How Do I Delete Downloads On My Mac

Stop syncing all photos. Open iTunes on your computer and connect your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch. Click on the device icon in iTunes. Deselect 'Sync Photos' then click 'Remove photos.' Learn how to delete photos and videos synced from iTunes when you can't access the originals. The first thing to do is remove yourself from Apple's macOS beta program as this will stop the beta updates from arriving on your Mac. Here's what you should do: Open System Preferences on your Mac.

  1. How Do I Delete Downloads On My Macbook Air
  2. How Do I Delete Downloads On My Mac Computer
  3. Remove Files From Mac
  4. How To Uninstall Recent Downloads

MacBooks, despite their higher proficiency than any other laptop in their category, is not famous for the low storage capacity of the Mac drive. And you cannot do without the necessary apps and files/documents. All these downloaded files or applications are directly headed to the Downloads folder of your Mac. However, one can specifically choose a different destination as well. But, to clear space on your Mac drive, one must know how to delete downloads on Mac.

Not to mention a stacked up Mac drive can also impact your Mac’s performance and therefore, learning how to clear downloads on Mac becomes more significant. A full Mac drive may lead to slower response time, slower boot time, and maybe unwanted app crashes due to high load on RAM. So, if you have trouble understanding how to delete downloads on your MacBook, keep on reading and find ways to clear up space on your Mac computer.

How to Delete Downloads on Mac from Downloads Folder?

There is always a direct, manual process of clearing downloads on Mac. This is the folder where all the downloaded files go when downloaded on the Mac. Whether it is a mail attachment, an application, or any other file, it is all stored in the download folder. So, accessing this folder will help you clear downloads in MacBook Air or your other Mac machines.

Here’s how to delete downloads on Mac from the Downloads folder:

Step 1: Open “Finder” from your MacBook’s dock.

Step 2: There, you’ll see a separate menu on the left-hand side. There, find and click on the Downloads button. It is signified by a dark grey icon with an arrow facing downward.

Step 3: To delete a single file, or delete files individually, click on it and press delete. You and also right-click on the file and from the popped up menu, click on Move to Trash.

Step 4: To delete all the files, you can click on the first file, then hold shift and press and hold the downward arrow button simultaneously.

You can also press Command+A to select all. Finally, right-click and select Move to Trash.

Step 5: Once the files are deleted, they are not yet deleted, but are just transferred to the trash. So, head to the Trash button, right-click on it and then click on Empty Trash from the new popped-up menu. The new trash button will look like a white trash can.

Step 6: Check on the Downloads folder and ensure the files are deleted. It must be empty.

How to Delete Downloads on Mac via Google Chrome Browser?

People also use browsers to download files, media, mail attachments, etc. These files are directly stored in the download history of the browser and can be accessed directly from the browser as well. Here’s how you can access and delete downloads from Chrome.

Step 1: Open Chrome browser.

Step 2: Press CTRL+J. This will open up a new tab listing all the downloads that are stored in the system through the Chrome browser.

Step 3: To delete the downloads individually, press the X [Cross] button at the side of the individual files.

Step 4: To delete all the files, click on the More Action (three-dot icon) in the upper-right corner.

Step 5: From the drop-down menu, select the Clear All button and confirm the final command to delete the downloads via the Chrome browser.

How to Delete Downloads on Mac from Microsoft Edge Browser?

The process of deleting the downloads from Microsoft Edge browser is the same as that of the Chrome browser; however, let alone one single step. You must delete downloads from these browsers to clear downloads on Mac and clear up some space on the drive.

Here’s how you can delete downloads on Mac from Microsoft Edge browser:

Step 1: Open Microsoft Edge.

How Do I Delete Downloads On My Macbook Air

Step 2: Press CTRL+J. This will open up a new tab listing all the downloads that are stored in the system through the Microsoft Edge browser.

Step 3: To delete files press on the Hub button signified by three-vertical lines.

Step 4: Click on Clear All to delete download history.

How to Delete Downloads on Mac from Safari Browser?

Step 1: Open Safari browser.

Step 2: Click on View. From the drop-down menu, click on the Show Downloads button.

Step 3: To remove download, right-click on it, and then select Remove.

Step 4: To remove all the downloads altogether, you’ll notice a Clear button on the top-right corner of the downloads menu.

Step 5: Click on the Clear button and remove all the downloads from the Safari browser.

Pro Tip

How do i delete downloads on my apple computer

Delete All The System Junk From Your Mac In One Click

Download CleanMyMac X on your Mac, let it run the scan and find out all the junk. As and when detected, you can simply click ‘Clean’ for complete removal of annoying junk and downloads that are lying around the system for no reason.

Must Read:

Deleting downloads on Mac can be a pain because It involves two separate things: cleaning up your Downloads folder and then removing the downloads history from your browser. So, in short, you'll need to: find your Downloads folder, remove your downloads, clear your downloads history in your browser, and (finally) empty your Trash.

How to delete downloads on Mac via Finder

Finder is the first place you should look for downloads in on your Mac. If you have a mountain of download files stored, it’d be smart to sort your items and see which of them are the heaviest.

  1. Open Finder.
  2. Press Cmd+Shift+G.
  3. Type in: ~/
  4. Open Downloads folder.
  5. Righ-click anywhere in the window and select Use Groups.
  6. Finder will then gather your downloads in groups such as Applications, PDF documents, Images, and others, so you can quickly look through them and delete files you don’t need.

Then you can sort downloads by size: right-click in Finder, click Group By pop-up menu and choose Size.

If you want to remove multiple downloads from your Mac at once, you can do that with CleanMyMac X. This app has a Large and Old Files feature that detects all massive files and lets you delete them all. I will explain how to quickly get to downloads on your Mac using CleanMyMac X later in the article. You'd be surprised at how many GB of space you can reclaim!

How Do I Delete Downloads On My Mac

How to delete downloads from software (e.g. Skype) which are hard to find

It can be a challenge to find the files you downloaded from different apps, such as Skype, on your Mac. By default, all the items you want to save go into the Downloads folder. But, if you have changed these settings, your files would be stored elsewhere. So, how to find those downloads on your Mac.

If you search for Skype downloads, here’s how to locate them:

  1. Open Skype.
  2. Go to the Skype menu and choose Preferences.
  3. Select Messaging from the list on the left.

In the end, there’s “When I receive a file” setting. It’s set to Downloads, which means all files you download from Skype automatically go into this folder. Open it to locate the files Skype saved and delete them. You can change directory to save your Skype files elsewhere.

The pretty similar route applies to all other apps you save files from. For example, to find out the Slack downloads location, I opened the app and then navigated to its Preferences.

How Do I Delete Downloads On My Mac Computer

To make it easier to find files you saved, choose one download location for all your apps. You will eliminate clutter in lots of folders and will be able to delete many files at once.

Once you’re done deleting your downloads, it’s time to clear the downloads history from the browser you use. Select the section below based on the browser you use.

The easy way to delete large and old files on Mac

However, if you’re looking for a solution that makes clearing out your large downloads (including your Skype downloads history) simple, check out a cleaning utility like CleanMyMac X.

Large and Old Files feature scans your storage for heavy files piling up on your Mac for a long time. It shows how much space each file takes and helps to quickly get rid of all old documents, .dmg files, and archives that clutter your storage.

Large and Old Files helps you clean up your Downloads folder with just a few clicks. Here's how to clear old downloads on your Mac:

  1. Download the free version of CleanMyMac X.
  2. Install and launch the app.
  3. Click Large & Old Files.
  4. Scan your Mac and then select whatever you wish to remove.
  5. Click Remove.

And you’re done. As you can see, it’s incredibly easy to remove your downloads on Mac with CleanMyMac X.

But, if you’d still like to clean up your downloads and download history manually, just follow the steps below.

How to delete old .DMG files on Mac

On macOS, the majority of apps you download come in .dmg format. '.dmg' is a disk image that contains a compressed download file. These files work like hard drives: they can be mounted and ejected.

When you open the .dmg file, you’ll see the application you’re about to install. After installing the application (dragging it to the Applications folder), the .dmg file will stay on your Mac until you delete it. Imagine how many .dmg files you may have unintentionally stored on your Mac. Now, let’s see how to delete them.

Remove Files From Mac

First, you need to eject those .dmg files that are still open.

  1. Open Finder.
  2. Under the Locations you will see the list of all .dmg files.
  3. Press the Eject icon to eject a disk image.

To delete .dmg files:

  1. Open Finder.
  2. Type “.dmg” in the search field and press Return.
  3. Move the unneeded files to the Trash.

Voila! Now, your Mac is much cleaner.

How to clear downloads history in Chrome

To clear downloads history in Google Chrome browser manually:

How Do I Delete Downloads On My Mac
  1. Launch the Chrome browser.
  2. Type chrome://history/ in the search field and press Enter.
  3. Select Clear browsing data.
  4. Select the time range and check the 'Download history' box.
  5. Click Clear data.

How to clean downloads history in Safari

To clean downloads history in Safari browser:

  1. Launch the Safari browser.
  2. Click View in the menu bar and select Show Downloads.
  3. Safari will show you all the files you downloaded. Press Clear to remove downloads history.

You can alternatively press the arrow down button (↓) to see and clear downloads.

Clearing your Mac of downloads once in a while helps to save some space. If you are up to a full spring cleaning of your MacBook, CleanMyMac X has another useful feature — Space Lens. It analyses your storage and shows precisely how much space each folder takes. If your Mac is short on space, Space Lens can help you to locate the heaviest folder and remove it. Download the app for free, to try it yourself!

How to remove downloads history in Firefox

Computer

To remove downloads history in Firefox directly:

  1. Launch the Firefox browser.
  2. Click History, in the menu bar.
  3. Select Clear Recent History.
  4. Select the time range.
  5. Check the “Browsing & Download History” box.
  6. Click Clear Now.

How To Uninstall Recent Downloads

Now, your Mac is probably clean of old downloads that used to take space. Keeping your digital space tidy and organized will help you locate files faster and avoid clutter in your folders.