As a default, iTunes will create a backup of the content as soon as you sync your iOS device with the computer. The backup helps in restoring a device when needed. However, with the increase in the size of the backup, holding onto the entire backup archive is difficult. Learn how you can delete unwanted iPhone backup from your computer to save hundreds of gigabytes of space and protect your privacy.
For example, Adobe offers a separate uninstaller app you need to download and run to uninstall Flash on a Mac. RELATED: How to Uninstall Java on Mac OS X. Oracle is even worse and doesn’t provide an easy app that will uninstall Java from Mac OS X for you. Usually, more than a half of files on your Mac were downloaded from the Internet, i.e. From web browsers, messengers, torrents, mail. By default most Mac applications save files in a correspondent Downloads folder that can be easily found by this location.
1 Delete iPhone Backup on PC from iTunes
You can use the iTunes control panel to delete several backups created by the application for different devices.
Step 1: Open the iTunes application on the computer.
Step 2: From the Edit menu tab, choose the Preferences option.
Step 3: Now, select the Devices tab.
Step 4: Choosing a device will display the backup’s created for the same by iTunes. You can then pick a file or several files, and press the Delete Backup button at the bottom to erase them from the system.
2 Locate and Manually Delete iPhone Backup on PC
In Windows Vista or higher, you can search for the backup file created by iTunes by entering %appdata% after clicking the Start or Windows key. The action will open the user’s AppData destination. You can further navigate to the folder manually to C:Users(username)AppDataRoamingApple ComputerMobileSyncBackup. Nonetheless, it is important that you activate Show Hidden Files and Folders option.
After opening the folder, browse to the Apple Computer folder. Here, under the MobileSync, you can choose Backup folder. Once the folder opens, a list will appear displaying all the backups created for different devices, such as iPad, iPod, and iPhone. One cannot read data from the backup file. Nonetheless, you can right-click a backup file to see its properties window. You can check for the size, date, and time of creation, and decide whether to keep it or delete it from the system.
Note: the default path of iTunes backup on Mac computer is ~/Library/Application Support/MobileSync/Backup/
After deleting the backup file, close all the opened windows, and reopen iTunes preferences screen. Here, you will see that it displays only one or two backup files (depending on the backup files you deleted earlier).
3 Permanently Erase Data on iPhone
With the help of iMyFone Umate Pro iPhone data eraser Win, or iPhone data eraser Mac, you can now have the opportunity to erase data on the device permanently and free up space. Erasing permanently further helps in safeguarding all your personal and valuable information on a device. Features include:
- One-click free up space for iOS devices and clear temporary files and cache
- Compress photos losslessly and claim over 75% of space
- Delete unwanted and large files after creating a backup to free up space
- Permanently erase all current data and previously deleted data, with no possibility of being recovered!
Steps to delete data permanently from iPhone using iMyFone Umate Pro
Step 1: The software is available as a trial version for users. They can download it from the official website. After finishing with the download and installation procedure, launch the program. The following screen appears, after which you will have to connect the iPhone that you wish to scan and delete content.
Step 2: Connect the iPhone from which you wish to erase content permanently. Use the company-provided USB cable to ensure stability until the entire process is complete. You will see the following screen when the software detects the phone automatically.
Step 3: Upon pressing the Erase button, you will head to a new window, where you will be entering the word “Delete” in the box manually to delete content permanently. You can toggle the security level between low, medium, and high. The recommended level is Medium, and the software overwrites the content using junk files.
Step 4: Click the Erase Now button to begin deleting content from the device permanently. Make sure that you have created a backup of the data before proceeding with the process. Note that it will delete content permanently, and recovery is difficult.
Download the trial version of iMyFone Umate Pro iPhone data eraser Win, or iPhone data eraser Mac to give it a shot now.
Deleting downloads on Mac can be a pain because It involves two separate things: cleaning up your Downloads folder and then removing the downloads history from your browser. So, in short, you'll need to: find your Downloads folder, remove your downloads, clear your downloads history in your browser, and (finally) empty your Trash.
How to delete downloads on Mac via Finder
Finder is the first place you should look for downloads in on your Mac. If you have a mountain of download files stored, it’d be smart to sort your items and see which of them are the heaviest.
- Open Finder.
- Press Cmd+Shift+G.
- Type in: ~/
- Open Downloads folder.
- Righ-click anywhere in the window and select Use Groups.
- Finder will then gather your downloads in groups such as Applications, PDF documents, Images, and others, so you can quickly look through them and delete files you don’t need.
Then you can sort downloads by size: right-click in Finder, click Group By pop-up menu and choose Size.
If you want to remove multiple downloads from your Mac at once, you can do that with CleanMyMac X. This app has a Large and Old Files feature that detects all massive files and lets you delete them all. I will explain how to quickly get to downloads on your Mac using CleanMyMac X later in the article. You'd be surprised at how many GB of space you can reclaim!
How to delete downloads from software (e.g. Skype) which are hard to find
It can be a challenge to find the files you downloaded from different apps, such as Skype, on your Mac. By default, all the items you want to save go into the Downloads folder. But, if you have changed these settings, your files would be stored elsewhere. So, how to find those downloads on your Mac.
If you search for Skype downloads, here’s how to locate them:
- Open Skype.
- Go to the Skype menu and choose Preferences.
- Select Messaging from the list on the left.
In the end, there’s “When I receive a file” setting. It’s set to Downloads, which means all files you download from Skype automatically go into this folder. Open it to locate the files Skype saved and delete them. You can change directory to save your Skype files elsewhere.
The pretty similar route applies to all other apps you save files from. For example, to find out the Slack downloads location, I opened the app and then navigated to its Preferences.
To make it easier to find files you saved, choose one download location for all your apps. You will eliminate clutter in lots of folders and will be able to delete many files at once.
Once you’re done deleting your downloads, it’s time to clear the downloads history from the browser you use. Select the section below based on the browser you use.
The easy way to delete large and old files on Mac
However, if you’re looking for a solution that makes clearing out your large downloads (including your Skype downloads history) simple, check out a cleaning utility like CleanMyMac X.
Large and Old Files feature scans your storage for heavy files piling up on your Mac for a long time. It shows how much space each file takes and helps to quickly get rid of all old documents, .dmg files, and archives that clutter your storage.
Large and Old Files helps you clean up your Downloads folder with just a few clicks. Here's how to clear old downloads on your Mac:
- Download the free version of CleanMyMac X.
- Install and launch the app.
- Click Large & Old Files.
- Scan your Mac and then select whatever you wish to remove.
- Click Remove.
And you’re done. As you can see, it’s incredibly easy to remove your downloads on Mac with CleanMyMac X.
But, if you’d still like to clean up your downloads and download history manually, just follow the steps below.
How to delete old .DMG files on Mac
On macOS, the majority of apps you download come in .dmg format. '.dmg' is a disk image that contains a compressed download file. These files work like hard drives: they can be mounted and ejected.
When you open the .dmg file, you’ll see the application you’re about to install. After installing the application (dragging it to the Applications folder), the .dmg file will stay on your Mac until you delete it. Imagine how many .dmg files you may have unintentionally stored on your Mac. Now, let’s see how to delete them.
First, you need to eject those .dmg files that are still open.
- Open Finder.
- Under the Locations you will see the list of all .dmg files.
- Press the Eject icon to eject a disk image.
To delete .dmg files:
![Mac Mac](/uploads/1/3/3/9/133948166/411297963.jpg)
- Open Finder.
- Type “.dmg” in the search field and press Return.
- Move the unneeded files to the Trash.
Voila! Now, your Mac is much cleaner.
How to clear downloads history in Chrome
To clear downloads history in Google Chrome browser manually:
- Launch the Chrome browser.
- Type
chrome://history/
in the search field and press Enter. - Select Clear browsing data.
- Select the time range and check the 'Download history' box.
- Click Clear data.
How to clean downloads history in Safari
To clean downloads history in Safari browser:
- Launch the Safari browser.
- Click View in the menu bar and select Show Downloads.
- Safari will show you all the files you downloaded. Press Clear to remove downloads history.
You can alternatively press the arrow down button (↓) to see and clear downloads.
Clearing your Mac of downloads once in a while helps to save some space. If you are up to a full spring cleaning of your MacBook, CleanMyMac X has another useful feature — Space Lens. It analyses your storage and shows precisely how much space each folder takes. If your Mac is short on space, Space Lens can help you to locate the heaviest folder and remove it. Download the app for free, to try it yourself!
How to remove downloads history in Firefox
Delete Half Downloaded App Mac Download
To remove downloads history in Firefox directly:
Delete App In Mac Os
- Launch the Firefox browser.
- Click History, in the menu bar.
- Select Clear Recent History.
- Select the time range.
- Check the “Browsing & Download History” box.
- Click Clear Now.
Now, your Mac is probably clean of old downloads that used to take space. Keeping your digital space tidy and organized will help you locate files faster and avoid clutter in your folders.