How to find large files on a Mac

Updated October 23, 2026

A handful of big files often take more space than thousands of small ones. Here's how to find them.

Storage settings

Open System Settings › General › Storage and click the ⓘ next to Documents. The Large Files tab lists your biggest files, and you can delete them from there.

Finder search by size

In Finder, press ⌘F and choose This Mac.
Click the first menu (it says “Kind”) and choose Other…, then turn on File Size.
Set it to is greater than 1 GB (or 500 MB).

Terminal

find ~ -type f -size +1G 2>/dev/null
du -sh ~/* 2>/dev/null | sort -h

The first lists files over 1 GB in your home folder; the second shows the size of each folder in it, biggest last.

What's usually big

Videos and screen recordings, often in Movies, Desktop or Downloads.
Disk images and installers (.dmg, .iso, .pkg).
Virtual machines and Docker disk images.
Photo and music libraries. Don't delete files inside these by hand; use the Photos or Music app.
iPhone backups and developer data, which live in your Library folder and count as System Data.

With Disklumo

Disklumo's Analyze maps your whole disk so the biggest folders stand out at a glance, with results appearing while the scan is still running. It lists the largest files, and you can open or reveal them in Finder, copy the path, or move them to the Trash. Protected folders are left alone.

Questions

How do I see the largest files on my Mac?

Open System Settings › General › Storage, click the info button next to Documents and choose Large Files. For a whole-disk view, use a Finder search with File Size greater than 1 GB, or a disk map like Disklumo's Analyze.

Is it safe to delete large files on a Mac?

Your own videos, installers and archives are safe to delete once you no longer need them. Don't delete files inside Photos or Music libraries by hand, or anything in the System folder.

Do it in one window

Disklumo scans your Mac, shows every item with its size and path, and moves what you choose to the Trash. Clean, uninstall apps, map your disk, watch live status and run maintenance. $17 once, for Apple Silicon Macs on macOS 14 or later.

See Disklumo