Guide

How to find large files in Downloads on a Mac

Open Downloads in list view and sort by Size, or open System Settings › General › Storage and click the info button next to Documents to see your largest files.

The built-in way

Sort the folder by size

  1. Open Downloads and switch to list view (⌘2).
  2. Click the Size column header to put the biggest files at the top.

Folders show "--" until you choose View › Show View Options and tick "Calculate all sizes".

Another way

Search for files over a size

  1. In Downloads, press ⌘F and set the search to "Downloads".
  2. Click +, choose "Kind", then "Other…", and pick "File Size".
  3. Set it to "is greater than" 500 MB, for example.

Another way

Use Storage settings

  1. Open System Settings › General › Storage.
  2. Click the info button next to Documents. "Large Files" and "Downloads" list files you can review and remove.

With Omaculate

Let Oma do it, and check her work first

Omaculate doesn’t offer to trash big files by default, because big files are often the important ones. You can still write a recipe with "is over 1 GB" if you want Oma to list them; anything bound for the Trash waits for your approval.

Questions

Why is my Downloads folder so big?

Usually installers, video files and zips. A few disk images and screen recordings can add up to many gigabytes.

Does moving files to the Trash free up space?

Not until you empty the Trash. Files in the Trash still take up space on your disk.

More guides

Let Oma have a look at your Downloads.

Free for one folder. Everything free for 3 days, then Grand Oma is $14.99, once.

Coming soon to the Mac App Store Needs macOS 15 Sequoia or later