To get started, download Purge and install it. Open the application, and it will show you what’s taking up space on your Mac.
If you want, click the Clean Safe Items button, and the app will handle it, assuming you trust it. I recommend paying a bit more attention, though. First, delete some caches. You’ll see a list of caches, all of which are safe to purge periodically.
You’ll also see Apple’s Aerial screen savers here. These videos are very cool, but take up a lot of space—delete them if you, like most 21st-century people, don’t use a screen saver.
There’s also a Dev Tools section, which isn’t relevant for most people. If you use Homebrew, though, don’t skip this—it’s an easy way to delete cached installation files you don’t need anymore.
The next tool shows you only the largest files on your computer, likely videos or other large media. I ended up moving a few things I’d forgotten about off my laptop—I bet you’ll find something, too.
Up next is a tool for uninstalling apps. Note that this doesn’t just remove the application—it also removes every file associated with it, including your settings, caches, and anything the application downloaded. Deleting applications in Finder doesn’t do this, meaning you might leave all kinds of files behind.
Speaking of that, there’s also a tool that shows leftover data from applications you’ve already deleted. In my case, it was several gigabytes, all basically wasted. I highly recommend checking this section and deleting anything large that you’re confident you won’t use again.
Finally, so long as we’re talking about things you’re not using, there’s Apple Intelligence. Apple’s most recent operating systems come preloaded with offline AI models, which power things like notification summaries, writing suggestions, and the new AI-powered Siri. You might like and use these features, but if not, Apple removed the toggle in macOS 27 that lets you disable them altogether.
That’s why Purge has one final tool that can completely remove the Apple Intelligence models. Click it, and you’ll see a list of installed models above a delete button. Click the button, and Purge will delete the models and prevent macOS from reinstalling them.
These features are why I plan on keeping Purge around. It’s a great way to see what’s taking up space on your drive and then do something about it.
