How to delete downloads on your Mac: How I reclaimed gigabytes without lifting a finger

I know Macs are machines with a generous amount of space on them, but occasionally there’ve been times when I’ve looked at mine and thought: “I need to do a proper clear out!” One of the best ways to do this is by checking the downloads folder on your Mac to see what can be gotten rid of.

In my guide today, I’ll tell you how to delete downloads on Mac and free up space (so you can fill it up again!)

Before you click delete, read on…

How to delete downloads on Mac

So, that’s how to do it in a nutshell — I’ll take you through how to remove downloads from Mac in a bit more detail.

Manually delete downloads from Finder

Here’s a quick guide to manually deleting downloads from Finder.

Do this:

1. Open Finder and go to the Downloads folder.
2. Select the desired files.
3. Press Command + Delete, or drag files to the Trash.
4. You can then choose to permanently delete them by emptying the Trash.

Empty the Trash to free up space

How often do you go into your Trash can to either look at it or empty it? I’ll admit it’s not something I do that often, but here’s how to empty it to free up disk space:

• Find the Trash icon in the Dock on the bottom right-hand corner.
• Open it. It’ll show you all the deleted files you’ve moved there.
• Simply check through it and when you’re ready to get rid of everything, click Empty in the top right-hand corner.

In case you deleted something important, here’s a quick guide on how to recover deleted files on a Mac.

Where to find downloaded files on Mac

When you want to clear downloads on a Mac, you’ll need to know where to find all your downloaded files. Here’s how to do it.

The default Downloads folder

Most files are stored in the Downloads folder, and I’ve already shown you how to find it (and how to delete files from there). However, apps such as Safari (Chrome) or Mail also store downloaded files in them.

To find downloads on Chrome:

1. Open Chrome.
2. Press Option + Command + L or click the three dots at the top of the screen on the right-hand side > Downloads
3. Choose the file you want to open.

To find downloads on Safari:

1. Open Safari on your Mac.
2. Press Option + Command + L or click the download icon next to the URL bar (once you download something)
3. A downloads window will appear, and from there, you can find the file you’re looking for.
4. Click on the magnifying glass to open it in Finder.

Other places where downloads may be stored

Just when you think I’ve covered them all… I think there are three other places to look for:

• Desktop.
• Check your Cloud storage (iCloud, Dropbox, Google Drive).
• Third-party app download locations (e.g., Zoom, Slack, Telegram).

How to delete large and old files

What if you have tons of large or old downloads — how do you get rid of those? You can do this with native macOS tools (by sorting files in Finder).

To do so:

1. Go to Finder.
2. Click Downloads.
3. You’ll see an option to sort files by “size” and by “date added”.
4. You can select either one of those to choose the largest files or the oldest.
5. Proceed with deletion by clicking and dragging to the trash can.

Alternatively, you can use CleanMyMac as it thoroughly scans any folder you ask for and finds large files that you can review and delete. Simply launch CleanMyMac and click My Clutter. Then, choose the location to scan, and once it’s complete, check the files. They’re always grouped by size, type, or the date they were accessed. I can then decide which ones to delete.

Remove traces of what you've downloaded

I think it’s good to know how to remove traces of the things you’ve downloaded online from browsers like Chrome and Safari.

To remove your browser history on Chrome:

1. Open Chrome.
2. Click History in the menu bar > Show Full History.
3. Click Delete browsing data.
4. Select what you want to clear > Delete Data.

To delete browsing data from Safari:

1. Open Safari.
2. Click History in the menu bar > Clear History.
3. You can choose how far back you want to clear your history, from 1 hour to all time.
4. Click Clear History.

Alternatively, use CleanMyMac’s Protection feature to clear all cached data and history from browsers:

Also, check out the most effective ways how to delete recent files and search history on Mac.

Why you should delete downloads on Mac

First of all, I’ll start with a bit of an explainer as to why you should delete downloads on Mac. I reckon there are three main reasons:

• Free up storage space.
• Improve system performance.
• Reduce clutter and organize files.

Sometimes, you might just want to have a good declutter and ensure there’s nothing on your machine that’s taking up unnecessary space.

The final word on deleting downloads from your Mac

Hopefully, today I’ve shown you how simple it is to get rid of all the unnecessary downloads on your Mac. Adding in excellent tools like Default Folder X, Gemini, CleanMyMac, and Path Finder makes it even easier. 

All the apps above and 250+ more are available for free via Setapp undera single subscription plan. Sign up for a free 7-day trial and see how what else you can discover!