how to clear mac downloads file How to Clear Downloaded Files and Downloads History on macOS. By default, most apps will use the Downloads folder to save download files. That's the folder where all files downloaded onto a Mac made from the internet – whether via Safari, other web browsers, AirDrop, or sent through iMessages – will end up. And if you don't keep an eye on that folder and clean it from time to time, it will quickly grow into a disk-space hog , perhaps even bigger than the Pictures folder where all photos are stored by default. How Files Are Organized in the Downloads Folder. Unlike other folders, files in the Downloads folder are organized chronologically with the most recent downloads appearing first . The initial set of files displayed in the Downloads folder are the items downloaded on that date, then those files added in the previous seven days. After that the files are grouped together by the previous 30 days, before finally organizing them by month. Of course, macOS allows you to sort the items by size, type, date added and more, but the aforementioned default organization method remains. Download CleanMyMac X from MacPaw’s website and clean up to 500MB of junk data from your computer while enjoying all the features of the software without major limitations. How to Locate the Different Downloaded Files. If you remember when the file was downloaded then it's handy to have a look at this default method of file organization. If not, Finder allows for other options to arrange folders to locate a specific file, letting you search by name, file type, application, date created, date modified or tags – a highly useful addition. How to Locate Safari Downloads. In earlier versions of Safari, the Downloads button was always present, the items that had been downloaded were displayed in a list, and at the click of a button the list was cleared. Recent versions of Safari display the Downloads button only when there are items in the list , but it’s possible to arrange automated deletion by customizing the deletion time of these entries in the General section within Safari Preferences. Within this tab there is a pop-up menu that includes options to delete “After One Day, When Safari Quits”, “Upon Successful Download”, and “Manually”. By default, this is set to the first of these three options. Safari History and Privacy. In the same General tab you'll also find a section that allows for the customization of the removal of the browsing history. By default Safari is set to remove these items after one year , but those keen to protect their privacy will want to utilize three great methods of browsing history wiping. These are: Set it to “Manually” and clear the history when needed. Always use Private Browsing to ensure that Safari doesn't save your browsing history and will ask the websites you visit to not track you. Use Private Browsing combined with a VPN service. Browsing history is valuable data for anyone that wants to know more about you, for example hackers, who can then use that data to scour through your digital life and impersonate you. This is why we highly recommend using a VPN service and the private browsing feature included as part of the browser, since this is the best way to protect your online activity. How to Remove Downloaded Files, and Download and Browsing Histories. While the browsing history doesn't occupy too much space on the Mac, it’s recommend to clear it from time to time in order to close the door to the gold mine for anyone hoping to collect data about you. To do this manually in Safari, click on the History option in the menu bar then select Show History > Clear History. Removing items from the Downloads folder can also be done manually by looking up files based on their size and data added, but there is an easier way to remove them and also protect your privacy . Mac optimization apps such as CleanMyMac provide a simple, clean and easy-to-understand interface that packs in powerful scripts intended to help you to remove the items you don't need . Use the Large & Old Files script, add the Downloads folder as the target and let the software identify “forgotten items” in an instant. Removing web browsing history is done with a single click on all browsers: all you need to do is select the browsers and find this option in the Privacy section. Simple, right? Question: Q: Afraid to delete files in Download folder - BUT I NEED HD space. I'm new to Mac. Trying to free up HD space. I have lots of files in my download folder. I am afraid to delete files. For instance the two largest are VMware (215MB) and Itunes11.0 (206 Mb). I run both iTuens and VM but do I need to keep the downloaded fiels in the download folder? Can I delete them? I'm running VM and iTunes? Will deleting them from the Download folder be safe? iMac, Mac OS X (10.6.8) Posted on Jan 29, 2013 7:21 PM. Helpful answers. you are going to have to delete, move or archive your data to regain at least 15-20 GBs of empty hard drive space. Have you emptied your iMac's Trash icon in the Dock? If you use iPhoto, iPhoto has its own trash that needs to be emptied, also. If you use Apple Mail app, Apple Mail also has its own trash area that needs to be emptied, too! In System folder under Printers folder, delete any printer drivers from manufacturers you aren't using. Other things you can do to gain space. Delete any old or no longer needed emails and/or archive older emails you want to save. Look through your Documents folder and delete any type of old useless type files like "Read Me" type files. Again, archive or delete any old documents you no longer use or immediately need. Download an app called OnyX for your version of OS X. When you install and launch it, let it do its thing initially, then go to the cleaning and maintenance tabs and run all of the processes in the tabs. Let OnyX clean out all web browser cache files, web browser histories, system cache files, delete old error log files. Typically, iTunes and iPhoto libraries are the biggest users of HD space. You may have to Purchase an external FireWire or Thunderbolt hard drive to move these files/data off of your internal drive to the external hard drive and deleted off of the internal hard drive. If you have any other large folders of personal data or projects, these should be moved, also, to the external hard drive and then either archived to disc media and/or deleted off your internal hard drive. How to Delete Downloads on Mac. This article explains how to delete downloaded files on your Mac. Additional information covers how to clear your browser history for Safari, Chrome, and Firefox. How Do I Find the Downloads Folder on a Mac? If you removed the Downloads folder from the Dock at some point, either on purpose or accidentally, you can still find it on your Mac. To locate the Downloads folder on your Mac, select Go on the Finder menu bar. The Downloads folder appears in the drop-down menu. The Finder is the program that is always running on your Mac. It's where your desktop is with all the icons on the desktop. If you are reading this article in a web browser such as Safari, just click the two-tone blue happy face in the Mac's dock. How to Delete Downloaded Files on Your Mac. After you locate the Downloads folder on your MacBook, you can delete the files inside. Open the Downloads folder. Press Command + A to select all the files. Once the files are highlighted, expand the File menu at the top of the screen and select Move to Trash. Alternatively, use the keyboard shortcut Command+Delete . The files are moved to the Trash can. To permanently delete the trash, click the menu labeled Finder and select Empty Trash . There is no "undo" from this, so make sure this is what you want to do. Remove Traces of What You've Downloaded. You've deleted the actual files on your Mac, but you haven't removed all traces of them. If you used a web browser to download the files, there'll be history stored in the browser with that information. Web browsers, including Safari, Googe Chrome and Firefox, keep a record of all your downloads, making it easy to find where these files are stored. The browser doesn't contain the actual downloaded files, just that you downloaded them. Here's how to find the download history through Safari, Google Chrome, and Firefox browsers. Clearing the download history does not delete the downloaded files from your computer. Deleting the history only deletes a record of the files you downloaded. Follow the steps above to delete the actual files from your Mac. Clear the History in the Safari Browser. Open the Safari browser. Click History in the menu bar to open the browser history. Click Clear History at the bottom of the menu to wipe out the history of your downloads. In the pop-up window, choose all history to delete it all or one of the other options to be more selective. Select Clear History one more time to complete the process.