SSD is compact, fast, and now very affordable — and keep only the current year's work on the Mac itself. Paired with Time Machine backup, this means your entire photo archive is safe and accessible without occupying your Mac's internal drive.
What Not to Delete
The system folder. Anything in /Library that you do not recognise. Application support files without knowing what they support. Caches that contain the word "system." When in doubt, do not — the downside of deleting the wrong thing is considerably worse than the upside of recovering a few gigabytes.
Mac full and not sure what to remove?
Storage management is one of the most common things I help with in Lagos. I can identify exactly what is using space, safely remove what you do not need, and set up a sensible ongoing storage strategy so this does not happen again. Same day, in your language.
Book a session →Lagos rewards the uncluttered approach — to life, to the terrace, to the view, and to the Mac. Space, once reclaimed, is a pleasure.