Macbook Air Storage

Optimised Storage helps you save storage space by storing your content in iCloud and making it available on demand:

1. Macbook Air Storage Full How To Delete
2. Macbook Air Storage 2017

• When storage space is needed, files, photos, films, email attachments and other files that you rarely use are stored in iCloud automatically.
• Each file stays exactly where you last saved it, and will download when you open it.
• Files that you've used recently remain on your Mac, along with optimised versions of your photos.

If you haven't yet upgraded to macOS Sierra or later, find out about other ways to free up storage space.

Nov 18, 2020 How to Delete Other on Mac Storage; How to Check Storage on Mac. Click on the Apple logo from the top-left and choose About This Mac. Click on Storage. Wait for a few seconds. Take the mouse pointer to colored sections. You will see how much space is occupied by different categories like Apps, Photos, System, Trash, Other, etc. What is Other on.

Apr 03, 2020 Thankfully, Apple seems to have seen the light and given the MacBook Air base model a starting storage amount of 256GB. Whether you decide to upgrade the storage to a larger amount depends a lot on. Testing conducted by Apple in October 2020 using preproduction MacBook Air systems with Apple M1 chip and 8-core GPU, as well as production 1.2GHz quad-core Intel Core i7-based MacBook Air systems with Intel Iris Plus Graphics, all configured with 16GB RAM and 2TB SSD. Tested with prerelease Shapr3D 3.45.0 using a 288.2MB model. MacBook Air (Retina, 13-inch, 2018 - 2019) MacBook Air (13-inch, Early 2015 - 2017) MacBook Air (11-inch, Early 2015). Promise Pegasus J2i 8TB Internal Storage Enclosure for Mac Pro - Previous Gallery Image; Promise Pegasus J2i 8TB Internal Storage Enclosure for Mac Pro - Next Gallery Image.

Find out how much storage is available on your Mac

Choose Apple menu  > About This Mac and then click Storage. Each segment of the bar is an estimate of the storage space used by a category of files. Move your pointer over each segment for more detail.

Click the Manage button to open the Storage Management window, pictured below.

Manage storage on your Mac

The Storage Management window offers recommendations for optimising your storage. If some recommendations have already been turned on, you will see fewer recommendations.

Store in iCloud

Click the Store in iCloud button and then choose from these options:

• Desktop and Documents. Store all files from these two locations in iCloud Drive. When storage space is needed, only the files you recently opened are kept on your Mac, so that you can work offline easily. Files only stored in iCloud will display a download icon , which you can double-click to download the original file. Find out more about this feature.
  
• Photos. Store all original, full-resolution photos and videos in iCloud Photos. When storage space is needed, only space-saving (optimised) versions of photos are kept on your Mac. To download the original photo or video, just open it.
  
• Messages. Store all messages and attachments in iCloud. When storage space is needed, only the messages and attachments you recently opened are kept on your Mac. Find out more about Messages in iCloud.

Storing files in iCloud uses the storage space in your iCloud storage plan. If you reach or exceed your iCloud storage limit, you can either buy more iCloud storage or make more iCloud storage available. iCloud storage starts at 50 GB for $0.99 (USD) a month, and you can purchase additional storage directly from your Apple device. Find out more about the prices in your region.

Optimise Storage

Click the Optimise button to save space by automatically removing films and TV programmes you've watched. When storage space is needed, films or TV programmes that you've purchased from Apple and have already watched will be removed from your Mac. Click the download icon next to a film or TV programme to download it again.

Your Mac will also save space by only keeping recent email attachments on this Mac when storage space is needed. You can manually download any attachments at any time by opening the email or attachment, or saving the attachment to your Mac.

Optimising storage for films, TV programmes and email attachments doesn't require iCloud storage space.

Empty Bin Automatically

Empty Bin Automatically permanently deletes files that have been in the Bin for more than 30 days.

Reduce Clutter

Reduce Clutter helps you identify large files and files you may no longer need. Click the Review Files button and then choose any of the file categories in the sidebar, such as Applications, Documents, Music Creation or Bin.

You can delete the files in some categories directly from this window. Other categories show the total storage space used by the files in each app. You can then open the app and decide whether to delete files from within it.

Find out how to re-download apps, music, films, TV programmes and books.

Where to find the settings for each feature

The button for each recommendation in the Storage Management window affects one or more settings in other apps. You can also control these settings directly within each app.

• If you're using macOS Catalina or later, choose Apple menu  > System Preferences, click Apple ID, and then select iCloud in the sidebar: Store in iCloud turns on the Optimise Mac Storage setting on the right. To turn off iCloud Drive entirely, deselect iCloud Drive.
• If you're using macOS Mojave or earlier, choose Apple menu > System Preferences, click iCloud, then click Options next to iCloud Drive. Store in iCloud turns on the Desktop & Documents Folders and Optimise Mac Storage settings.
• In Photos, choose Photos > Preferences and then click iCloud. Store in iCloud selects iCloud Photos and Optimise Mac Storage.
• In Messages, choose Messages > Preferences, then click iMessage. Store in iCloud selects Enable Messages in iCloud.

• If you're using macOS Catalina or later, open the Apple TV app, choose TV > Preferences from the menu bar, then click Files. Optimise Storage selects 'Automatically delete watched films and TV programmes'.
• In you're using macOS Mojave or earlier, open iTunes, choose iTunes > Preferences from the menu bar, then click Advanced. Optimise Storage selects 'Automatically delete watched films and TV programmes'.
• In Mail, choose Mail > Preferences from the menu bar and then click Accounts. In the Account Information section on the right, Optimise Storage sets the Download Attachments menu to either Recent or None.

Empty Bin Automatically: From the Finder, choose Finder > Preferences, then click Advanced. Empty Bin Automatically selects 'Remove items from the Bin after 30 days'.

Other ways that macOS automatically helps to save space

With macOS Sierra or later, your Mac will take these additional steps automatically to save storage space:

• Detects duplicate downloads in Safari, keeping only the most recent version of the download
• Reminds you to delete used app installers
• Removes old fonts, languages and dictionaries that aren't being used
• Clears caches, logs and other unnecessary data when storage space is needed

How to free up storage space manually

Even without using the Optimised Storage features described in this article, you can take other steps to make more storage space available:

• Music, films and other media can use a lot of storage space. Find out how to delete music, films and TV programmes from your device.
• Delete other files that you no longer need by moving them to the Bin, then emptying the Bin. The Downloads folder is good place to look for files that you may no longer need.
• Move files to an external storage device.
• Compress files.
• Delete unneeded email: In the Mail app, choose Mailbox > Erase Junk Mail. If you no longer need the email in your Deleted Items mailbox, choose Mailbox > Erase Deleted Items.

• When storage space is needed, files, photos, films, email attachments and other files that you rarely use are stored in iCloud automatically.
• Each file stays exactly where you last saved it, and will download when you open it.
• Files that you've used recently remain on your Mac, along with optimised versions of your photos.

If you haven't yet upgraded to macOS Sierra or later, find out about other ways to free up storage space.

Nov 18, 2020 How to Delete Other on Mac Storage; How to Check Storage on Mac. Click on the Apple logo from the top-left and choose About This Mac. Click on Storage. Wait for a few seconds. Take the mouse pointer to colored sections. You will see how much space is occupied by different categories like Apps, Photos, System, Trash, Other, etc. What is Other on.

Apr 03, 2020 Thankfully, Apple seems to have seen the light and given the MacBook Air base model a starting storage amount of 256GB. Whether you decide to upgrade the storage to a larger amount depends a lot on. Testing conducted by Apple in October 2020 using preproduction MacBook Air systems with Apple M1 chip and 8-core GPU, as well as production 1.2GHz quad-core Intel Core i7-based MacBook Air systems with Intel Iris Plus Graphics, all configured with 16GB RAM and 2TB SSD. Tested with prerelease Shapr3D 3.45.0 using a 288.2MB model. MacBook Air (Retina, 13-inch, 2018 - 2019) MacBook Air (13-inch, Early 2015 - 2017) MacBook Air (11-inch, Early 2015). Promise Pegasus J2i 8TB Internal Storage Enclosure for Mac Pro - Previous Gallery Image; Promise Pegasus J2i 8TB Internal Storage Enclosure for Mac Pro - Next Gallery Image.

Find out how much storage is available on your Mac

Choose Apple menu  > About This Mac and then click Storage. Each segment of the bar is an estimate of the storage space used by a category of files. Move your pointer over each segment for more detail.

Click the Manage button to open the Storage Management window, pictured below.

Manage storage on your Mac

The Storage Management window offers recommendations for optimising your storage. If some recommendations have already been turned on, you will see fewer recommendations.

Store in iCloud

Click the Store in iCloud button and then choose from these options:

• Desktop and Documents. Store all files from these two locations in iCloud Drive. When storage space is needed, only the files you recently opened are kept on your Mac, so that you can work offline easily. Files only stored in iCloud will display a download icon , which you can double-click to download the original file. Find out more about this feature.
  
• Photos. Store all original, full-resolution photos and videos in iCloud Photos. When storage space is needed, only space-saving (optimised) versions of photos are kept on your Mac. To download the original photo or video, just open it.
  
• Messages. Store all messages and attachments in iCloud. When storage space is needed, only the messages and attachments you recently opened are kept on your Mac. Find out more about Messages in iCloud.

Storing files in iCloud uses the storage space in your iCloud storage plan. If you reach or exceed your iCloud storage limit, you can either buy more iCloud storage or make more iCloud storage available. iCloud storage starts at 50 GB for $0.99 (USD) a month, and you can purchase additional storage directly from your Apple device. Find out more about the prices in your region.

Optimise Storage

Click the Optimise button to save space by automatically removing films and TV programmes you've watched. When storage space is needed, films or TV programmes that you've purchased from Apple and have already watched will be removed from your Mac. Click the download icon next to a film or TV programme to download it again.

Your Mac will also save space by only keeping recent email attachments on this Mac when storage space is needed. You can manually download any attachments at any time by opening the email or attachment, or saving the attachment to your Mac.

Optimising storage for films, TV programmes and email attachments doesn't require iCloud storage space.

Empty Bin Automatically

Empty Bin Automatically permanently deletes files that have been in the Bin for more than 30 days.

Reduce Clutter

Reduce Clutter helps you identify large files and files you may no longer need. Click the Review Files button and then choose any of the file categories in the sidebar, such as Applications, Documents, Music Creation or Bin.

You can delete the files in some categories directly from this window. Other categories show the total storage space used by the files in each app. You can then open the app and decide whether to delete files from within it.

Find out how to re-download apps, music, films, TV programmes and books.

Where to find the settings for each feature

The button for each recommendation in the Storage Management window affects one or more settings in other apps. You can also control these settings directly within each app.

• If you're using macOS Catalina or later, choose Apple menu  > System Preferences, click Apple ID, and then select iCloud in the sidebar: Store in iCloud turns on the Optimise Mac Storage setting on the right. To turn off iCloud Drive entirely, deselect iCloud Drive.
• If you're using macOS Mojave or earlier, choose Apple menu > System Preferences, click iCloud, then click Options next to iCloud Drive. Store in iCloud turns on the Desktop & Documents Folders and Optimise Mac Storage settings.
• In Photos, choose Photos > Preferences and then click iCloud. Store in iCloud selects iCloud Photos and Optimise Mac Storage.
• In Messages, choose Messages > Preferences, then click iMessage. Store in iCloud selects Enable Messages in iCloud.

• If you're using macOS Catalina or later, open the Apple TV app, choose TV > Preferences from the menu bar, then click Files. Optimise Storage selects 'Automatically delete watched films and TV programmes'.
• In you're using macOS Mojave or earlier, open iTunes, choose iTunes > Preferences from the menu bar, then click Advanced. Optimise Storage selects 'Automatically delete watched films and TV programmes'.
• In Mail, choose Mail > Preferences from the menu bar and then click Accounts. In the Account Information section on the right, Optimise Storage sets the Download Attachments menu to either Recent or None.

Empty Bin Automatically: From the Finder, choose Finder > Preferences, then click Advanced. Empty Bin Automatically selects 'Remove items from the Bin after 30 days'.

Other ways that macOS automatically helps to save space

With macOS Sierra or later, your Mac will take these additional steps automatically to save storage space:

• Detects duplicate downloads in Safari, keeping only the most recent version of the download
• Reminds you to delete used app installers
• Removes old fonts, languages and dictionaries that aren't being used
• Clears caches, logs and other unnecessary data when storage space is needed

How to free up storage space manually

Even without using the Optimised Storage features described in this article, you can take other steps to make more storage space available:

• Music, films and other media can use a lot of storage space. Find out how to delete music, films and TV programmes from your device.
• Delete other files that you no longer need by moving them to the Bin, then emptying the Bin. The Downloads folder is good place to look for files that you may no longer need.
• Move files to an external storage device.
• Compress files.
• Delete unneeded email: In the Mail app, choose Mailbox > Erase Junk Mail. If you no longer need the email in your Deleted Items mailbox, choose Mailbox > Erase Deleted Items.

Learn more

• The Storage pane of About This Mac is the best way to determine the amount of storage space available on your Mac. Disk Utility and other apps may show storage categories, such as Not Mounted, VM, Recovery, Other Volumes, Free or Purgeable. Don't rely on these categories to understand how to free up storage space or how much storage space is available for your data.
• When you duplicate a file on an APFS-formatted volume, that file doesn't use additional storage space on the volume. Deleting a duplicate file only frees up the space required by any data that you might have added to the duplicate. If you no longer need any copies of the file, you can recover all of the storage space by deleting both the duplicate and the original file.
• If you're using a pro app and Optimise Mac Storage, find out how to make sure your projects are always on your Mac and able to access their files.

MacBook Air Q&A

Update Published August 11, 2019

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Which SD Card Slot storage solution is best for the MacBook Air? Which models are compatible? Is this kind of storage safe?

If you ever found yourself transferring photos from an SD card to your MacBook Air and wondered if you could just store files from your computer on an SD card for a bit of extra space, you're not alone.

Most users should consider upgrading the internal SSD in their Late 2010, Mid-2011, Mid-2012, Mid-2013, Early 2014, Early 2015, or Mid-2017 MacBook Air for more storage.

However, as the capacity of microSD cards has increased, companies have released storage solutions specifically designed to slide into the SD Card Slot on all 13' MacBook Air models with SD Card slots. These solutions are not as protected as an internal SSD and should not be thought of as permanent storage, but they are quite convenient and still can be useful.

Identification Help (Skip)

As SD Card Slot storage solutions are compatible with each 13' MacBook Air model with an SD Card slot (and 11' MacBook Air and later 13' MacBook Air models do not have an SD Card slot at all), identification assistance practically is unnecessary for this particular upgrade.

However, just for confirmation, compatible MacBook Air models have Model NumbersA1369 or A1466.

These models also can be readily identified in software by Model Identifier:

Subsequent 13' MacBook Air models do not have an SD Card slot and cannot use this upgrade method accordingly.

EveryMac.com's Ultimate Mac Lookup feature -- as well as the EveryMac app -- also can uniquely identify these models by their Serial Number, which is listed on the underside near the model number and within the operating system alongside the model identifier. More details about specific identifiers are provided in EveryMac.com's extensive Mac Identification section.

Best MacBook Air SD Card Storage Solutions

Some SD Card storage options on the market are low quality knockoffs or from inexperienced startup companies with products burdened by questionable software, but two products worth considering are the Transcend JetDrive Lite 130 and the Nifty MiniDrive Air.

As SD Card storage products for different Apple notebooks are different physical sizes be sure that these particular ones are the one you buy for a MacBook Air.

Photo Credit: Transcend Information Inc. (Left), Nifty Drives (Right)

Macbook Air Storage Full How To Delete

Although the two products look similar, they actually are quite different.

Established in 1988, Transcend is a well respected manufacturer of RAM and trusted for quality products. The JetDrive Lite 130 is created as single piece and designed to fit snuggly into the MacBook Air with the end sticking out just enough to be able to remove it conveniently. It is sold with either 64 GB, 128 GB, or 256 GB of integrated flash storage.

The Nifty MiniDrive Air, on the other hand, is a simple aluminum and plastic adapter designed to hold an existing microSD from another company of your choosing. It fits flush with the MacBook Air and ships with a small 'hook' tool to remove it. It is no longer available for sale new, but it remains available on the used market.

This brief commercial from Transcend shows their product in action:

Effectively, these products function like a compact high capacity USB stick or a tiny version of an 'old school' floppy disk. Stick it in the SD Card slot and it pops up on the desktop like any other removable storage. Easy.

Using SD Card Storage Solutions Safely

Although all media can fail, whether it is a hard drive, an SSD, or a SD Card -- and it is important to backup your data regularly -- using a quality SD Card solution from Transcend should be safe. The Transcend JetDrive Lite 130 is rated to last for 10,000 insertion/removal cycles. Likewise, the Nifty MiniDrive MK5 Air with an installed high quality microSD card from a trusted manufacturer should be safe, as well.

There is at least one product from an unproven startup that uses flash memory of unknown quality as well as proprietary software of unknown quality to 'pair' the storage from your internal SSD and the SD card together on a 'permanent' basis and any solution of this type should be avoided to reduce the risk of data loss. This 'pairing' method has been shown to cause data loss and compatibility problems with macOS updates, as well. At least one unproven product of this type costs twice as much as the proven Transcend solution, as well.

Macbook Air Storage 2017

Ultimately, keep in mind that (1) an SD Card is a removable card and should be thought of as removable storage rather than permanent storage, (2) only use an SD Card from a quality, known manufacturer, and (3) backup your data regularly regardless of the type of media you use. If you follow these three steps, your data should be as safe as it can be. Free movie software for mac.

MacBook Air SD Card Storage Purchase Options

In the US, Amazon sells the Transcend JetDrive Lite 130.

In the UK and Ireland, site sponsor Flexx sells the full range of Transcend JetDrive Lite models for the MacBook Air series with free shipping. The company provides flat rate shipping to France, Germany, and Switzerland and inexpensive shipping for all of Europe, too.

Also see:

• How do you replace or upgrade the SSD storage in the 'Late 2010' and 'Mid-2011' MacBook Air models? Is it even possible?
• How do you replace or upgrade the SSD storage in the 'Mid-2012' MacBook Air models? Is it even possible?
• How do you replace or upgrade the SSD storage in the 'Mid-2013' and subsequent MacBook Air models? Is it even possible?

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