Optimized Storage helps you save storage space space by storing your content in iCloud and making it available on demand:
Even though Mac computers are capable of reading hard drives that are formatted for Windows, if you intend on using your external HDD as a bootable disk or want to use it to backup files with your Mac’s Time Machine, you must format it to be entirely Mac compatible. Koofr is a cloud storage solution that connects Dropbox, Amazon, Google Drive, OneDrive accounts and utilizes the additional free space on a hard drive. The tool is available for Android, iOS, Windows, Linux, Windows, and macOS. Features: Automatic backup from phones. Synchronization data with computers. By default, the 4TB hard drive uses the NTFS format for Windows PCs, but there's a Help file included on the drive that provides information for Mac users so that you can reformat the drive. Best cloud storage overall: Google One/Drive Google re-branded its cloud storage offering as Google One in an effort to clarify that the space is shared between Photos, Docs, Gmail, and any other.
- When storage space is needed, files, photos, movies, email attachments, and other files that you seldom use are stored in iCloud automatically.
- Each file stays right where you last saved it, and downloads when you open it.
- Files that you’ve used recently remain on your Mac, along with optimized versions of your photos.
If you haven't yet upgraded to macOS Sierra or later, learn about other ways to free up storage space.
Find out how much storage is available on your Mac
Choose Apple menu > About This Mac, 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.
Mac os x 10 4 tiger requirements. Click the Manage button to open the Storage Management window, pictured below.
Manage storage on your Mac
The Storage Management window offers recommendations for optimizing your storage. If some recommendations are already turned on, you will see fewer recommendations.
Store in iCloud
Click the Store in iCloud button, 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 easily work offline. Files stored only in iCloud show a download icon , which you can double-click to download the original file. Learn more about this feature.
- Photos. Store all original, full-resolution photos and videos in iCloud Photos. When storage space is needed, only space-saving (optimized) 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. Learn 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 50GB for $0.99 (USD) a month, and you can purchase additional storage directly from your Apple device. Learn more about prices in your region.
Optimize Storage
Click the Optimize button to save space by automatically removing watched movies and TV shows. When storage space is needed, movies or TV shows that you purchased from Apple and already watched are removed from your Mac. Click the download icon next to a movie or TV show to download it again.
Your Mac will also save space by keeping only 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.
Optimizing storage for movies, TV shows, and email attachments doesn't require iCloud storage space.
Empty Trash Automatically
Empty Trash Automatically permanently deletes files that have been in the Trash for more than 30 days.
Reduce Clutter
Reduce Clutter helps you identify large files and files you might no longer need. Click the Review Files button, then choose any of the file categories in the sidebar, such as Applications, Documents, Music Creation, or Trash.
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.
Learn how to redownload apps, music, movies, TV shows, 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 those settings directly within each app.
- If you're using macOS Catalina or later, choose Apple menu > System Preferences, click Apple ID, then select iCloud in the sidebar: Store in iCloud turns on the Optimize 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 Optimize Mac Storage settings.
- In Photos, choose Photos > Preferences, then click iCloud. Store in iCloud selects iCloud Photos and Optimize 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. Optimize Storage selects “Automatically delete watched movies and TV shows.”
- In you're using macOS Mojave or earlier, open iTunes, choose iTunes > Preferences from the menu bar, then click Advanced. Optimize Storage selects “Automatically delete watched movies and TV shows.”
- In Mail, choose Mail > Preferences from the menu bar, then click Accounts. In the Account Information section on the right, Optimize Storage sets the Download Attachments menu to either Recent or None.
Empty Trash Automatically: From the Finder, choose Finder > Preferences, then click Advanced. Empty Trash Automatically selects “Remove items from the Trash after 30 days.”
Other ways that macOS helps automatically save space
With macOS Sierra or later, your Mac automatically takes these additional steps 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 Optimized Storage features described in this article, you can take other steps to make more storage space available:
- Music, movies, and other media can use a lot of storage space. Learn how to delete music, movies, and TV shows from your device.
- Delete other files that you no longer need by moving them to the Trash, then emptying the Trash. The Downloads folder is good place to look for files that you might 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 Trash 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 might 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 frees up only the space required by any data 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 Optimize Mac Storage, learn how to make sure that your projects are always on your Mac and able to access their files.
For MAC Owners Who Love Doing More…
If it isn’t the biggest and best wireless hard drive for MAC, then I don’t want it for my precious videos, photos, and backups…
But hey, it’s because I take my work personal.
It’s also because I never stop…
Wireless Storage Lets You Work from Bed
Even before I get out of bed I’m already hitting the keys with new ideas…
You might say I’m obsessed with my work.
And you’d be right because I love to create!
But to fuel my creativity I need space, disk space that is…
WiFi Storage Makes Sense
Lots of disk space which is why having a portable WiFi hard drive makes total sense for me.
Look, for a while I tried to store my files on cheap USB thumb drives.
Hey, they’re big enough and they come 3 in a pack, right?
Best External Hard Drive 2020 For Mac
Then I lost the thumb drive that had an important project saved on it.
I’d spent days working on this project and it really pissed me off so I don’t save my important files on thumb drives anymore…
Alternative for USB Thumb Drive
But now I needed a solid alternative for storing my projects, something that was as easy to use as a thumb drive.
How to get photoshop for free mac 2014. So after some research, and reading lots of product reviews, I figured out that buying a wireless hard drive was the answer to my storage problem.
Allison’s WD Wireless SSD video convinced me…
Here’s a link to see the WD 500GB My Passport Wireless SSD External Portable Drive.
BUT THAT’S NOT ALL – a wireless hard drive has more benefits…
- Simple – I can download 100s of photos from my MAC, iPhone, and DLSR every day for editing and storing.
- Fast – I can directly access and edit video files that would normally take up a huge amount of storage on my MAC. Now I only keep a few working files on my laptop hard drive and copy everything else to external storage.
- Versatile – It allows all my devices to connect using wireless so I can move around while I work (or work from bed).
- Big – I’ve learned the hard way to keep backups of my work. And now I even back up my backups for extra protection.
Look, I could keep on going but you can imagine by now, especially if you also love to create that having gigabytes of easy to access extra storage space is crucial for your job…
Best Wireless Hard Drive for MAC (pick from 10 Best Sellers)
#1 Best SellerWD 4TB My Passport Wireless Pro Portable External Hard Drive, Wifi USB 3.0 - WDBSMT0040BBK-NESN- SD 3.0 card reader for fast media offloads
- Wireless 802.11ac to stream 4K videos and view photos with the My Cloud mobile app on iOS and Android* |*4K streaming requires native player on mobile device with codec support for 4K video files and is subject to mobile device capabilities, hardware and software components and configurations.
- All-day battery (up to 10 hours)* |*Based on streaming HD 720p, 3 Mbps video to one device over Wi-Fi 2.4 GHz single band only. Actual battery life depends on file size, type, format, bitrate, devices connected, Wi-Fi connectivity, settings and other factors.
- Built-in power bank to charge your phone, action camera and more (with output up to 1.5A). Compatibility - Compatible with Windows10, Windows 8.1 or Windows 7, Mac OS X El Capitan, Yosemite, Mavericks or Mountain Lion operating systems. Requires DLNA/UPnPor Plex-enabled devices for streaming
- 2-year manufacturer's limited warranty
![For For](https://www.macworld.co.uk/cmsdata/slideshow/3674321/best_mac_nas_drives_wd_1600.jpg)
- USB 3.0 and USB 2.0 Compatibility
- Fast data transfers
- Improve PC Performance
- High Capacity; Compatibility Formatted NTFS for Windows 10, Windows 8.1, Windows 7; Reformatting may be required for other operating systems; Compatibility may vary depending on user’s hardware configuration and operating system
- 2 year manufacturer's limited warranty
- USB-C ready, USB 3.0 compatible
- Innovative style with refined metal cover
- Password protection with 256-bit AES hardware encryption
- Formatted for Mac
- 3-year manufacturer's limited warranty
- Designed for Mac and Time Machine ready
- USB-C and USB-A compatible
- Password protection + 256-bit AES hardware encryption
- WD Discovery software for WD Backup, password protection and drive management
- SuperSpeed USB port; USB 2.0 compatible
- ✔【 1TB HDD Hard Drive】- The iDiskk iPhone Hard Drive lets you easily transfer content between your iPhone, iPad, PC and Mac computer and instantly expands your storage by up to 1TB, freeing up your space to lets you enjoy vide/photo anytime anywhere.
- ✔【One Key Backup Photos or Videos 】-One key backup your iphone/ipad camera roll via app anytime the external hard drive is connected.Future backups only save newly added files,to avoid storage-consuming duplications.Also you can use in-app camera to take photos/videos,which will be automatically stored into the drive.
- ✔【MFi Certified & Widely Compatibility】- MFi Certified chip and connector guarantee stable and safe data transfer; USB+Type C+Micro USB (USB-C) ports guarantee it compatible with most devices (iPhone 5/6/7/8/X/XR/XS MAX,iPad series,Macbook and PC)
- ✔【Plug & Play】- iDiskk Portable Hard Drive offer simple plug and play operation,just plug it into your iphone/ipad and watch the movies directly from the hard drive during your trip or on travel.No software instalation required and intuitively drag and drop files to and from your PC or Macbook.
- ✔【What you get 】- You will get 1 x 1TB iPhone External Hard Drive, 1 x MFi Charging Cable,1 x Type-C Cable,1 x User Manual. 18 Months Worry-free Warranty & Replacement Warranty and Dedicated Email Customer Support
- Store and access content for years with up to 14TB in a USB drive
- A great external hard drive for Mac and Windows, this hub can charge mobile devices and transfer files from USB cameras and USB thumb drives via its two USB 3.0 ports
- Use seamlessly between windows and Mac by installing the provided NTFS driver for Mac
- Complimentary four-month membership to the Adobe Creative Cloud Photography Plan’s photo and video editing apps (Must be redeemed within 1 year of drive registration. Not available in all countries)
- Enjoy long-term peace of mind with the included two-year limited warranty External desktop hard drive offers two front-facing, high-speed USB 3.0 ports for connecting to and recharging other USB devices like phones, cameras, and tablets
- High speed and large capacity: 1TB storage capacity(HDD), Up to 300Mbps high speed wireless transmission, without geographical restrictions,remote access and manage the storage freely at any where by PC/Mobile phone, Point to Point(P2P) confidential transmission to ensure data security;
- Portable: Small size can be carried at any time, Built-in 3800Mah li-polymer battery, also can be used as power bank, charge your other usb devices;
- Smart Control: Smart App(IOS & Android supported), smart upload/download, one key backup, remote access, multi-people sharing at the same time;Support Samba and DLNA Protocol, all smart devices interconnection in the LAN, smart TVs, laptops and mobile phones can share SSKCloud data freely; Divide Hard drive to Private Area and Public Area, better to keep private information, more safety;One Click backup On Mobile Phone, Tablet ,PC and iPad
- Centralize all your data: Support IOS, Android, Windows, MAC, all have proprietary client software, Centralize all your photos, videos, music and files in one secure place and access easily. With USB Host port , support all kinds of USB storage devices, such as USB Disk, Card reader ect. and managed by SSKCloud App/Software.➤ SSKCloud App Download Website:http://eng.ssk.cn/
- Function expansion: Support USB 3.0 high speed transmission, Support wireless relay and bridging function
- Store and access 5TB of photos and files with Seagate Backup Plus Portable, an on-the-go USB drive for Mac and Windows
- The perfect compliment to personal aesthetic, this portable external hard drive features a minimalist brushed metal enclosure
- Great as a laptop hard drive or PC hard drive, simply plug in via USB 3.0 to back up with a single click or schedule automatic daily, weekly, or monthly backups. Reformatting may be required for use with Time Machine.
- Edit, manage, and share photos with a one-year complimentary subscription to Mylio Create and a two-month membership to Adobe Creative Cloud Photography Plan
- Enjoy long-term peace of mind with the included two-year limited warranty and two-yr Rescue Data Recovery Services
- Easily store and access 2TB to content on the go with the Seagate Portable Drive, a USB external hard drive
- Designed to work with Windows or Mac computers, this external hard drive makes backup a snap just drag and drop
- To get set up, connect the portable hard drive to a computer for automatic recognition no software required
- This USB drive provides plug and play simplicity with the included 18 inch USB 3.0 cable
- Enjoy long-term peace of mind with the included one-year limited warranty and one-year Rescue Data Recovery Services
- Sleek profile design with a matte, smudge resistance finish
- Plug & play; Easy to use with no software to install
- Quickly add more storage capacity to your PC and other compatible devices
- USB 2.0 compatible with no external AC power cord needed. System requirements - Formatted NTFS for Microsoft Windows 10, Windows 8.1, and Windows 7. Requires reformatting for Mac OS v10.12 /OS X v10.11 / v10.10. Available USB 2.0 or USB 3.0 Port
- Includes Toshiba 1 year standard limited warranty. Ready to use with your PC4 and no software installation required
Last updated on 2020-12-08 at 17:00.
Which is the best wireless hard drive?
You’re probably wondering which wireless hard drive I use, right?
Like I said, I like the Western Digital Passport with the 500 GB SSD for extra speed that lets me connect using WiFi or with USB.
But you can also get the same wireless hard drive with a large hard drive that isn’t SSD.
I like to store my work files on my drive but you can use the storage for anything.
Which wireless hard drive did you choose?
Actually, they’re all pretty good choices but I’ve always had pretty good luck with Western Digital. Plus the Passport works great with my MAC.
But hey, I’m still interested in knowing which portable drive you think is the best wireless hard drive for MAC owners…
Apple Mac External Hard Drive
Read about NAS storage devices…
- Best NAS for Home Backup – Network storage for doing full backups of your desktop for safekeeping.
- Best NAS Drive for Media Streaming – Network storage for storing and streaming a lot of large videos.